Musings: Helping those who face challenges can be joyful
Phoebe-Rae Taylor in the Disney+ film "Out of My Mind." Credit: Disney+
Having worked for decades serving intellectually or developmentally disabled New Yorkers, it was encouraging to see some globally recognized iconic brands take positive steps in 2024 to acknowledge with respect these populations.
The 2024 Disney+ film “Out of My Mind” provided a sensitive portrayal of a sixth grade girl with cerebral palsy and the challenges she faced gaining acceptance from fellow students when she began mainstreaming into middle school classes. A LEGO Group partnership with Hidden Disabilities Sunflower will introduce the first LEGO toy characters displaying Sunflower lanyards — a globally recognized symbol which allows individuals to share in public that they have a non-visible condition which may require some extra support, time or patience.
The Kinexion Network supports more than 6,500 people in our region with intellectual or developmental disabilities through our seven nonprofit member agencies. I am moved every day by these people. Innocent and positive souls, rising to the unimaginable challenges which were dealt to them. Their joy is pure. Their love is boundless. And their pride is immeasurable. We can all be inspired.
Kinexion’s agencies work with many Long Island businesses and organizations to provide regular interaction for people with disabilities to integrate into their community. Our programs “without walls” offer trips into local communities to practice social interactions, such as ordering dinner or shopping for groceries. And every year on “Be Kind” day, our program participants thank community members — police stations, nail salons, pizza restaurants and many others — with a small gift of appreciation for being kind and welcoming them into their establishments.
We also facilitate opportunities for employment, both in-house and within the community alongside non-disabled colleagues. These programs demonstrate that despite their challenges, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities can and do make a positive contribution to their community and to the economy.
I hope the spirit of acceptance and inclusion as demonstrated by Disney and LEGO continues to spread, not only in the mega-corporate world but to all of us in our everyday lives. It costs us nothing to demonstrate patience, respect and thoughtfulness to those with disabilities — yet to them, it is priceless.
— Walter Stockton, Shoreham
The writer is chief executive of The Kinexion Network.
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