| Ginette's Story
Ginette
is a young woman with a moderate disability who had been extremely
frustrated with her life at the sheltered workshop.She hated getting off the train with 60 adults who have developmental
disabilities (many more austerely disabled than herself) every morning,
doing make-work every day, and facing this as the sum total of her
future.She knew that
society values a good job, wealth, physical beauty, self-worth.
In society’s eyes, she felt she was inferior and fell short.
She was frustrated, angry, had poor self-esteem, no friends,
and was prone to angry emotional outbursts when frustrated.
Ginette
was placed at the Gap where she began in a janitorial position and
eventually had a position created for her taking care of stock.Today, five years later, she is a completely different person.She looks confident, dresses beautifully, and has developed
social abilities she did not have before.
She
has friends and when staff members go out for a beer, Ginette is
invited along. Managers
have noticed that staff are different when Ginette is around.They treat each other with more respect, are kinder and more
accepting with each other when Ginette is around.
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