Day in Washington Podcast #12 – Mentoring and Disability
Day in Washington- The Disability Policy Podcast explores and discusses various aspects of disability policy. Each episode will cover a specific issue within disability, and/or a disability-related news article. These 8-10 minute podcasts offer an easy to understand introduction to disability policy and resources for those interested in further study. You can find the text of each podcast in the comments. If you have difficulty downloading the podcast, please right-click and save it to your computer for playback.
Episode Summary:
Disability Mentoring Day takes place in communities across the country (and internationally) every third Wednesday in October. It promotes career development for students and job-seekers with disabilities through job shadowing and hands-on career exploration. This episode covers some basic information about what mentoring is, its importance and information about Disability Mentoring Day.
Audio File: Day in Washington Podcast #12 – Disability Mentoring Day
Show Notes
- Introduction, Date of Podcast
- Disability Mentoring Day History
- What is Mentoring?
- Activities of Disability Mentoring Day
- Famous Mentor/Mentees
- Closing and Contact information
- Disclaimer
Day in Washington – Podcast #12 (October 17, 2007)
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to a Day in Washington. Day in Washington is your disability policy podcast covering legislative issues of interest to the disability community. We also spotlight specific bills and other related news articles. I’m your host, Day Al-Mohamed working to make sure you stay informed. This is Podcast #12 for October 17, 2007.
Hello and Happy Disability Mentoring Day!
Disability Mentoring Day promotes career development for students and job-seekers with disabilities through job shadowing and hands-on career exploration. It is officially commemorated on the third Wednesday of every October and is implemented in locations around the country and internationally.
This started as National Disability Mentoring Day in 1999 in the White House, as a program to increase the profile of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is celebrated every October. The program was patterned after school-to-work activities and began with just three dozen participants. In 2001, Disability Mentoring Day was passed to American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to administer and build, where it has remained.
AAPD is the largest national nonprofit cross-disability member organization in the United States, dedicated to ensuring economic self-sufficiency and political empowerment for the more than 56 million Americans with disabilities.
This past year saw the greatest number of participants yet – in 2006, Disability Mentoring Day included participation from 13,000 students and job-seekers with disabilities, over 300 local coordinators, and thousands of large and small employers, in communities from the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and twenty-four countries, including Brazil, Costa Rica, and Germany.
Research shows that one of the most influential powers in an individual’s life, education and career is a mentor. And is just as important, if not more so for individuals and youth with disabilities.
The concept of Mentoring is ancient–from the Greek word meaning enduring—When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of palace, and more importantly, in charge of his son, Telemachus. Athena, the goddess of Wisdom disguising herself as Mentor came and visited Telemachus, becoming his guardian and teacher.
In today’s world, the concept of mentoring has found application in virtually every forum of learning and is defined as a sustained relationship between a youth and an adult. The adult offers support, guidance, and assistance. “Mentor” is also synonymous with “role model.” One of the fundamental differences between mentoring and merely advising is that mentoring more. It is a personal, as well as, professional relationship. Being a mentor is a responsibility with many roles. To paraphrase Morris Zelditch, emeritus professor of sociology at Stanford University:
“Mentors are advisors, people with career experience willing to share their knowledge; they are supporters, people who give emotional and moral encouragement; they are tutors, people who give specific feedback on one’s performance; they are masters, in the sense of employers to whom one is apprenticed; they are sponsors, sources of information about and aid in obtaining opportunities; and they are models, of identity, of the kind of person one would like to be.
During Disability Mentoring Day, students with disabilities and employers are brought together for informational sessions about career opportunities and one-on-one mentoring with volunteers at public and private places of employment. While the core experience is one-on-one job shadowing, it is often so much more, including meetings for groups of students and job-seekers featuring presentations and/or receptions where students, job-seekers and mentors can share their experiences.
More than anything else, Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to underscore the connection between school and work, disability and ability. To paraphrase AAPD President Andy Imparato, “Perhaps the biggest barrier that employers have to hiring qualified employees with disabilities is their own lack of exposure. Disability Mentoring Day connects disabled students and job seekers with employers who are working in a common field of interest.” Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity to build a connection between employers and potential employees with disabilities, and ultimately, this leads to a more diverse workforce.
Many of the world’s most successful people have benefited from having a mentor. Just to give you a few examples:
Among business people – Freddie Laker mentored Richard Branson
With politicians – Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great
For Actors – Mel Gibson mentored Heath Ledger
And for those athletes out there – Eddy Merckx (five-time Tour de France winner) mentored Lance Armstrong (seven-time Tour de France winner).
As an individual with a disability who had the benefit of a wonderful mentor early in my professional career, I cannot stress how helpful the advice and support was to me and I urge you to sign up for this program in the coming year. Mentors are in a unique position to help students with disabilities grow in both their professional and personal lives. What is more fulfilling than helping some realize exactly who they want to be?
You can find out more at the Disability Mentoring Day website at: http://www.DMD-aapd.org or at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) website – http://www.aapd.com or telephone them at (Voice/TTY) 1-800-840-8844.
CLOSING
And that is it for this week’s edition of Day in Washington. Please feel free to contact me at http://www.dayinwashington.com regarding comments or suggestions. I’d love to hear from you, but for now, this is your host, Day reminding you to stay well and stay informed.
EPILOGUE
Music for this podcast was provided by the podsafe music network @ podsafemusicnetwork.com. The music was composed and performed by 2012 and can be found at http://www.twentytwelverecords.com.
Any opinions and perspectives expressed in this podcast should not be taken as the official stance of any group or organization affiliated with the host. In addition, none of the facts, data, or grammar have been checked for accuracy.
Thank you for listening.