E-Community Activity: Learning from Role Models

Send this message to the e-community of protégés and mentors.

Subject: Learning from role models

It can be encouraging to know or read about individuals with disabilities who are working in fields in which you are interested. These people can become role models for you. You can try to emulate qualities that you admire, and they can provide inspiration for pursuing careers. Are you interested in being an engineer? An accountant? A biologist? A computer scientist? A physicist?

Role models can be people you know or people you don't know; they can be famous or relatively unknown. In this activity you'll learn about the lives of potential role models for you.

Visit the websites with the following addresses to learn about people in different careers and with a wide variety of disabilities.

www.disabilityhistory.org/people/
https://independenceinc.org/what-theyre-saying/
www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/organize/fsdrole.html
netac.rit.edu/goals
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/arts/design/28callahan.html

Choose one individual in a career that interests you. Send a short message to the group about this person. Include an answer to at least one of the following questions:

  • What disability does this individual have, and what have they done to make the disability an advantage in life?
  • What attitudes does this person have that contribute to his/her success?
  • What actions has this person taken to improve his/her life? To improve the lives of others?
  • What is interesting to you about this individual's job responsibilities or other activities?
  • What accommodations does this individual use in specific situations?
  • What special skills does this person use for success?
  • What have you learned from this person's story that you will apply in your own life?