Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
A RISE Life Times Series Blog
One of our editors, Rachel, shared her concern over recent events out shopping one day with her fellow housemates. She noted the behaviors of the people around them as they walked through the mall. One of the women in Rachel’s group has Down Syndrome and people were staring at her. Rachel watched carefully at the way they responded. She also realized that most times people don’t treat her fairly, except her learning disability is not clearly visible. You wouldn’t know of Rachel’s struggles. Due to these facts, our group of writers want to share their tips on how to help those with ‘silent disabilities’ as well as visible ones. Here are ten tips that all of us can learn from and try to remember every day.
- Don’t stare: It makes everyone uncomfortable.
- Don’t rush: If we are taking a bit more time at the checkout, try to have patience and understanding.
- Be respectful to everyone, no matter what.
- Treat everyone equally.
- Not every person communicates the same way.
- Stop and think before getting frustrated.
- Keep any nasty words to yourself.
- Realize that someone may simply be having a bad day.
- Treat others the way you want to be treated.
- Patience is key.
Contributor, Michael says, “Be nice to everyone,” and Rachel shares her thoughts, “Don’t be quick to give an attitude. Have patience.”
During the planning session for this blog, we had a few newcomers to the editing team. We’d like to introduce them at this time. Gregory, lives with his mom in East Quogue and is a part of the RISE day program, Main Street Connection. His favorite thing to do is to go bowling. He’s even a part of the Special Olympics for bowling. Gregory also works at the Westhampton Beach Library two days per week. He truly enjoys the cooking class he’s been taking in order to learn how to enjoy cooking and eating gluten free.
Ryan lives in Manorville and attends RISE’s day program without walls. His favorite things are bowling and art. He would like to write an upcoming blog about bowling. We also welcomed Jesse today. Jesse lives with his mom, sister and dog Spike in Calverton and attends our day program. His favorite thing to do is play video games. Jesse also likes animals, listening to music and chatting with people. Jesse is currently preparing a review article on gaming.
RISE Life Services provides a residential and supported living environment on the East End of Long Island, dedicated to empowering people with intellectual disabilities and mental health challenges to RISE to their full potential. To learn more about RISE Life Services, residential housing, job opportunities and other programs, please browse our website or call 631-727-6220 ext. 203 with any questions.
