Category: advocacy

aaron johannes, advisor, advocacy, community, disability, graphic facilitation, history, minorities, Uncategorized, workshopsLeave a comment

“What About Us?” table placards for a world cafe

Aaron

I’m really excited about being the graphic facilitator for the “What About Us?” world cafe that launches the B.C. People First 2012 Conference.   Each table will have a “conversational leadership” theme chosen by the board of BCPF, such as “what about us and relationships?” and the world cafe will be facilitated by self advocates from Esatta Cooperative.   The theme of the conference is “Nothing About Us Without Us” – “we are making sure that people with labels are involved in ALL decisions that are made about our lives.   This takes unity and leadership.   This conference is … Continue reading “What About Us?” table placards for a world cafe

aaron johannes, advocacy, art, Buddhism, celebration, community, community living, disability, innovation, Michael Kendrick, theory, thinking, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Medicine Buddha and Community Living

Aaron

It’s interesting when the schedule of what’s going on brings two events together and there’s a serendipitous connection of ideas that happens only because one doesn’t want to miss something that someone that one doesn’t know has scheduled for a certain day, without any sense of one’s own life.   Last week I went to a Michael Kendrick lecture about the ideas of “Quality” and “Innovation” in our field of supporting people with disabilities to be part of their communities: what are we really talking about when we bandy these terms around?  That evening there was a lecture on “Modern Buddhism” … Continue reading The Medicine Buddha and Community Living

advisor, advocacy, community, disability, innovation, people first, thinking, Uncategorized1 Comment

learning to listen in People First: an advisor’s perspective

Aaron

Almost twenty years ago I was at a conference and one of the tables in the display room was notably having more fun, and then I realized it was also the only table, notably, at a conference for and about people with disabilities, that was manned (or woman-ed) by people with disabilities.   It was my first introduction to a People First group. Thinking back to that moment, I have this odd memory of it as if it was a romance movie.   Things got misty, and sort of rainbow-y around the edges, and as I looked across a crowded room, I … Continue reading learning to listen in People First: an advisor’s perspective