Ed Roberts and Me: Mentoring for Change
By Yolanda Vargas, Youth Organizer, YO! Disabled and Proud
Youth may be fleeting for an individual, but there’s always a new batch of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed youngsters eager to sink their teeth into life. In the disability rights world, five new skirmishes pop up for each battle we win, and we must work together — older and young folks — to continue making progress.
I believe that the first step in bridging the divide between generations for the betterment of the disabled community is recognizing that each sub-group has its own strengths and weaknesses. A great way to explore these differences is through intergenerational and cross-disability mentoring.
With Ed Roberts Day approaching on January 23rd — which would have been Ed’s 78th birthday — I wanted to share my thoughts on integrating youth into work and, most important, on how older and younger folks can learn from each other through mentoring.
Ed Roberts was an advocate and activist who understood the importance of facing issues directly. The stories I have read and heard of Ed are all tremendous, and the list of his achievements is long. He was a leader in the civil rights movement, a champion for the rights of people with disabilities, and founder of the first Center for Independent Living and the World Institute on Disability. In all of these accomplishments, Ed is known for his work to empower others to become advocates and activities.
It seems to me that his approach addressed a person’s quality-of-life and that it took into consideration every aspect of each person’s life. That allowed him to connect to people on a personal level and to help them find their inner disability advocate. This is why he continues to be a guiding force for youth in the disability community. I know this on a personal level, as his work has led to my work and my work will lead to others — a chain of youth organizing, disabled and proud.
Tips for mentors working with youth
1. Encourage youth to provide input on a project or to voice their opinion. Allowing and encouraging young people to share their perspective on all types of issues will help generate new and innovative ideas. Often, we in the disability community become hyper-focused on identifying as disabled. There is absolutely nothing wrong with identifying as disabled, but many youth also identify as people of color, LGBTQIA, first-generation, etc. The more diverse organizations are, the more people they can connect with and the more they will look like their stakeholders. I work for an organization called Youth Organizing Disabled and Proud, and that is what we try to do.
2. Do not tokenize youth! If you want to learn more about terminology or issues related to a marginalized group, feel free to do some research. Just because Laura puts the “L” in the LGBTQIA, it doesn’t mean she has all the answers regarding lesbian perspectives!
3. Connect with youth! The reason Ed Roberts is a mentor to so many is because his journey is relatable to many youth activists who often also start their journey around the age they leave high school. Feel free to share stories of when you were first starting out. It will humanize you to your mentees and make them feel more comfortable to come to you with questions or needs.
4. Don’t assume they want to do social media. As a mentor, you should want to teach your charge new skills, so don’t automatically think they want to use social media because they are young. Sure, today’s generation doesn’t remember a time without some kind of virtual socializing platform, but that doesn’t mean that they love doing social media. Don’t just stick to what you think they’re good at — give them a variety of tasks to help them grow!
Tips for youth working with a new mentor
1. Don’t reinvent the wheel your first day!! Seriously, don’t do this! Everybody wants to be the person who shakes things up and increases efficiency, and you can do that eventually. Once you know the ins and outs of how things actually work and why they’re set up that way, you should totally tweak things and see if you can make them better. Just don’t do it before you know where your desk is!
2. Be confident, not cocky. Remember that you were matched with your mentor for a good reason. Perhaps your mentor/organization saw potential in you; so, be proud, but don’t be a jerk. If you do make a mistake, don’t try to cover it up. Rather, take ownership of your mistakes and ask for help. Everybody was the newbie at some point, and having disability pride doesn’t mean that you can’t have humility when you make a mistake.
3. Get out of your comfort zone. Chances are, during the first week of your new arrangement you will be asked to do something you’ve never done — whether it’s dealing with the copier or being part of a presentation. Your skill-set may have gotten you in the door, but your ability to adapt is what can keep you there.
4. Ask for accommodations. Don’t be afraid to ask for accommodations, even after you’ve been employed. You may not realize what you need until you start, but to try to give a heads up as soon as possible when you realize you need an accommodation — preferably before a deadline hits.
We can support each other, learn from each other.
Mentors create ripples that reverberate past the individual connections they make with their mentees. Mentors shape the future and my position is proof of that. If Ed Roberts hadn’t started the Independent Living Movement, my mentor, Christina Mills, may have never created a program for youth with disabilities to obtain not only positive disability identity but skills necessary to maintain meaningful and gainful employment. She has incorporated Ed Roberts’ ideology into every part of Youth Organizing Disabled and Proud, allowing me to become a link in a long line of disabled activists.
“We can support each other, learn from each other.”
— Ed Roberts
Soon I may even have the honor of continuing the legacy of the Independent Living Movement by becoming a mentor myself! And to think that I owe my newly discovered life’s passion to a man I’ll never meet — all because he was a mentor who gave all of himself to his cause.
Ed Roberts Day [Jan 23rd] National Twitter Chat
On January 23rd from 3:00–4:00pm ET / 12:00–1:00pm PT YO! will partner with the National Council on Independent Living’s Youth Transition Fellow for a national Twitter Chat on mentoring.
Follow @yodisabledandproud and @Youth_Fellow and use #MyMentorEd and #EdRobertsDay17 to talk about the importance of Ed and mentor like him in the disability community. We look forward to this youth-led chat and hope to engage youth with disabilities across the nation on what mentoring and independent living topics.
Please also visit the YO! Ed Roberts Day web page to learn more about Ed, watch or listen to videos of Ed, order the 2017 Ed Roberts Day poster and review the other mentoring resources and testimonials.
About the Author: Yolanda Vargas is the Youth Organizer at Youth Organizing Disabled and Proud also known as YO! Prior to her position she was a volunteer with the program. Then she became their summer intern, and now she’s coordinating all of the YO! Volunteers across California. As well as doing anything else to connect, educate, and organize youth with disabilities, in her spare time, she plays Dungeons & Dragons, goes to any and all live shows (be it concert, play, or podcast), and tries to just be the best Queer Latinx disabled activists she can be.
About the National Disability Mentoring Coalition: The mission of the National Disability Mentoring Coalition (NDMC) is to increase the awareness, quality and impact of mentoring for individuals with disabilities across the nation. Member organizations share core values and align with the Coalition’s objectives to streamline communication, standardize and systematize data collection, reduce duplication of efforts, increase mentoring opportunities, and improve outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities. Learn more about the NDMC, review its Membership, and visit the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame at www.disabilitymentors.org. You can also follow NDMC on Twitter.
This #DisabilityMentors publication is a space for individuals to share stories and testimonials to elevate the importance of establishing a national disability mentoring policy and increase funding to enable more mentors to raise expectations, build confidence and positively impact youth and adults with disabilities.
