Promoting Positive Reputations

All too often, people with disabilities are viewed differently – labeled and treated as “sick,” “vulnerable,” “a child for life” – by others who have not had the opportunity to get to know them as individuals. These stereotypes, whether covert or overt, lead to pity, dependence and low expectations that often become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Through our fully inclusive learning environment, the children in our Bright Futures Early Learning Center and The Grace School begin to understand at an early age that physical and developmental challenges are a fact of life. Learning and playing side by side, children of all abilities learn to accept people as they are, embracing differences and similarities alike.

Beyond Bright Futures, this concept of fostering positive reputations extends throughout the agency and is apparent in activities such as community service projects in The Grace School and The Carter School, where the children and young adults of Meeting Street enjoy the opportunity to give back to the community.

Through activities such as their highly successful food drive and winter clothing collection and visits to hospitals and retirement centers, our students demonstrate that individuals with disabilities have a great deal to give, dispelling the misconception that they are always on the receiving end of good deeds. In addition, by organizing and implementing these projects, our children and young adults prove that people with disabilities can be leaders and not simply spectators.