On the final day of the Ellensburg Employment Conference, I was invited to attend an event put on by People First of WA http://www.peoplefirstofwashington.org/ - it was their annual Self Advocacy In Motion (SAM) - Youth Leadership Retreat Program. I had the honor of saying of few words of welcome for the 20 some high school students with disabilities. I mentioned that there were no programs such as theirs when I was growing up and how much I admired their commitment to advocate for themselves and their community. I had just attended an awesome workshop on leadership at the conference and these kids were utilizing the exact methods suggested to become the strongest of leaders in our communities. The people first organization echoes my platform of people being recognized as people first and not defined by the physical situations they happen to be in. We ended the evening with a viewing of an awesome video titled "Right to Risk" that chronicals the adventure of eight people with significant disabilities on a 15 day, 225 mile whitewater rafting through Arizona's Grand Canyon - check out the website at www.righttorisk.org. The executive producer, Kathleen Jo Ryan introduced the video and I had the pleasure of chatting with her about her adventures as she was on the journey also.
