A person with a disability not a disabled person…
I am a person with brown eyes – that doesn’t make me disabled; it’s a characteristic.
You may be a person with red hair – that doesn’t make you disabled; it’s a characteristic.
These are characteristics which make us easier to be identified and recognized.
These characteristics don’t define us, or limit us; they just part of how we are perceived…by others.
The same thing holds true for a person with autism or a person with a physical challenge; they don’t define the person, or necessarily limit them…unless we make it so; unless we perceive them as being limited or being “less” in some manner.
Our Mission at ECHO is clear: “To empower individuals with disabilities to achieve their optimal level of personal, social and economic success.” Their “optimal level of success” has as much to do with how they perceive themselves, as it does with how they are perceived.
Thank you for supporting ECHO and its participants.
To learn more about ECHO, call us at 571-707-8249.