By Shelley Hourston

I’ve always been intrigued with the “quirkiness” of life… you know, those things that are common yet completely nonsensical. Stigma is one of those things. Sometimes from birth, and sometimes later in life, people find themselves a member of a group without ever signing up. Examples include poverty, racial/ethnic heritage, LGBT, age and disability/chronic illness. Other people who believe themselves spared from membership in one or more of these groups create (or accept) elaborate fictional stories about a specific group’s members without even meeting them! Stigma is a negative life story assigned to you and created by an unauthorized person (e.g. not you). Internalized stigma occurs when members of stigmatized groups believe these negative, unauthorized stories. The shame and fear evoked by someone else’s fiction about your life can make you forget that you are responsible for creating your life story. In fact, stigma can completely derail your life story if you let it. By harvesting our life experiences and strengthening our own story we can combat internalized stigma. If and when we feel strong and/or safe enough to share our stories with the world, we can also help others see stigma for what it is.

Maximizing the benefits of our life stories requires a bit of effort. Too often we let the strengths and wisdom within our life stories evaporate with time. We’ve all experienced adversity and successes but unless we are an avid “scrapbooker” or journal writer, we tend to forget that we are resilient. Collecting and reviewing personal life stories is empowering. Familiarity with your stories reinforces your wisdom, values and resources with evidence gathered in real life. Standing up to stigmatizing fictional stories is easier when your authentic life stories are easily accessible.

Getting started on your life stories
Your public library can direct you to autobiographical writing resources and possibly writing groups too. Or you can contact Shelley (see contact info below) for a Life Story Resource List.

For people living with HIV and/or Hepatitis C, BCCPD is running a pilot five-week course beginning in January 2014. Stories of Adversity & Resilience (SOAR) is free and will meet for five weeks by teleconference. Each week participants write a short story (two pages or less) about a life theme and prompted by a list of questions intended to stimulate memories. Stories are read at the next class and participants share their observations of strengths and resilience illustrated by the stories. Feedback is based on the Guided Autobiography method and the principles of Appreciative Inquiry. Space is limited. For information or to register, contact Shelley (certified Guided Autobiography instructor) by calling toll-free 1-877-232-7400 to leave a message or email wdi@bccpd.bc.ca. Exact start date (after January 13, 2014) and time will be determined with participants.

The BC Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD) will be giving an award in 2014 to a BC employer who has demonstrated excellence in the hiring and employing of people with disabilities. A Committee will select the Award winner and the winner of an Honourary Mention.

The names of the two winners will be announced at the BCCPD’s Swing into Spring Annual Fundraiser on April 9th 2014 and publicized through our magazine, e-news and more.

We Want To Hear From You: Nominate Your Employer

Nominations for this Award must be made by an employee with a disability of the nominated business or organization. We want to hear stories from people with disabilities who have benefitted from their employer’s approach.

And the Winner Is!

The purpose of this Award is to recognize an employer who has gone the extra mile to ensure that a person with a disability has been able to obtain and maintain employment. The Award winner and winner of the Honourary Mention will be the employers the Committee judges to have demonstrated extraordinary innovation and support for their employee/s with a disability.

Download the Outstanding Employer of the Year Award Nomination Form, including award details and all the steps to make a nomination.

Dear Community Partner,

This is an invitation to attend the consultation as part of the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation’s White Paper that is being held in Vancouver January 15th.  This consultation is in addition to the other scheduled consultations across the province.

The Disability White Paper Leadership Team, made up of government, the disability community and the business community, wants to hear from you about how we, as a society, can increase accessibility and decrease barriers for people living with disabilities in B.C.

On December 3, 2013, the B.C. government launched a consultation with British Columbians to better understand how government, businesses and communities can increase accessibility and decrease barriers for people living with disabilities. www.engage.gov.bc.ca/disabilitywhitepaper

The online conversations have been themed around six areas: innovation, personal supports, work and contribution, housing and physical accessibility, support networks, and RDSPs/asset accumulation.

Your feedback and comments will help to inform the development of a White Paper – a document that reflects the voice of British Columbians – that will form the foundation for a Summit in June on the issues facing people with disabilities in British Columbia.

The approach is modeled after the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities pledge to ensure that any discussion of disability issues be done with the disability community – ‘nothing about us without us’.

The Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation asked the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities to help bring together a group of leaders in the disability community for an open discussion on this important issue. Thank you to the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities for their leadership and guidance in helping to make this event possible.

When:    January 15, 2014
Noon – 5 pm (lunch will be provided at 1 pm)

Where:  Creekside Community Centre
1 Athletes Way
Vancouver, BC

RSVP: Please RSVP by January 8 to disabilitywhitepaper@gov.bc.ca
            Space is limited to 100 participants

In advance of this dialogue, we invite you to think about this question:

What B.C. would look like if it was the most progressive province for people living with disabilities?