“I wasn’t long out of nursing school when the dynamic on the floor I was working on went down a poisonous path. They were between managers and somehow all of the staff had turned against each other and EVERYONE blamed EVERYONE ELSE for the situation. No one could see any way to change their behavior unless someone else’s behavior changed first.

A senior manager was called in to help sort things out and this manager told the staff that they not only could change their behavior, but they were responsible to—whether or not anyone else EVER changed. This statement met with blank stares and hostility. No one could imagine how this could work.

To illustrate her point she showed us a video of a woman displaying absolutely HORRIBLE behavior. The woman was stomping around, cursing, threatening and carrying on, it was upsetting to watch. The manager stopped the film and asked us what should be done about this person.

Well our staff was incensed at the behavior they had seen. They said the woman should be spoken to, limits should be set, she should be asked to leave, consequences should be levied, victims should be defended. Our manager wrote all of this down.

Then she told us that the next video we were going to see would probably upset us as well. She said that the gal in the film had just found out that her son was gravely ill, she was having serious financial issues and had just had a fender-bender on her way in.

Then she turned on the video. Guess what? She showed us the exact SAME video.

When she stopped the film again she once again asked what should be done about this woman. As you might imagine, the answers were completely different: Find her someone to talk to… see if she has a ride home… have the social worker share some of her community resources with her…”

Read the rest…

This was necessary because although access to sports, education and community have greatly improved in the 20 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities act, meaningful and fulfilling full-time employment remains tricky and fleeting for more than 7 million people with disabilities. There are another 4 million Americans with disabilities living at or below the poverty line and for them success seems like a pipe dream.

There are advances in technology creating new options for people with disabilities who want gainful, purposeful employment doing what they are passionate about. It can be done but finding the correct resources and supports is elusive at best. Human services organizations are often pressed for time, staff and resources and state agencies created to assist people with disabilities are, in general, often woefully limited in the assistance they can offer.

So when I began looking to re-enter the workforce again two years ago after eight years of healing from spinal surgeries and learning how to be disabled after an on-the-job injury, I was optimistic but unsure.  I knew more about what I didn’t want to do than what I did, largely because I didn’t know what was available to me.

I had spent considerable time in learning about self-employment and entrepreneurship. As a freelance writer and visual artist, I certainly had skills and talents that most any organization or company would benefit from. I had the opportunity to volunteer and later work for a non-profit arts organization whose mission was to make the Arts accessible to people with disabilities.  Fortunate enough to spend my time in programming and fund development during my tenure there, I was able to work doing what I love and am passionate about.

I knew I was not alone in my struggles to find employment doing what I was passionate about because in working with other artists with disabilities, I discovered most of us had an entrepreneurial spirit but lacked the support and resources to help ourselves toward more financial independence and freedom. I mined the Internet for resources and communities that seemed to address my needs. And while the Internet does indeed allow for full and balanced economic participation by removing many of the barriers that people with disabilities face in the workforce, very few community and resource sites came close to addressing what I was looking for.

Active Grey Matter (AGM) is the first Internet-based community business incubator designed by and for people with all kinds of chronic or disabling conditions who want to work for themselves but lack the tools, community, support, resources and services to launch their own businesses and determine their own futures.

More than just another social networking site, Active Gray Matter is also a community of people who love to learn, collaborate, teach and share knowledge to assist new self-owned businesses take flight and thrive. Sue Cline, AGM’s founder and visionary, designed AGM as a sustainable community, able to function independently with or without her and independent of grants, government or venture funding. Every person in the AGM community is vital and important. They are the cheerleaders and the coaches; the teachers, mentors and students; the friends and family; the supporters and broadcasters that are vital to any thriving and independent community.

If you are an emerging entrepreneur or interested in self-employment or know, love or work with people with disabilities who are interested in owning their own businesses, you are invited to become a part of the Active Grey Matter community.  Just pop over to the community site and register for free to meet other like-minded people and AGM community members and see what Active Gray Matter is all about!