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The Only Disabilities out There are Attitudes
By LOLA ALAPO, alapol@knews.com, Knoxville News Sentinel, October 21, 2004.
Reproduced with permission.
Kathy Buckley couldn't speak until age 8, attempted suicide five times before age 20 and was diagnosed with cervical cancer before age 30.
She's been run over by a jeep, and without her hearing aids, she's virtually deaf. She thinks it's funny.
Buckley on Wednesday entertained more than 200 people with humor pulled from her painful experiences.
The hearing-impaired comedienne and motivational speaker appeared at "No Label No Limits," a breakfast program at the Knoxville Convention Center as part of and held in recognition of Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Wednesday was National Disability Mentoring Day, held to promote career development through hands-on experience for people with disabilities. It will be weeklong in Knox County and is sponsored by area business leaders to promote work force diversity.
The breakfast was attended by employers and workers who have been mentoring with them.
"Giving a job to a person with disabilities is not about income. It's about giving them a place in society," Buckley, 51, told the audience. "You're giving them an opportunity to grow."
The only disabilities that are out there today are attitudes, she said.
As a child, Buckley was incorrectly labeled as retarded, she said. She was 8 when her parents discovered her hearing loss. A teacher taught her to speak by reading lips and also to imitate the vibration of vocal chords, she said.
Buckley admonished the group to beware of passing judgment on others who may be different.
"All anyone wants out of life is respect. To get it you have to be able to give it," she said.
Lillian Burch described Buckley's performance as being "like a Disney movie."
"You were laughing and crying," said Burch, executive director of Disability Resource Center , a Knoxville organization that assists the disabled in services such as job counseling and placement training, and one of the breakfast's sponsors.
Disability Mentoring Day participants also attended.
Mayfield Fykes spent Tuesday job-shadowing a convention center employee. She worked as a receptionist for several hours.
"It was wonderful. It let me know there's a job for me and I can work," said Fykes, who has debilitating back problems and has suffered from bouts of depression.
"I may not do (the job) the way other people do it, but I can still do it," she said.
Stephanie Cowherd, event organizer and manager of Corporate Connections at the University of Tennessee Center on Disability and Employment, said the goal of Wednesday's program was to have employers "recognize the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. They saw that today."
Lola Alapo may be reached at 865-342-6376.
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