'Please don't stereotype us.' Local women share their stories on the Move to Include Podcast

·51 min·3 clips

Maggie says people stereotype her with the R word and assume disability means incapability.

1. Connections Podcast and the Move to Include series focus this episode on Maggie McCrum’s job search, self-advocacy, and disability employment support. 2. Noelle Evans hosts, Maggie McCrum is the self-advocate guest, and Carys Happ is the Director of Transition Services for the Arc of Monroe. 3. The episode asks what self-advocacy looks like when someone with a disability is trying to work, stay regulated, and find the right job fit. 4. Maggie says she first learned self-advocacy through “creating a life after high school” and the University of Rochester’s T-OUR program in 2016–2017. 5. She explains that T-OUR combined classes with internships at places like a library or dining hall during the first year and outside job placements in the second year. 6. Maggie says she is looking for work in food service or retail because she enjoys “making people happy” and likes putting a smile on people’s faces. 7. Carys Happ says she entered this field almost 10 years ago by chance and came to value helping people with disabilities find and keep jobs. 8. Happ says job coaches help with learning tasks, encouraging self-advocacy at work, and matching workers to jobs where they can succeed. 9. Maggie and Happ describe working together on Maggie’s first jobs, including a child-care job and a CDA class at REOC, the Rochester Educational Opportunity Center. 10. Maggie says that job taught her patience with children and with people in general because she does not know what someone else is going through. 11. Maggie describes using an anxiety necklace to help with breathing, heart rate, and panic attacks when she feels overwhelmed at work. 12. Happ says self-advocacy starts with knowing your own needs, such as avoiding childcare if loud noise and constant movement are a poor fit. 13. Happ says accommodations can include changes for fluorescent lights, headaches, customer interaction, or a job schedule that starts too early. 14. Maggie says she has been stereotyped and has heard disability-related slurs used to imply that she cannot do certain things. 15. Both Maggie and Happ reject pity, saying people with disabilities often can do work independently and should be given a chance. 16. Happ says that when people assume someone is not ready to work after one bad fit, the real issue may be the wrong level of support or the wrong job. 17. The interview stays conversational and practical, with Noelle Evans asking short follow-ups that let Maggie and Happ answer in detail. 18. The tone is calm and supportive, but it becomes sharper when the discussion turns to stereotyping, workplace bias, and asking for accommodations. 19. Listeners interested in disability employment, transition programs, and self-advocacy will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting entertainment or a fast-paced story may want to skip this one.

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