Former Students with Disabilities Share Perspectives on Programs

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender.

All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Happy Halloween to everyone in the United States, and welcome to the show today. Before I get started, I have some news for you that I wasn't completely aware of. But if any children come to your house with a blue pumpkin they're holding instead of orange for their treats, that means they have autism. And why parents are doing that is so you won't think it's unusual if they don't approach you. This is mainly for children that are nonverbal and just letting you know. Teal for children with other neurodiverse disabilities. And purple, my favorite color from ever, and can you believe it's the color of epilepsy, which as you all know, I live with epilepsy. So purple, teal, blue, if you see any of those, they're letting you know that there's a situation there to accommodate. Also, I want to say, just please everyone, Be careful, stay with someone, stay with your parents or your friends, but please be careful this evening. Be alert. Don't be alone. Okay, well, hey, you may not be celebrating Halloween, but I still have a shout out to everyone around the world. You know, it's so exciting to me that we have Listeners, every time I think about it, that I have people listening to me in other countries, you know what? It's so exciting. It really is. It's so exciting. From Brazil to Australia. And speaking of Brazil, oh, do I love Richard Roberts. And now my new friend Carla in Brazil. I'm so excited. I'll be going there in the spring to meet them and go across the country. Talking about quality of life for people living with disabilities. And Gangneung, Cho in South Korea, which I've been there twice. I've been to Japan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Panama. And that's why I always say, wherever you are in the world, if you have epilepsy, you have epilepsy. That's why everyone with disabilities, you're all my brothers and sisters. But thank you. Keep listening. You're making a difference. As I said, all my listeners in the United States, oh, they are fantastic. If you're listening to the show right now, I just want you to know how much it means to me. And please tell someone else. You could tell someone that's looking for employment. As you all know, my company finds employment for people living with disabilities. You know, if you meet someone and they're looking, have them go to JoyceBenderConsult.com to the contact page and just make sure you spread the news. Anyone looking for employment, because employment is what provides dignity to people living with disabilities. So I want to tell you, we have a big on-demand listening audience. So, you know, you can go to Spotify, VoiceAmerica.com, BenderConsult.com, Apple, almost all social media platforms and hear this show. So you can share that post, replay it for someone. I'm just letting you know that. And I have to say, hi, Mark. This show has been on 20 years. Can you believe it? 20 years with Voice America. And my great sponsor is Highmark, such a great company that they are. But there's a great person that I always give a shout out to every show, and that's Yoshiko Dart. And Yoshiko, I know you're listening and you know I love you, Yoshiko. Yoshiko, keep leading on the way you do. And speaking of leading on, today is the Bender Leadership Academy show with two superstar Bender Leadership graduates and/or attendees and our own manager that leads the Bender Leadership Academy, Manager of Programs and Partnerships, Scott Hammerstrom. Scott, welcome to the show.

Well, well, thank you, Joyce, and happy Halloween, everyone.

Um, and listen, uh, Scott, we also have these two superstars with us, Jocelyn and Jesse. Jocelyn Mahmood and Jesse Luster. So here's how I would like to start, starting with you, Scott. Would you share with our listeners so that when we talk about the Bender Leadership Academy, they know what we're talking about and also what your role is at the academy?

Sure, absolutely, Joyce. So Bender Leadership Academy, we are a nonprofit organization which was founded in 2018, and our goal is to increase long-term competitive employment for young people with disabilities. So we break it down into like our programs into like 3 components. We have a readiness program which includes our work readiness program, student leaders, our advanced student leaders, and a great program that we just started recently, Artscessibility, to teach arts to our students who have an interest in the arts. We also have a career building program, and that includes our Digital Access Award work, which we teach digital accessibility for, to our students, customer service certifications. We do computer basic certifications and education to employment where we're actually getting our students out there in working part-time, internships, job shadowing. And then we have our mentoring component, which our Bender Mentoring Initiative, which we just launched this year.

We're very excited.

We're getting youth with disabilities finding mentors for them for a 1-year commitment. So we're looking for mentors and mentees to participate 4 to 6 hours a month. And just a wonderful opportunity for both the mentor and the mentee to be together. And of course, we have our Disability Mentoring Day program. Which we just had on the third Wednesday of October. We had over 400 high school students with disabilities who participate in a one-day thing with our companies. I know we have one of the largest ones in the United States. And Bender Leadership Academy also does a lot of different initiatives as well. We have a Rev Up Pennsylvania Coalition that we started to get people with disabilities, get them activated to, to vote. To be engaged in their community. We have a Slaughter Stigma campaign with your friend Karen Slaughter who we partnered up with. And of course the Mary Brucker Mental Health Initiative. We are teaching healthy mind habits in all of our classes. And we started the Not Ashamed campaign where we have people out there creating videos, going out on social media and saying, You know, I am Scott Hammerstrom and I have a mental health disability and I am not ashamed. Or just an ally. So we are trying to get the word out there about that. And, of course, we have the Valerie Jarrett Community Engagement. Again, we are teaching self-advocacy and advocacy and wanting to vote. All those things in our programs. And my job as the manager of Vendor Leadership Academy is make sure all those programs are up and running. We also are responsible for all the initiatives and the fundraising because we can't do these programs without funding and working with our great foundations and sponsors and donors to help provide the funding so we can do these programs to help our young people with disabilities and get them ready for the world of work.

Scott, I have a question. About the mentoring. Where do you live in Pittsburgh if you are doing that?

So, our mentoring, the one-on-one mentoring, we could do this. It could be in person or it could be virtual. So, if you are in Pennsylvania or just right outside of Pennsylvania in, say, D.C. or Delaware, you should still be able to, to be able to mentor because we're going to be looking for folks all over Pennsylvania to, for mentees.

Okay, and I just want to say again, I want to make sure you understand, you know, there are so many young people with disabilities that I believe because of lack of understanding and ableism end up in that school-to-prison pipeline. And this is all about, you know, instilling in young people with disabilities pride, dignity, job preparation, and just being there as a mentor. It's really an important project. So it is only 4 hours a month. That's all, 4 hours a month. As Scott said, if you're here in the— anywhere in the state of Pennsylvania, you can participate because it is virtual. Or of course, you know, one-on-one in person. It's only 4 hours a month to change a life. So please get in touch with Scott at benderleadership.org and go to shammerstrom, H-A-M-M-E-R-S-T-R-O-M, @benderleadership.org and say you want to participate. We want to hear from you. Then I wanted to mention Karen Slaughter. In case you don't know that name, Karen is a worldwide mystery crime author. I forget how many— 30-some million books, copies of her books have been printed around the world. And you've probably seen that TV show, possibly Will Trent. Hey, Will Trent is her character she created. And Karen is a friend of mine, and I asked her if we could use her name, Slaughter, to slaughter stigma, kill stigma. And if you see the Slaughter logo, it has in all the letters unity, pride, happiness. So what I want you to do is go to benderleadership.org and take the Slaughter Stigma Pledge. It will only take you a moment. Make sure you do that and go to the Mary Brooker Mental Health Initiative Not Ashamed for that short video. It's so important, that's why I wanted to explain it all again, and I hope you will move forward. Also, let's move on to our other superstars here. We have Jocelyn. Jocelyn, welcome.

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, how are you today, Jocelyn?

I'm very good. I'm very excited for Halloween.

Oh, you are? That's good. Are you going to be going out for that candy?

Oh yeah, I'm dressing up as a clown. I'm going out with my little sister.

Oh, that is so nice. Well, you be safe. You be safe tonight. Well, Jocelyn, you know I said you're a star. You are. You just spoke at the Heinz History Center for our VIP kickoff for Disability Mentoring Day. And Scott, about how many people attend that?

There is about 150 people in attendance at the event and probably another 70 or 80 people that joined in virtually.

So she spoke in front of all those people and did a fabulous job. You spoke not only as a Bender Leadership Academy graduate, but you are a success story. So what program did you participate in at Bender Leadership Academy, and how are you a success story today?

Okay, so I participated in the certification program where I earned 6 different certifications. I got my ICDL Computer Essentials, RISE UP Customer Service, RISE UP Business of Retail, Certiport IC Living Online, Certiport Key Applications, and Certiport Communication Skills for Business. So with all of that, it really helped me build a career, and I was able to get a job right out of high school thanks to Bender and all of the stuff that I learned with them. And I'm going to start mentoring with Bender hopefully very soon.

Oh, that's great. Well, you know what, you you are an investment and gold mine for the company you're at. That's what I say. You are such a real dynamo and such a wonderful young woman, and I know you're doing a great job. What do you say, Scott?

She absolutely is a dynamo and a rock star, and you're right, Joyce Bender, because you were one of the first people who, like, after Disability Mentoring Day, we talked about the mentoring initiative, and you contacted us like, I want to do that, and, uh, and you signed up and were very much interested. So you, um, yeah, you are amazing.

Yeah, well, I met another superstar, and I was so excited to meet him because he is so impressive, and that is Jesse Lester, who spoke at the Mary Brooker Memorial Golf Outing. But before we talk about that, Jesse, maybe we could start by you telling a little bit about yourself and what program you participated in at Bender Leadership.

Okay, so thank you for the opportunity for me to be on this radio, first and foremost, and for all of our viewers, hi. I'm Jesse. I, I joined the Bender Leadership Academy in June 2023 in the Student Leaders Program.

And how did you like that?

Oh, it was amazing. I learned so, so much about the, about how to be like prepared for resumes, how to go into interviews very successfully, how to dress for success, how to, like, learn workforce skills. And, yeah.

And if I'm right, don't you speak a couple languages?

Yes. So, I am on the language learning app Duolingo, and currently I am learning over 20 different languages.

What do you think about that, Scott? How many do we know, you and me?

I don't speak English and Pittsburghese, so that is very impressive, over 20 languages.

Oh, and I love when Scott met him and tried saying, oh, okay, say something in whatever, and he did. So, and he is such a nice young man, he really is. And Jesse, if I'm right, don't you have a great YouTube channel.

I do, um, and just like how you said this radio show is international, I also went international, and I've actually found in total around 65 different countries we've been actually, um, been available in.

Well, now you can put this podcast out there so that everyone hears you even further. Around the world. Um, hey, I want to go back for a moment to Jocelyn. Uh, Jocelyn, you are right now working, uh, at Calgon Carbon. Would you mind explaining to our listeners what you do? Are you there part-time, internship? What is your situation there?

I'm currently a filing temp in HR.

Mm-hmm. And how do you like that?

I'm helping with different projects. One of my favorite projects is the Celebrating Diversity organized by Kayleen Ritchie, where each month we do something different. Like this month we did breast cancer awareness cookies and thank you cards to overseas troops.

Wow. That is awesome. Kayleen, she is also a superstar. What do you think about her, Scott?

Kayleen is one of my favorite people, and, um, and I was talking to her about Jocelyn, and it was a business need for her. They had this position that they couldn't fill, and they were having trouble, and I, and I, I have the perfect person, and it all worked out. Kayleen goes to all of our student leaders programs for Kellogg on Carbon. She's always at our Disability Mentoring Day, and she's part of our Linda Dickerson Scholarship Committee. So Kayleen, you are a rock star. Thank you.

She is. And anytime I've been, as you just said, to the Bender Leadership Academy classes, she is there. She is just a wonderful, wonderful person. So, Jesse, when I was talking about people doing a great job speaking, you also did a great job speaking at the Mary Brooker Memorial golf outing. Can you tell us about that day and about your message?

Yes, and I actually even have that speech available if you would like me to read it.

Yeah, go right ahead, please.

All right, so that day was amazing. I remember it being a warm, sunny day, and the venue was just absolutely beautiful. And so I'll talk about what my speech was about now. So when I was asked to prepare the speech, I basically did what many of the students my age do when they were asked to give a speech. They went to ChatGPT. But I thought it would be more interesting to hear something generated by AI— or no, not generated by AI, but generated by me rather than AI. I was diagnosed with autism and ADHD while in third grade, but my parents hid this information until I was more mature enough to handle this information. Which was 8th grade. Being unaware, or more accurately, oblivious of my disability for so long has possibly led to more problems over the years rather than if I just knew in the first place. This brings me to my major point: the more we are unaware of an issue, the more things that can go wrong when having to face it. At Bender, I was not alone in my struggles adapting to a fast-changing environment. Instead, many others were just like me. And in need of practical experiences that could be applied outside of the classroom. Student leaders taught my friends and I how to prepare a resume, interview, and successfully gain and retain a job. Thank you, Mrs. Rubin and Ms. Swidop. I was simply unaware of the many details that needed attention in preparing for the current job market. And as I mentioned, the more unaware one is of something, the more problems I can and will formulate when facing it. Another project we completed while at Bender was to make a poster to promote mental health awareness. In completing this poster, I pointed out the correlation between how an increase in education leads to a decrease in crime. However, I modified this data to an increase in mental health awareness and how it may lead to a decrease in bullying and/or at least decrease the stigma associated with mental health. "In August, I recently heard that Simone Biles was back competing after taking 2 years off due to mental health." At that Classic that was when this was actually being spoken, she won the all-around balance beam and floor titles and had the highest score on vault. She finished 5 points ahead of silver medalist Lianne Wong, which is an amazing margin given that this is a sport a sport where tenths often separate first from second place. She finished her performance with a Yurchenko double pike vault, a skill she is the only woman to land in competition. She has also noted to us that, "Today, do what others won't, so tomorrow you can accomplish what others can't." So today, I am here talking about what others won't, which is mental health, and hopefully with this exchange we can accomplish what others can't. That is an awareness and acceptance of those not as mentally healthy.

Wow, that is great. How do you like that, Scott?

Um, just as good as today than it was at the, the GulfCon, in which you, uh, blew everybody away with your, your speech. And I always loved your opening with the ChatGPT, whatever it is. Uh, um, yeah, you And yeah, you get it. And, uh, that's why we're always impressed with you. So, um, you, you've just been an awesome student this year, this summer.

You know what? And the other thing I want to say is, very professional you are. You're like Jocelyn. You're both very professional. Um, and so, you know, I'm just really honored to have you as part of the Bender Leadership Academy. You also received the 2023 Linda Dickerson Scholarship Award. How about that? What did that mean to you?

So I'm honored to have received this award, and I'm grateful to be able to continue the work that Linda Dickerson started, which is standing up for myself and the disabled community.

Yeah, Scott, how do you enjoy when we give these awards out and how would you describe the scholarship?

Well, it's one of my favorite things that I get to do, but you're my boss, Joyce, and sometimes we fight over who gets to make that announcement to the winners. We're always both on, but You know, it is incredible to watch their face because they are always shocked. And a lot of times their family members are there and they are just so proud of their, of their child. And it is just, again, one of my favorite things that I get to do. And, you know, I have been pushing for some sort of scholarship. And I know for our students. And we have been, I think we gave away 37 scholarships so far. Which is very proud of.

And what do kids use that for?

So we use this scholarship for— it could be used for if they go into a college or university, if they're going to like a community college or a trade school. Um, if they're not going to school, they can use it for to get ready for the world of work. If they need a laptop or if they need clothes for interviewing or for work, they can Whatever they need it to, to make them get ready for the world of work, they can use it for. We make it very flexible for them.

What a great thing. Yeah, Scott and I fight to the finish because we both like giving that award out so much, and it is really special just to see and hear how excited everyone is. Well, Oh, I'm so excited! You know why? It's Newsbreak on the Half Hour, and as you know, we have missed our anchor for the past 5 years, Perri Jude Radesic, because she was out with a little procedure that I had— knee replacement. So much fun, but she's back and to have her back. Oh my God, I'm so excited. Perry, welcome back, Perry.

Hey Joyce, thank you. Now we have something absolutely in common, which is total knee replacement.

Yes, yes, we do. And the pleasure of all the rehab that goes with that. Well, I gotta tell you something, Perry, and is it just me that missed you? Our listeners missed you. I even had people ask me, what happened to Perry? I said, oh, she'll be back. She— we are sisters of the heart, so we both had to have a knee replacement. Um, but Perry, we did miss you, and I am so happy to have you back. So, um, let's take it away. What news do you have for us today?

Well, uh, we have a November general election in just one week. Really, it's one week away. Uh, the— this election is focused on local races, uh, like school boards, judges, or city or borough level of officials, maybe a city manager or a treasurer or comptroller, an auditor, or a council member. Now, these local elections, as opposed to when next year we'll be voting on the president and senator and our, our congresspeople, these local elections such as school board elections are crucial for the well-being of the disabled communities. They provide us an opportunity to elect officials who will represent our interests and make decisions that affect our daily lives, like school board members. Uh, they're over— they're responsible for overseeing education in K through 12. And most recently, I think we are associating school board elections with book censorship. So that's even more important that we pay attention to school board elections and School board members also deal with budgets, which we know impact special education or education for children with disabilities. Same thing with local elections for city council members. They impact our quality of life because these officials are making decisions about policing, infrastructure, and transportation. So local elections, even though it's had a lower voter turnout than, let's say, the presidential election, it doesn't diminish its importance in our lives. I really want to encourage everyone to vote next week in our local elections. And we know that there are still barriers to voting for people with disabilities. We get these calls every year of people with disabilities trying to cast a ballot and running into problems. So to help, there's a nonpartisan voter protection coalition that's led by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in conjunction with partner organizations like Disability Rights Pennsylvania that's providing assistance to voters now through Election Day. So we can help with comprehensive information and assistance related to voting. There are legal volunteers that staff these hotlines. From 7 AM to 8 PM every day to answer questions anyone might have. Advocacy matters. Here's the number: 866-R-VOTE. 866-R-VOTE. You could call or text to get voting help now through Election Day. Again, trained nonpartisan lawyers are taking calls to help you vote, make a plan to vote, make sure you know your rights. And can assist you on Election Day with any issues that you may face. These hotlines are in English, Spanish, Asian languages, Arabic languages. If you want to see the list of all of the voting hotlines, go to disabilityrightsPA.org. That's disabilityrightsPA.org. Click on today's Advocacy Matters segment on our home page, and you'll get a list of all of the hotlines and link, uh, to 866rvote.org, uh, to get more information about our right to vote and about Election Day next Tuesday.

And when is Election Day, Perry?

It is next Tuesday, Joyce.

So that is— polls open early. Yep. Uh, yeah, I want to say something that, uh, Perry mentioned. Everyone goes to vote for the presidential election, but this is very important to you. For example, I was talking to Sherrell Barber. Her father is the famous Reverend Dr. William Barber. And she said this now to me over a year ago. She said, remember, civil rights started in the school board room. You see how the school board has the power to determine what your children read or don't read. So I just want to say that is powerful. Do you— don't you agree with that, Perry?

Oh, absolutely. How You know, how on point to talk about civil rights starting with education and with school boards.

Absolutely. And they can vote on accessibility or how to accommodate, you know, the IEP children. I mean, there's so much that happens and starts, and remember, That stays with a child as they're growing up. So please go vote. Local impacts you just as the presidential, but right in your own hometown. Perry, so glad to have you. I can't wait to talk to you next week.

Same here, Joyce. Take care.

It's a great show.

All right. Hey, don't fall going outside trick-or-treating. All right, have a good day. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. She is so awesome. Hey, I wanted to just talk for a moment, Scott, about Linda Dickerson. You know, um, I actually was with Scott. Linda passed away September June 26th, uh, 2020, and I was with Scott that day, and it was that day that I had the idea to start the Linda Dickerson Scholarship Award. Linda was a very close friend of mine for quite a while. She was like a consultant, powerful, uh, in the whole region. She was an advocate for people with disabilities. She lived in downtown Pittsburgh and was a wheelchair user, and she never let anything stop her. She was a very close friend of the late Governor Thornburgh and the former First Lady, Ginny Thornburgh, and did so much with them and was involved in policy and She had the company 501, and what they did is they provided, like, I'll show you, management consulting services and/or strategic plans to not-for-profit organizations. But what I always talk about— talk about powerful— she chaired the boards of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre visit Pittsburgh, and for 2 years she was the CEO of the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. And she was a Carnegie Mellon board member, city brass, so many things she was involved with. She was like the outstanding communicator. She— I would say she was like a strategist. And I, I just love Linda. So when you give this scholarship, you're really honoring someone great. And Scott, how many did we give out last year?

Um, 14 last year, 37 overall since 2020.

Those are $1,000 scholarships given to a student in the Bender Leadership Academy. Would you share with everyone though, it's not that you and I just say, hey, let's do this. How does that happen, Scott?

Oh, absolutely. So you have to be a graduate of one of our classes, a student leaders work readiness, or participate in Disability Mentoring Day. And after you finish that program or Disability Mentoring Day, you have to fill out an application with a couple essay questions regarding who is Linda Dickerson, what they learned out of the Bender Leadership Academy. And then once we get all those applications in, we have a committee that reviews those. And these committees are executives or business leaders out there in the community who do not know these students, so they have to do a good job on their application. And so once they review, they were then recommended a certain amount to get a scholarship. And then Joyce Bender gets the final review to say yes or no. And then once that happens, we schedule up a time to talk to them, and over the phone we get to let them know that they have won an award, the Linda Dickerson Scholarship.

Um, it's such a great thing. And you know, uh, Jesse, when he was talking about, uh, also speaking at the Mary Brocker Memorial Golf Outing. Anyone that knows me knew Mary. Mary was one of my closest friends ever. She was with me since 1995 when I started the company. She actually was with me before that. She traveled with me. She ran around the world with me. You know, if you knew me, you knew Mary. If you knew Mary, you knew me. That's just how it was. So when she tragically died in 2021, it's just devastating. I mean, it wa— and I'll never get over it. I always say about grief, there is no expiration date. So once again, we wanted to honor Mary, and we started the Mary Brocker Mental Health Initiative. Scott already talked about the Not Ashamed campaign. But Scott, if someone is listening right now, then I have another question for you, and they want to donate to the Bender Leadership Academy, what do they do?

So if they want to donate to the Bender Leadership Academy, they can just go to our website, which is benderleadership.org, and right on the front page there, there's a button that's in purple that says donate, and all you have to do is click on there and it will take you 30 seconds. You can click on the amount that you want, and, and you can pick what program that you want. If you want to do it for the Mary Brucker Mental Health Initiative or the Linda Dickerson Scholarship, or, you know, just a general donation, you can choose that as well. Put in your contact information and your card number, and then done. That is all you have to do. And that is how we— the more money that we get, the more students that we will be able to to serve, and because there's a lot more Jocelyns and Jessies out there.

And you know, we are a smaller not-for-profit because we just got started in 2018, and already, you know, we've been getting grants and all these incredibly great things are happening. But if you're— you know, I get people, they come up to me all the time, Joyce, it's so wonderful. What you do for these students, it's so wonderful. But you know how you can really help me? Not just telling me that, make a donation. And parents of children with disabilities, you know that kids with disabilities are bullied more than any other group in America. Help us help them. Help us help them. So go to benderleadership.org, and make a donation today, please. You're helping us help a child. And what is more important than that? So, uh, Jocelyn, you just heard me describe Linda, what a powerhouse Linda was. You also are a past recipient of the Linda Dickerson Scholarship Award. How did that impact you?

Well, winning the Linda Dickerson Scholarship in 2022, it opened so many doors with opportunities for me. I've gotten a chance to publicize my name and it— and give back to my community. And it's just absolutely crazy to think that it all just started with one essay in a classroom. Like, it was just It's absolutely phenomenal, the impact that she has made for so many people. I absolutely loved it.

Do you see how awesome she is, Scott? What's the second thing she mentioned? And now I can give back. That is absolutely, um, so now, Scott, you've seen them from the first time you met them until now. How would you describe the difference? How have they grown? What have you seen?

Yeah, it is night and day, you know, for not just for Jocelyn or Jesse, but from Class 1 to graduation, the growth that you see from them. But the most notable thing you see is their confidence grow. You know, Jocelyn and Jesse, you are on the radio and we ask you, "Absolutely, not a problem," or to speak in front of all these people. Most people in high school, most adults are not comfortable speaking in front of people. So, and that is something that we really teach in our classes is public speaking and speaking in front of your peers. And we get them comfortable doing that. So, So just watching their confidence grow and initiative. Like Jocelyn, you know, before she even got the opportunity at Kellogg on Corbin, you know, she— her teacher called me, Diane Dufour-Gaudio, saying that Jocelyn was looking to do a job shadow. Do you know anybody? And so we figured out there was a company called Covestro for what Jocelyn was interested in doing. So we had her do a 1-day job center there, which led to an opportunity at Calgon Carbon. But if Jocelyn didn't take the initiative to tell her teacher what she wanted to do, none of that would ever happen. So just, again, confidence, the initiative. And Jocelyn knows what she wants to do and is making things happen, which is awesome. And Jesse, you absolutely— blew me away with all of your speeches, especially the one at the, the golf outing. Another challenging speech to give at a golf outing from, again, 120, 125 people there. And just love hearing you speak, and you are also very confident and knowledgeable, and I know you are going to go far in life. So, yeah, I am just in awe of Jocelyn and Jesse. But we have so many Jocelyns and Jessies out there, and, uh, it makes my job just, uh, wonderful. Love, love what I do.

That's why we need you to make a donation. You know, I don't do this very— I, I'm one, I don't like to ask, uh, for funds, but I'm not ashamed to ask for funds for these kids. Remember, vendorleadership.org. These young people are phenomenal. So, Jesse, share with our listeners, what was your favorite part of the Student Leaders Program?

So, it's very difficult to pinpoint a singular favorite part of the Student Leaders Program. I certainly enjoyed the guest speakers and the experiences that they brought, um, the ways to successfully dominate an interview, and, uh, in general, all of the workforce advice I found all very, very beneficial and will make me a very successful candidate, I think, in the job force. And I have to credit that to your program.

Yeah, well, not all, because it's because of you, Jesse, and your initiative and your desire to do your best. It takes two, both sides, to make this successful. Do you agree with that, Scott?

Totally agree. Um, you're not— everybody is different, and, um, you have to do it yourself as well. You got to take control of yourself and pay attention to class and get the, uh, and learn all the things that we're teaching you. So, um, so take credit as well, Jesse and Jocelyn.

Okay, so how about you, Jocelyn? What was your favorite part?

Definitely the conversations. We would sit and talk about how the lessons we were learning could be used in our day-to-day lives. As many of us worked in customer service and retail, at the time I was working in a restaurant as a waitress, it was great to be able to connect with my peers and learn from each other and use those in the workplace.

Yeah, and you, you must have really enjoyed speaking because you and Jesse did a good job.

Definitely is. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I like to do that.

So, Jocelyn, would you— and Jesse, I'll go with you first. Jocelyn, would you encourage other young people with disabilities not to be afraid and join the Bender Leadership Academy?

Absolutely. It has completely changed my life and has given me a better outlook for my future. It's given me so many different ways to cope with how scary the world can be, especially with somebody who suffers from it— or not suffers, that was a bad word— but who lives with a disability. It's completely just given me hope and has changed my life.

How about you? How about you, Jesse?

So for me, I would say it's a hands-down no-brainer for you not to join— for you to join, basically, because the worst thing that one of my teachers told me when I was growing up is to suffer in silence. And why would you suffer in silence when you have all these good resources here to help and assist Jesse, you're going to make my blood pressure boil here.

That is terrible. Someone said that to you. Terrible. What is wrong with any educator that would do that? Well, little did they know that not only would you not suffer in silence, but you would be on an international radio show, have your own YouTube, learn all these languages, speak in front of people. So, every young person listening right now with a disability, don't you ever listen to that advice. Tony Coelho, author of The ADA, taught me something. Joyce, when you get the chance to take the podium, speak up. And I do speak up. Jocelyn and Jesse, thank you so much for joining us today. I love both of you. You are so awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, well, Scott, uh, I always love having you on. I want to tell you about Scott, okay? Again, for those of you thinking to donate, it's good to know what people are really like that are the leaders. He loves these young people. He is passionate about this program. I mean, He loves it. He just loves it. So keep that in mind when you're thinking about donating today. Benderleadership.org. Scott, what message do you have for our listeners today?

Well, first of all, I mean, happy Halloween. Be safe out there. Thank you for listening. And as you mentioned, please donate. Go to our website, Benderleadership.org. And if you are not able to donate, go to our, go to social media and follow us on Facebook, or Instagram, or LinkedIn.

You know, if you could do that, that would be great.

And like I said, there is a lot more Jessies and Jocelyns out there that we are not able to reach yet. You know, we are trying to expand, and we cannot do that without support. So, thank you.

Thank you, Scott. Well, we end every show with a quote, and I cannot think of anyone better today to use than Mr. Rogers, who said, "Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me." Oh, so true. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice: Where Disability Matters at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week, and remember, in the words of Mary Brooker, when you go out today, choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11:00 AM 10:00 AM Pacific time and 2:00 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.