Want more information on why we encourage our residents to use Social Media? Well, many different organizations serving individuals with developmental disabilities here in Colorado who use the word “community” in either their mission statement or even as part of their name. It is in Imagine!’s mission statement.
Social Media is all about community. There are groups out there on the internet for every interest, hobby, or pastime you can think of, and a lot more you probably never thought of. And technology has made accessing those communities relatively easy, even for those with significant disabilities. So it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for organizations with a stated mission of providing community access and opportunities for people with disabilities to not at least explore this new avenue of access to communities.
Is having consumers engage in Social Media is a risk-free endeavor? Of course not. But neither is taking a consumer to the recreation center, or to a baseball game, or even to work. We all accept those risks as part of what we do because we think it is important to provide opportunities for community interaction, and we take steps to mitigate those risks. Why can’t we do the same for Social Media?
And here’s an even more important consideration, the main reason Imagine! encourages consumers to use social media. In the virtual world, a person’s disability is invisible. Say, for example, a consumer joins a Facebook group dedicated to the Denver Broncos. All the other people in the group just see the consumer as a fellow fanatic – someone just like them. The consumer can engage in these online communities and conversations without barriers and without judgment. That meets Imagine!’s mission and goals in an incredible powerful, and empowering, way.
No comments:
Post a Comment