Hear Me!

I'm Steven Schumacher, I work for Errol at Trunks, my hobbies are still shoeing, rafting, skiing and I have a learning disability. Who will come to meet me or other people with disabilities? I think I should act naturally and not talk like that. them like a child and don't use them like oh you're so sweet oh you're your child don't act like I'm a real human being and a normal adult my name is Kim Frank ranchers yeah, I'm in I gnar I'm a student you know, I'm a mentor, a fairly new student who lives with me, so yes, I live because I will still have two roommates.

I have my life, so I spend until I wish your sister was, it's not right. My phone hurts when she is in my

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t. I'm Jonah Vandiver right now. I am going to Melons Community College to pursue my degree in business and communications to become a motivational speaker. I love biking, skiing, biking, basically, you name it. Put my horse on I end up doing it and I'm a double, you see, I don't laugh when people you know treat me like I'm a child or I don't understand their concept of what they're trying. Please explain to me that it has happened so many times in my life where people see me and say oh well they don't understand why he looks different or talks different I completely understand what you are saying my name is Russell layman I am a poet, author of motivational speakers and advocate that some of my hobbies include working, learning, improving myself as an individual and as a man, and I happen to have autism, but autism doesn't have me when I'm shutting down, I can come. so cold or distant during these times I just need you to come up and ask me how I feel hello I'm Jacob Aaron I'm the state president of people first the president of the Winnemucca chapter people first I'm also on the Council of the Governor for Developmental Disabilities I enjoy camping, hiking and fishing.

By the way, I have a disability too, actually we do. respect, treat me with respect, hello, I mean, Xena, I'm coming to you and our. I love swimming. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan. I love Pokémon and I have a disability. Don't come and offend me. Can I not look? artistic I don't look good artistic because I don't have autism well Tessa is a disability you can Tracy the only way it bothers me is that there is ignorance in the world but I mean I just know it's not really a concern of mine if If they want to know about my autism, then I'd love for you to tell them, but if not, I mean, what am I supposed to do with you?

Don't look to bet. I mean, it's okay. Oh, every day is. It's even more of a challenge because people don't know that I'm fighting, yes, every day. I struggle mentally inside my brain and it's agonizing. I just learn differently and act differently to different things, like sounds, not loud noises, different objects, different people have. I find it difficult to communicate. I see different things in a different way than other people see them. Can autistic people feel empathy? I can't speak for all autistic people, but I'm on the spectrum. I can feel too much empathy. Like Let's say I'm hyposensitive when it comes to physical pain, meaning I don't really feel much physical pain, but I'm hypersensitive when it comes to emotional pain, so I'm going to be a very emotional creature just because I have autism, I don't It prevents you from feeling emotions and in some ways, in fact, it is exactly the opposite.

I'm almost like an emotional burn victim. I am very sensitive to emotions, empathy, sympathy, whatever they are for me. I would say I'm the MC, but since I know that for autistic people I would say that they go through very difficult times, why are you walking funny to me? You know, since I'm MPC, it's a lot more different than someone who has legs Well, I found out that all people are different in how they walk, this is a reminder for me and who they are, who they are born, how they are born and this is how they recruit , created and some people.

Ask me why I walk well, well why do you walk? Find yourself. I see people walk in different ways and the way they walk doesn't matter to me. Well, you know, there is tension. I mean, I'll be walking in a mall or an amusement park or. something in a can randomly came up to me and started touching my legs and said, you know what happened, why don't you have legs, why are they different, you know, and I'll explain to them, you know, I've had a few. a lot of problems when I was about your age and I couldn't walk, so my friend got new ones and he became a transformer, so when I was younger I would go to a wild island in Reno and swim without my legs and I put my legs up and yelled shark and all this, one of the kids would just stop and then run off, freaking out and not face me so they wouldn't lock on me, so that's all I can remember.

Yes, he was dear to them, I am always happy. I am sometimes happy, but sometimes a-a-a-sometimes because I am emotional at some points, but mostly if something doesn't go the way I want or just something like that, sometimes I can just calm down and go with the flow General statements like always be something are not beneficial to society or individuals. Just because someone has a label or a disability doesn't mean they're always going to be this or that, that they're going to experience ups and downs. of life like everyone else people with intellectual disabilities have relationships I would say yes because if you never really said that you feel love for another person, I would say that saying it feels good, you feel good about yourself and also about other people, you know when it all comes down to anyone on earth, any individual animal has relationships, anyone and any living being can have a relationship.

You know, I was obviously a person too, so yes, we can have relationships, whether romantic or platonic. I think people need to think more about their questions and instead of wanting to gain knowledge about disabilities by asking specific questions, I think they should get to know the person with the disability and then make the information flow at a natural time by identifying specific questions like this . person with a disability right away and you just know it doesn't really help and you're competing with the stereotypes and the stigma that surrounds disabilities, they can really understand who you really are and they can really understand how you feel and how there's a lot of things. of things we should do to help each other.

I believe relationships are beneficial in many different ways. You know, giving the best of yourself to someone and having them give the best to you and being able to grow if it's a romantic relationship. grow as a couple and as individuals at the same time and push each other to be the best people you can be when it comes to friendship, have that sense of support and comfort and experience life at a higher level of being when you are with someone you are with. You really enjoy spending time with relationships that enhance our human experience. They reveal what it means to be a human being, an individual, and an individual with a disability.

They give you an idea not only of what you are capable of doing, but also of who you are and who you are. When you're in a relationship, whether it's platonic or romantic, you discover more about who you are deep down and I think that's extremely beneficial for fair people throughout society and earning a salary, um, well, I think that's one thing. I'm sure everyone thinks about that I work for K'Ehleyr electrons company and I get good pay I get Eagle benefits I have legal rights I may be doing a simple job but to me it's a job that someone has to do and has to do and When people think of people with disabilities they think that I will host the workshops well or that they cannot do a simple task which is not true all people with disabilities can do simple tasks I have been working for my job for almost four years now it has been five and for a person with a disability to keep a job is very difficult.

I have a good supervisor who understands that I have to work different hours than other people, but that doesn't mean it's much different for me, able-bodied people. having to work different hours, so for me, working with a disability and working with a company that moves quickly, I found my difficulties, but in the end it's a great day overall. I'm excited, I was motivated, I was able to work awake. I got up early that first day because I had to be at work at five in the morning and be able to get ready, yeah, get going, I'm ready, it was that moment where my company said we want you here, they didn't.

They saw me with a disability as much as anything else and they opened the doors for me and that day, after my first job, I came home and felt very happy, excited to come back the next day and keep going. Admission to TMCC Truckee Meadows Community College. and get my difference in business and communications and work towards becoming a motivational speaker. I always travel around the world and share my story about my disabilities and my experiences in my life where people won't be able to understand that despite that. I've been through so much that there's no excuse for me to give up, at least I tried.

I was at IIT at McQueen High School for about a year, so we went around fixing monitors that went up and down or CPUs that had to be replaced or ribbon cables that weren't fully connected, so we checked every day to make sure it was working perfectly before the teachers or students arrived and made sure it was a great day and there were no problems. So it was amazing, just like those of our elders live independently. No, they may know. I have my own place. I have lived there for almost three years. I do my own shopping at the supermarket.

I do my own daily tasks alone. People with any disability can do it. be independent although they may need help but from time to time but not all the time I say people should go on their own like I am now because I have two roommates or in a house what I did I did my own shopping to make my own list of coffee sometimes I don't need help, well, not with a parent, just myself, parent, your parents like it, or your guardian, or the people around you, or not to be around you, as long as they are there I mean, someday they will be gone and you need to trust yourself and maybe another family member, but most of all your parents won't be here while we are and intellectual disability is a disease.

I just don't know how to respond to this because they You're so stupid, I mean, come on, I mean, come on, what is an intellectual disability? It is a disease? You know, I hope I never come into contact with someone like that. He thinks I don't know. I feel like I don't know. I even want to waste my energy addressing that here so one name um I don't always need help with everything my parents are actually my guardians they have my home financially and they live like Manzo Ben I don't drive so mom and dad Anywhere she speaks slowly or I speak to you with butter, not at all because I can

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people very well if people say join your talk loudly, you say no.

I can hear very well. Can you have sex? Well, yes, I can, but I would. More like not because I don't want to have children. I wasn't in a relationship a while ago, but she physically and mentally abused me. Yeah, I just couldn't. We got up, bought a house together and it was just horrible. mm-hmm I just couldn't stand that, once stressful, my fiancé's ex-husband Joel passed away a couple of years ago and she had no one and we just got together and two years later we are doing great, can they be, yeah , it can be very difficult. yes, people call me the work of art many times, it hurts me a lot and I can't, I can't talk about it so bad, I feel extremely offensive and here at Hearst it's completely, I'm just tired of lack of understanding and even when people try to understand it, they still can't understand it, let's say they've been through it themselves, so I guess it's frustrating knowing that no one will ever know what I went through personally, I'll never know.

We know what you go through, we only know what we go through and that can be the most frustrating part is the lack of connection and being able to relate to someone because no one will ever know what we went through and that's a little discouraging, but it's also at the same time a challenge to be looked at and say hey, you know I'm going to do this anyway, although yeah, no one will ever know what I went through, you know I'm going to talk anyway because you know, the only failures are not trying. . I was elected Nevada's first state fuel chair and am also on the Governor's Council for Developmental Disabilities.

What it means to me is that I can. I feel like you can do a lot in the community. people first that helps me a lot as I am doing now before people first. I could never do what I'm doing now. I could never speak in front of people and introduce myself and I'm doing it now. I never could. I did that before people 14 years ago. I was terrified of the outside world. I only talked to my parents and you know I had a severe speech impediment, so it's ironic to think how I went from, you know, asmall child scared and unintelligible to you.

I know this young man from the company who is more comfortable speaking in front of hundreds of people than I am one on one and he just feels the vibe of the crowd and delivers my message and I've been on an extraordinary journey and I'm finally coming out of the deep valley in the that I've been trapped most of my life and you know I'm ready, I'm ready to get out there and you know, just live life to the fullest and you know, have a wild, wild ending. I would describe my disability as a gift that was extremely difficult to figure out how to open, but once I figured out how to open it, you know, I used the incredible positive aspects and the negative aspects that I also used to learn to accept my challenges because you know that it really promotes personal growth, so I would describe my disability as a blessing in disguise, definitely, definitely, you know.

There is no way I would ever say I wouldn't wish I had my disability. You know I love it because this made me the man I am today, the only thing I wish didn't happen with this when it comes to my disability is the effect it can have on my loved ones and my family and friends seeing them see me go through difficult times that break. my heart, well, it's like Kevin Costner ISM with a good dent, it's a free mind and don't be small and then change your job, the person I have in the habit is just having fun because I was born this way, I won't do it. be the same person at all no, no, we did it with some person, no one just wants to say, but if I don't have dollars to do this, not myself, if someone likes our tools, don't space out, like no I would have danced them or I would not have been artistic with someone.

They shouldn't say that Custer if this season like our word tears on his face he had autism or Down syndrome is I don't want anyone to say the r word it's just reserve my heart if someone sits in front of me I don't want to be too soon it hurts a lot and a times you blink your heart out and it's not cool so no one knows if his work of art so I don't appreciate that he has what they call fetal alcohol and when he was when he was a baby. my biological mother, I drank when she was in it, my discipline is extremely soft than others, the only thing I have problems with is money management, but other than that, you couldn't tell everything and I wanted to be part of my two Guardians. now they thought it was my finances when I need help don't help me balance a checkbook what not without them I couldn't do anything I left my answers at all I can't join the army I am I'm happy with this something that was a part of me my whole life and just go home to my wife and deal with it a bit.

I have a learning disability, it's almost like a slow, worn out computer and when you have a slow computer it's hard to download things and it's hard to communicate and difficult it's challenging I have a hard time reading math and subjects it's really hard for me to learn something the simple but it doesn't rain It means I can't not learn I can learn with just one in a different way I would never wish I didn't have a disability it's part of who I am it's part of my character it's part of my life I won't change anything not having a disability this is how he was born I was born this way and some are really special and we are all different and there is a part of me that is different.

I have a disability, besides that, I was a normal person, but with a learning disability that you can't see, but it's there, you know, I don't really consider my disability as a disability, I mean, really for me, my only disability is the stairs, you know? I mean, I'm very active and I do so many things. I get so involved in so many things that yes, there are so many people who are impressed because they think you could do that. you could drive you are able to do everything on your own and you know that something happened to one of your family members and you were alone you know they are doing it you don't know stock/you can't do things your mind is perfectly fine, you are able to do as much as anyone else, probably the best thing is that I can show it to others who think their life is over because you know they may have gone into the military and one of their legs or arms. flown and you know, do it like that with mine.

I know when I'm showing them that I'm going to do it and they have no excuse for someone who knows how to surf or how to shore bench or how to hike or at least try to do something. that they think it would be a lot of fun and they really have no excuse because they might want to make it as hectic as possible because there have been times where you know I would have been interested in, you know, why don't we feel like it? have legs, but then as the years go by, you know, I realized that I'm going to do like anyone else, you know, just because I know the schemes and it doesn't stop me from trying my hardest and trying to achieve a goal that I I've set, you know, driving and on my license, going out and doing things.

You know it won't stop me. If I want to do it, I would do it. I want to make a living dancing and become not only a game. developer but become a video game when I said at least not just develop games to allow other people and combine to be able to create a good business out of it. I can give my first job until I was 23 just two years ago as I work part time and I am doing ABA therapy with a little boy with autism and I am currently still doing that and I also have a full time job that I got a year ago and I struggle , you know, every day. with my jobs, but like I said, I usually keep to myself, but I have an amazing support system at work and, you know, obviously I need accommodations, but I'll do anything that doesn't allow me to, however, my long-term career goal term. which is coming to fruition very quickly is a motivational speech that I did on sight the first time, it was great, but when I mentioned that I had a disability, they were afraid they wouldn't want me there the first time, a few months later, I got a phone call from my parents was Arrow Electronics calling and they said, "Well, we have a job for him, but we need you to apply for a 10-inch Timbit receipt and I applied for it and worked for a while for six months, and after six months, actually little more than that, they hired me on December 24th and told me that they wanted me to work for them and that I can be an Arrow employee until the 24th of summer and they have been there for almost four years now.

I said that Pick runner is still around. at work, so I had a great time, coworkers, I stayed with these wonderful coworkers, I had bosses come and go and the fence changed, my place has changed over the years and, um, but doing different tasks. and that kept me busy and raised me and I get the same benefits. for anyone else since high school um I work in my business and yeah we have some stores like want a pizza or ten rounds and bullets. I graduated from high school and have no desire to go to college. I graduated and worked in a restaurant for two or three years and then I quit to have a paying job at this store and one, oh my gosh, I've been there since 2006 and I have no desire to leave and it's the best job I've ever had.

I know it pays well. but I am sure that all my coworkers are great friends of mine. I really enjoy being there. It's a great place to work. It is fun. It means they would be interesting people. I love interesting. Everything that the merchandise contains. It's just a lot of fun, my passion really is traveling around the world and sharing my story with other people who were afraid of not being able to go out and show the world that they are capable of doing something even though they are pretty. Many think that they don't do it because there could be someone or several people who give them that negativity of not being and when they set a goal and then what I want to do is at least become, you know, that motivation for them to show it to them. .

Hey, I don't have legs or I have four fingers and I can, you know, walk on computers, fix drones, I mean anything I put my mind to and I practice and practice. I never do it. I took online courses at TMCC due to the fact that I had been diagnosed with PTSD from my previous experience in public school and so I was too afraid to go into the classroom or something. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life at that time so I just did it to keep my mind sharp, however you know the cost, you know I wasn't actually going to get any kind of degree and I had to pay so much money .

I decided to drop out of school and take a second look at my life and that's it. when I came across you, I expressed myself, whether it was writing poetry, writing song lyrics or public speaking, which I eventually came to the conclusion that I would pursue higher education, didn't really play a vital role in my life. I've always been kind of self-taught, so I always, you know, I write it, I read all kinds of textbooks on my own, so, because I left public school after fifth grade, you know I had them, you know I had them. had.

I don't really expect to get my college degree and I think I've gone through what I've learned enough for life and to support what I do now without having the degree of knowledge. I ended up going to you in the heart of the past independence. program I. Possibly I am progressing in my first year of university and now I am focused on my future and where I am going to go now from my future and where my future would hide next. The public opinions program has taught me a lot. Things about how, you know, just take notes, but to always be more independent, it's a lot of fun for UM to be there, not just for independence, there's life skills, there's like a ratified job and killing Savage is coming up to me and, most importantly, most importantly.

It's trying to figure out how to live on campus and how to get around to manage time, and Chalice added that it's more than a bidding war. I'm big, bigger than people say, I just want to go to college, have my own experiments so I can do my homework in time to catch up, so the song called conch wake up and I just go to college and learn stops. I went to the University of Iowa and took part in a two-year program called reach, which makes sense to recognize the prayerful hopes in education that led me to where I learned community living skills job skills money management independent living skills and then I got a career focus area and business support and I was able to live on a big tan campus I was able to live in the dorms that I met There were a lot of new people, it was a mix of people with disabilities and people who didn't live on campus and They lived in the bedrooms.

I went to sporting events. I went to watch all the football games. Basketball. I joined a group at the University called cab Campus Activity Board. and helped organize campus-wide activities for all students. For me, the University of Iowa opened its doors for people with disabilities to come to school. Now I'm working and living on my own and it's been wonderful, oh, five years of living on my own, I'm not a problem in ology, so it's a lot smaller than the university, so you know, I'm meeting all kinds of different people from different backgrounds and just getting involved in all these different types of English comics prototype classes. ceramics and art classes, you know, and then being able to take communication classes definitely helps me with the public speaking part of my career, so you know it's really fun because I get to experience it and it's not costing me a ton of money.

I'm indebted to a lot of new people that you meet, being able to meet someone who doesn't know anything about you and then you know when you explain to them why I'm different, you know it even when they ask and you know why I always tell my story. what's happened to me and why don't I have legs or why do I have four fingers on each hand is really cool I love it yeah I've been in relationships before I haven't had many friends and that's okay but you know my family is there for me and I am my best friend and I am satisfied to be single.

I am satisfied that I do not have many friends. I am pleased to have a very loving family and I am lucky to be able to say that. The Meri Wides always have a lot of fun and always hug themselves. Cora is the love of my life, but they don't bump into him every time they fight, they never break up, when I said it. I... Me and Scarlett Carter are the most important person. In my life I have a fiancee, her name is Amy, she is a very nice girl, yes, for me, she is wonderful, she is always happy and they have even been together for two years and we have a lot of fun, we go for walks every weekend of the week and it's a lot of fun, I enjoy it, we've been together for two years and we haven't had a fight, since we've been together, not one and I don't know how many people can say that, but my mother and my father have.

She has been helping me since I was born, my sister, even though she lives in Colorado, I can always honor her and when mom and dad are not around my grandmother, even though she is older now, she is still with me and, but years later, she is part of my , is still separated. of my team and then I have good friends. I have a friend of mine, Scott, who I've been Oh, since he was in high school, my cousins, thoughThey live out of state, they are very supportive of me and then my coworkers at work. give me a motivation, I have a special coworker at work who likes me, but it's also a nervous motivation.

I mean, when I was at the University of Iowa, my first girlfriend we hooked up and then we were dating for almost five years, but then we stayed in touch, we're not together anymore, but we're still good friends. I pretty much call my friends Team Stephen, so my teammates would come and go, others would come in and others might leave and and but not that. It doesn't mean they're gone forever, just saying that other people could come into life and have that strong team made me be here today. I am a self-advocate without them. I want, baby, every week, a cell phone.

I have the The Southern War Award was last year in October and without them I can't beat that award and I think of him every time I see that I surpassed my team. I am very grateful for my parents for thank you for that for the DD Council the members of the DD Council are always there supporting me and they make me laugh, they make me smile and every media I go into, when I'm supposed to take charge, I take charge and they also keep me going, you know, the relationships with me are the ones you can Go and call him as many times and they will be there for you, mainly, that would be my best friend, as you know, if I need to call my parents from Harold at two in the morning right away and you had that connection with him, if you need it.

I'm there outside of that, so it's just yeah, it really is like that, yeah.