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Participants

This section features audio excerpts and transcripts from interviews with past and present participants in national service programs.

Experienced in service and knowledgeable about the benefits and barriers to the inclusion of people with disabilities, these participant-consultants offer perspective that is crucial to successful inclusion. Their service has occurred in rural, urban, and suburban communities and has addressed the education, health, public safety, environmental, and other human needs of communities.

All of the participants identified to me as having a disability. Some have disabilities that are visible, and some do not. Some have had a disability all of their lives, and many have not. They represent a variety of disabilities, ages, backgrounds, life experiences. One thing they have in common is that they have served in communities across the country.

I asked each participant what they had contributed and gained by serving; what, if any, reasonable accommodations were made to enable their participation; and how they would advise service programs to increase participation of people with disabilities.

Please note that the opinions expressed and language used belong to the individual, none of whom should be read as spokespeople for all people with disabilities. For an overview of this project, findings, and recommendations, go to field essay.

Click on a name to read and hear clips from the interviews. Audio clips can be listened to with RealPlayer by clicking on the RealAudio Clip icon like the one at right. If you do not have RealPlayer, you can download it from www.real.com -- make sure to get the free trial version!

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©The National Service Inclusion Project is a cooperative agreement (#01CAM0016) between the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston in collaboration with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities.