THE DIGNITY OF RISK
(A parent whose son is in a supported work program in Richmond, VA)

What if you never got to make a mistake?

What if your money was always kept in an envelope where you couldn’t get it?

What if you were never given a chance to do well at something?

What if you were always treated like a child?

What if your only chance to be with people different from you was with your own family?

What if the job you did was not useful?

What if you never got to make a decision?

What if the only risky thing you could do was to act out?

What if you couldn’t go outside because the last time you went it rained?

What if you took the wrong bus once and now you can’t take another one?

What if you got into trouble and were sent away and you couldn’t come back because they always remember your “trouble”?

What if you worked and got paid $.46 an hour?

What if you had to wear your winter coat when it rained because it was all you had?

What if you had no privacy?

What if you could do part of the grocery shopping but weren’t allowed to do any because you weren’t able to do all of the shopping?

What if you spent three hours every day just waiting?

What if you grew old and never knew adulthood?

What if you never got a chance?

From Changing Expectations/Planning for the Future: A Parent
Advocacy Manual, Dorothy Sauber, published by Association
For Retarded Citizens Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 10/89
Thomas E. Pomeranz, Ed.D. • President and CEO
8126 Wellsbrook Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46278
Voice: (317) 871-2092 • Fax: (317) 871-2096 • tpomer@aol.com www.universallifestiles.com