“We’ve found that many families see the value in having these critical conversations with their young adults, but are intimidated, and don’t know where to begin the discussion.”

BY ASHLEY PARISH

PALS Community
Development Associate

2020 has been a year full of learning, growth, and patience. We’ve had to adapt and be flexible when dealing with the challenges that have come our way. While we were disappointed that we couldn’t go to camp this summer, we made the best of our circumstances, and had an awesome time connecting with one another through PALS Community and weekly Zoom events. While it’s been frustrating to adjust to many of these changes, this year has given us the opportunity to reflect and improve. And throughout our highly unusual summer filled with various opportunities for virtual connection, another group of amazing volunteers had been working on a behind-the-scenes project as well: They are the PALS ICAR team.

ICAR stands for “Inclusive Conversations About Race.” While we talk about racism in our classrooms, workplaces, and in the media, people with disabilities are often left out of these conversations. Our peers with Down syndrome deserve to be a part of these discussions, and stand to benefit, as we all do, from addressing things like inclusion and racism. Over the course of this summer, the ICAR team met weekly to develop activities and find resources to make these conversations less intimidating. They took time to reflect upon their own experiences and biases, and worked to find meaningful ways to facilitate these conversations with our PALS community.

“We expect our community to treat one another with respect, and we encourage our community to stand up for one another, so that all people feel welcome at PALS.”

One highlight of their work was the creation of Camp Commitments, an activity where all of camp will come together to discuss expectations for how we treat one another, so that everyone feels valued and included at PALS. These commitments include concepts such as, “we stand up for one another” and “we are open minded, and willing to learn from our mistakes and each other.” The Camp Commitments activity will also provide an opportunity for all participants to reflect on their experiences and develop a list of expectations for themselves, so they are always bringing the best version of themselves to camp. Camp Commitments will serve as a reminder of PALS values, and will encourage us to celebrate one another. We are so excited to implement this programming as a feature of our camps moving forward, and we hope that our participants take these ideals with them into their communities beyond PALS.

In addition to Camp Commitments, the ICAR team worked hard to create an Interrupting Bias guide. A bias is the idea that we have preconceived views about something, someone, or a group of people. These beliefs tend to influence our decisions and opinions. Biases are often subconscious, meaning that we aren’t often aware that we hold these beliefs, but they do reflect in how we interact with others. While many biases are innocent or unintentional, they can be very harmful to others, and make communities less welcoming and inclusive.

The Interrupting Bias resource teaches us about the biases we carry, how they are harmful towards members of our communities, and how we can work past them. We recognize that everybody has biases, and that people can’t just “turn them off.” However, it’s critical that we reflect on the biases we hold, so that we are mindful when we interact with others, and treat every person with the respect they deserve. Moving forward, we will be implementing the ICAR team’s Interrupting Bias work into our training and programming, so our community can reflect and improve. We expect our community to treat one another with respect, and we encourage our community to stand up for one another, so that all people feel welcome at PALS.

Another important piece of the ICAR work was the development of a resource guide to share with our community. This guide includes different tools, such as videos, cartoons, slideshows, and websites, to help us understand racism ourselves, and to help us teach others about social issues in a way that is straightforward and easy to understand. We’ve found that many families see the value in having these critical conversations with their young adults, but are intimidated, and don’t know where to begin the discussion.

The goal of the resource guide is to empower our community with the tools they need to facilitate these meaningful discussions, so that our friends with Down syndrome aren’t left behind. We want everyone to be included in our conversations about inclusion. We recognize that these conversations are never easy, but the ICAR team worked together to make these concepts more accessible. We are excited to share this valuable resource with our community in the near future.

PALS was created to promote a world of inclusion and belonging, and the ICAR team is furthering that mission. Their work has encouraged us to reflect upon our mistakes, and has helped us develop a path forward, so we can learn from those mistakes and continue to grow. While PALS is inclusive for people with Down syndrome, we want to ensure we include all people and celebrate their diversity. That is the true goal of inclusion, and we’re excited to have our community join us on this journey.