Patrick Worth's Story
by Patrick Worth
As a little boy, I remember being told by my parents that I would be going to a special school for kids who were identified as retarded children. I had always thought of myself as a burden to my parents but I didn't understand why they were sending me to a school that was way out of my neighborhood. As a young boy I didn't understand very much about segregation, but I knew that I was thought of as the child who couldn't learn anything.
I remember one time, challenging my special ed teacher to teach me how to read and write. She kept telling me that I couldn't learn how to read and write. I finally spoke up and just said to her, "Is it because I can't learn or is it because you can't teach?" She put me in the corner for that. I remember feeling so humiliated, being punished like that in front of the other kids for sticking up for my right to learn.
I never learned how to read and write within that system. It was not because I couldn't learn. It was because I was not given the right to learn and in an inclusive sitting. I got on that segregated bus every day, said good bye to my brothers and sisters and watched them from the window as they walked to the neighbourhood school with their friends. I didn't have any friends in my community. I remember sitting out on the porch at night, watching the kids play street hockey, wishing that I could be invited to play, I never was invited. I was thought of as a person who couldn't make friends. Who do I get angry at? Do I get angry at the kids for not giving me a chance or do I get angry at the parents for teaching the kids that I was too different?
I grew up without having friends in my community. I was a lonely child who had to bear the cross of being labeled a retarded child. That label followed me into adulthood. As a young adult I was put into a segregated group home and I went to a day program, a segregated sheltered workshop. I was thought of as a person who could not make my own decisions, live or work among other people. The people who were in my life at that time were people who were labeled as I was and people who were paid to provide a segregated service. I was also getting a disability pension at the time. I remember the humiliation of what I had to do in order to receive those funds. I had to get my doctor to sign on a medical form that I was permanently unemployable. I was always permanently something but never permanently a human being. My life was completely congregated and controlled by people who didn't believe in me.
I was in that system for several years. I remember one time in the sheltered workshop, I call them slave camps! I was challenging the manager about why I wasn't getting a job. I was told on my first day that this was a training program, I would only be there for a few months and that I would get a job. A few months developed into several years. When I first challenged the manager, he told me that my work production was not good enough. I was there every day, licking envelopes, packaging diapers, assorting screws. Really ridiculous boring jobs, but my work production was not good enough. The second time I challenged him, he told me that if I was to leave, the work production would slow down. So all of a sudden I became over qualified for doing things like licking envelopes. I was also getting paid ten dollars a week. When I think about that, I think about all the stories that black people have told about working in segregation for the whites, or how women were told by men that the best place for them would be in the home, cooking their meals, cleaning the house and having children. As it has been for black people, women and a lot of other people who have been discriminated, we have had to stand up for our rights and make sure that our voices are heard. When I was in my thirties I was able to take an integrated adult literacy program and learn to read and write.
Why did I miss out on those opportunities when I was a child? It could have made such a huge difference. Why did I have to wait until I was in my thirties? Today I am a public spokesperson for people who have been labeled. I run my own business with the support of a great network of people who believe in me, my business is called Worth Consulting and I travel across Canada and other countries to speak about the right of people with disabilities to lead a fully inclusive life by sharing my story with many audiences and I get paid as a consultant for my work. This is very special to me. I get paid a living wage for something I have always wanted to do. I am an educator! I do believe that I do influence people and I speak very passionately about inclusion for all. I also work two days a week at Options.
My role at Options is as a self advocate and my responsibility is to give people such as parents, the individuals who receive support from Options the benefit of my experience by telling my story and helping people to think about what their dreams are. Their own dreams of independence and how other people play a role in helping people who have been labeled to achieve their independence, gain control of their lives and helping them to be able to make decisions that will empower them as real citizens. This job was designed for a self advocate. This type of job does not exist in any other agency within the Human Services. My personal Congratulations and thanks to FSA Toronto for making such a difference within the Human System.
Thanks to all of the people who have taken the journey to believe in me and continue to walk through the journey of inclusion with me.
You have all made a wonderful difference in my life. I hope I have made a difference in yours. Let's continue to walk along the path together.
