Traveling exhibit shows challenges faced by those with developmental disabilities — and progress made
ST. PAUL, Minn. — It's something 1 in 10 Minnesotans live with every day: A disability. When it comes to how people with disabilities are treated, there's a grim history -— and the hope of a bright future.
It's art that's important to see. It's art that's hard to see, too. Images of children and adults chained to wheelchairs, isolated in beds, in institutions. There are also images of people crawling because there are no ramps to get into public buildings.
In Minnesota, the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities has partnered with the Department of Employment and Economic Development to put the brutal truth on bold display with a mobile exhibit they are placing in public buildings and large corporations around the state.
"History can show you where we came from and it shows you how far we've come," Evan Rowe with DEED said.
And one big stride is that more people with different learning styles are getting jobs. Belo Cipriani, who is blind, owns a digital inclusion company - 90% of his employees also have disabilities.
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"People with disabilities, we are creative, we are often navigating a world that's not designed for us so the world is looking for new ways to achieve things to complete things," Cipriani said.
He is one of the first to use the state's new program, Employer Reasonable Accommodation Fund, which gives employers money to make their workplace accessible for employees with disabilities, paying for ASL interpretation, brail translation and ramps.
"Most companies want to do the right thing, they want to bring Minnesotans with disabilities into the labor force, they want to bring you into their workforce, this makes it a little easier," Rowe said.
The disability history exhibit is touring around the state. This week, it's at Hormel in Austin.