A Busy Summer at 6 Wheels!

This summer has been pretty eventful at 6 Wheels, and there’s more to come!

I left for Denver for the No Barriers Summit on August 23rd, where I participated in the summit and provided consultation as well! I looked at the new space for the No Barriers Summit to help ensure it was fully accessible and inclusive.

On August 30th, I was a panelist on the Shine the Light Inclusivity Webinar, where we discussed inclusivity in design.

I have quite a few upcoming trips planned both locally and out of state. From September 5th-8th, I’ll going to Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, TN, to do an assessment of three parking space structures and help them improve their parking facilities. Locally, on September 27th, I’m going to speak about disability in the workplace at the African American Credit Union.

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, and I have several events coming up related to that. On October 5th, I’m doing a speaking engagement with VA Housing around disability in the workplace as well. On October 13th, I’m also doing a lunch-and-learn with Coastal Credit Union around disability in the workplace from noon to 1 p.m.

If you or anyone you know is looking for a speaker for Disability Employment Awareness Month, please reach out now as my calendar’s filling up quickly! I’d love to speak at your event.

Later in October, I’ll be working with Anthem Insurance on October 18th; we’ll be doing an event series around people in foster care. Then, I’ll attend the National Family Voices Conference in Washington, D.C., where I’ll be representing Youth as Self-Advocates on October 18th-20th.

I’m continuing to work on evaluating Baskervill and the construction work related to that project. Additionally, I will be working with the same team to consult on the accessibility and inclusivity of community centers that are going to be built in the Richmond area.

 There are several upcoming projects, including lobbying work and meetings with potential clients. I’ve also been continuing to work on my book and podcast episodes, so stay tuned for both! 

Make sure to follow 6 Wheels on social media to keep up with our current and future events! I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable end of the summer!

A 6 Wheels Summer Update

I hope everyone’s been doing well and is remaining safe and healthy during these difficult times. It’s been a busy summer for us at 6 Wheels, and I’ve been grateful that I’ve been able to work remotely.

I’ve been doing my off-season lobbying work and recently met with 23 legislators, and we discussed budget concerns regarding people with disabilities and employment. As we look forward to the 2021 session, we know that it might look a bit different, but we still have the same goal of advocating for people with disabilities.

I’m also continuing to serve as an adult ally for the Youth As Self-Advocates (YASA). We meet several times a week with youth board members and talk about various issues, including how the pandemic is affecting youth with disabilities.

In other news, I’ve signed on to be an affiliate partner with User1st, an organization that focuses on improving internet accessibility.

I’ve also been working with a fellow disability consultant, Rachel Kaplan, who runs an organization called Kintsugi Consulting. We’re working to develop an 18-module disability employment training course that will be marketed to businesses. The modules will be focused around interviewing, corporate culture, ADA in the workplace, etc., with 12 mandatory modules and an additional 6 optional modules. Keep a look out for more information as we continue to work on the course!

Additionally, I’ve been working on the idea of moving public speaking content to virtual content and have been spending some time working on writing a book. I’ll make sure to share more information with you all as I continue to work on both processes!

Again, I hope everyone is doing well and is staying healthy and safe! As always, I appreciate everyone’s support.

PHOTO: This is a picture of some sand with the word summer written in it. In the upper right-hand corner, there is a purple star fish and in the lower left-hand corner there is a green sand bucket. The water is also coming in on the sand.