Walmart Employees Attend Disability:IN

"July is Disability Pride Month and last week I had the opportunity to attend my first Disability:IN conference.

It was a life changing experience with some amazing takeaways. Some memorable moments were:

1. Listening to Marlee Matlin talk about the movie CODA, accessibility and putting your foot down and taking a stand for what you believe in.

2. Meeting Solomon Stone Romney and talking about the amazing adaptive tech Microsoft is working on to make gaming accessible to everyone, amongst all the other great things they are doing in the accessibility and disability inclusion space. I can't wait to take a trip up to Seattle and visit the inclusive tech lab someday.

3. Watching the speakers in each session be vulnerable, open and honest about not only their personal experiences, but the experiences their companies were going through on their disability inclusion and accessibility journeys.

4. Celebrating with the Walmart team on scoring 100 on the 2022 Disability Equality Index! I am so proud of the work the inABLE ARG, the Accessibility Center of Excellence and so many others at Walmart have done and continue to do to make Walmart the most inclusive place for people whose lives are touched by disabilities.

The most impactful part of the conference for me was being surrounded by two thousand strangers and immediately feeling like I belonged. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like my disabilities were a burden. I was a part of a community where I could talk to others about my disabilities and they understood where I was coming from, and understood the highs and lows of living with disabilities. We shared stories, experiences, shed tears and we also laughed a lot. I met so many amazing people!

I am thankful for this experience and can't wait for next year's conference!

#disabilityinclusion #disabilitypridemonth #accessibility

Alt Text: A group of people from Walmart standing in front of a white background with the words Disability:IN, AAPD, and Disability Equality Index repeating throughout the background. People standing left to right are, Jonathan, Ben, Russell, Maria, Emily, Channing, Jackie, Kristin, Keshia, and Zoya.

Jonathan Thurston, Benjamin Keith, Russell Shaffer, Maria Baez de Hicks, Emily McDonald, Channing Barker, Kristin McCarter, Keshia Godin, Zoya Rukh Awan, Amber Bauer, JoAnn Stevens, Victor Calise, Gayatri Agnew, Carol Vella"