Workshops and Trainings on Disability, Access, and Chemical Sensitivity Issues Menu Bar What Are Trainings About? Who Is Sharon's Training Partner? Training Logistics How Do People Respond to Sharon and Cat's Trainings? What Are Trainings About? Q: On which topics do you provide training? A: I can offer workshops, trainings, and classes on disability etiquette and awareness; writing and reporting about people with disabilities; chemical sensitivity, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), and environmental health issues; access and accommodation; disability rights work as a social justice issue; and how to make your community (religious, Jewish, feminist, sociopolitical, queer, etc.) more inclusive of people with disabilities. If you want more information on any of these topics, or if you are interested in having a training tailored to meet the specific needs of your group, please e-mail me at SickHumor2@aol.com. Q: What is multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)? A: Chemical sensitivity is a fairly common condition in which a person has an adverse reaction to a chemical or set of chemicals at levels below what is generally considered safe. People who are otherwise healthy may have a chemical sensitivity to perfume or cigarette smoke and become congested or get a headache on exposure to these substances. Recent studies indicate that anywhere from one-fifth to one-third of the population has some chemical sensitivity. Unlike simple chemical sensitivity, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), involves adverse reactions to multiple sets of chemicals at minute levels far below what most people can detect. MCS is also a multi-organ, systemic chronic illness; respiratory, immune, neurologic, digestive, and other bodily systems can all be affected. MCS is often a debilitating and progressive disability -- continued exposures to common low-level toxins usually produce a greater range and severity of sensitivities in the affected individual. Q: What training do you provide on MCS and chemical sensitivity? A: I can provide training on various aspects of the illness and related issues, depending on the audience and its needs. Topics I frequently cover include my personal story (how I became ill and how I cope with the disability); how my friends and family accommodate me; medical and scientific information and facts about chemical sensitivity; legal and advocacy issues pertaining to MCS; access, accommodation, and where and how to find MCS-safer products (in-person workshops include demonstrations of MCS-safer products for people to see, smell, and touch); the social and political aspects of MCS and disability oppression; MCS and housing (the difficulty of finding accessible, affordable housing and the high rate of homelessness among people with MCS), and many other topics. Who Is Sharon's Training Partner? Q: Who is Cat Brenn-Bear? What role does Cat play in your trainings? A: Cat Brenn-Bear is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter. She is an experienced and knowledgeable ally and advocate for Deaf people and people with disabilities. Cat serves three important roles as my training partner. First, because people with MCS become ill from exposures to common chemicals in the environment, including fragrances, cleaning chemicals, and personal-care products, the safety and accommodation of people with MCS often relies on the cooperation of the other people in their lives. Thus, Cat provides valuable insight and modeling for how a person without MCS can adjust to a colleague or loved one's disability and accommodate that person's need for a safe, fragrance-free environment. Secondly, because some spaces where trainings are held are not accessible to Sharon, Sharon sometimes presents her part of the training by speakerphone, while Cat attends in person. Having Cat at the training in person allows her to facilitate communication if problems arise due to technological glitches or the audience's lack of familiarity with speakerphone presentations. Lastly, Sharon and Cat have worked together for almost a decade, in a variety of settings and media. Articulate, charismatic, humorous, and knowledgeable, Sharon and Cat are a dynamic team. Their rapport and complimentary expertise make audiences and participants respond to them with warmth and ease. Q: How did you and Cat become aware of access issues? How did you get involved in disability rights work? A: Ironically I was active in the disability community before I, myself, became disabled. In fact, I was an information and referral specialist for people with disabilities, often providing advocacy tips to people with disabilities. When I became chronically ill, I got to test out the advice I'd been giving other people for the previous four years. I was relieved to discover it did work! Having worked on disability issues from both sides has given me a unique perspective. I believed in disability rights and access activism before the issue affected me personally; however, I viewed the issue politically, almost theoretically. When I became disabled myself, my desperation for access and accommodation turned that detachment into a burning, urgent need. I quickly turned my attention to making alliances with other activists who had known me before I was disabled. Relying on my connections with them, I shared my own story to create a bridge that spanned the personal and political sides of disability access and accommodation work. Cat has been an anti-oppression activist for many years. Cat became an ally and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities after many of the closest people in her life became disabled. She saw how her other experiences with social justice issues applied to these new experiences and began advocating for access for people with disabilities, specifically MCS and chronic illness. Training Logistics Q: Where do trainings take place? What equipment do you need for a training? A: Most trainings I have done take place in within easy travel distance of my home in Western Massachusetts. We try to find a location that is wheelchair and MCS-accessible so that I can attend the training in person. When that is not a viable option, I attend by speakerphone and Cat attends in person. We can supply our own speakerphone, as long as the space has a working electric outlet and phone jack. Trainings elsewhere in New England are also a possibility; please contact me to discuss this option. Often it is useful for a group to watch a videotape before Cat and I give our presentation. I am happy to provide the videotape, as long as your group is able to set up the viewing (obtain the VCR and television and arrange for the group to watch it) ahead of time, on your own. My training team provides other materials as well, which usually include handouts and worksheets, and sometimes props for role-playing games or samples of fragrance-free products. How Do People Respond to Sharon and Cat's Trainings? Q: What have people said about trainings they received from Sharon and Cat? "All of the handouts were extremely helpful and informative. . . . I appreciated your honesty, your willingness to share personally and answer questions. . . . You two are an excellent team. I would absolutely recommend Sharon and Cat to other people seeking training on MCS or other disability issues! You really have your act together!" "The trainers' comfort with each other and self-disclosure helped to make their presentation very successful." "Yes, yes, yes, Cat and Sharon were appropriate, professional, and knowledgeable. I would absolutely recommend them. They were great." .
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