Video Description & Transcript:
  Lobbying

A man and a woman are waiting in wheelchairs in the busy marble hallway outside the legislature chamber.
Narrator: “Sharon and Alan stake out the darkened marble hallways outside the legislative chamber. They’re anxious to meet face-to-face with their representatives. Lori writes notes to the legislators to let them know that Sharon and Alan are waiting to see them. Sharon has done her homework. Before leaving for Olympia, she wrote personal letters to her state representatives: Pat Thibaudeau and Cal Anderson.”
Their assistant writes a note to the legislators to inform them of their arrival.

[Background noise of busy hallways]
Lori: “Okay, so Pat should be back here anytime now, because it’s 1:30 now.”
Narrator: “After another hour of waiting, perseverance finally pays off.”
After an hour of waiting, Representative Pat Thibaudeau meets with them to discuss various issues surrounding people with disabilities.

Pat Thibaudeau (43rd Legislative District): “I’m just really pleased that people have more access than they used to. Like the letter I read from you, you’re living in the community. With the kind of supports that you need to have in order to do that. Yes, indeed.”
Sharon [synthesized speech]: “Can we have any community meetings?”
Pat: “I want to. We weren’t able to do this during session, but Cal and I have talked about it.”
Narrator: “Sharon is pleased with this meeting and Pat’s knowledge of the issues.”

This meeting is followed by a conversation with Representative Cal Anderson.
[Cal Anderson’s voice fades out as narrator speaks]
Narrator: “Representative Cal Anderson has also responded to their request for a meeting.”
Lori: “Alan says what about jobs for us. He’s concerned with day programming, job planning, and stuff.”
Alan [synthesized speech]: “What about jobs for us?”
Cal: “I think it’s very important that you have jobs available. That there are some types of workshops or other opportunities for you.”
Lori: “They’re in community settings so they’d like to be working in community.”
Cal: “Sure.”
Sharon [synthesized speech]: “Real jobs, real jobs, real jobs, real jobs!”
Lori: “Real jobs she says, not sheltered jobs.”
Cal: “Okay. What I think is really important is to have a variety of possibilities for people. That sheltered workshops work for some people, but that we probably need a broader.”
Sharon [synthesized speech]: “Sheltered workshops are boring.”
Narrator: “Because Sharon has worked in both sheltered and community-based settings, she understands the difference and strongly advocates for real jobs, not jobs designed specifically for people with disabilities.”