50 Years, 50 Stories - Kevin Nelson

Today’s installment of “50 Years, 50 Stories” comes from Kevin Nelson, who worked at Imagine!’s Labor Source department back in the 1980s, and now, many years later, serves on Imagine!’s Board of Directors. It offers a great double perspective. Thanks so much for sharing, Kevin!

From A Stagecoach To A Ferrari

By Kevin Nelson

 

Kevin Nelson in the 1980s

Like so many things in life, my association with Imagine! began by chance. I was a student at the University of Colorado, and one day in one of my psychology classes a guy by the name of Steve Dawes came in to give a presentation. Steve worked at a place called the Developmental Disabilities Center (an earlier name of Imagine!). Steve’s presentation included a demonstration of something he called “picture cue communications,” which was a way to facilitate communication with non-verbal individuals.

At the end of his presentation, Steve asked if anyone would be interested in volunteering at the DDC to work on picture cue communications with some clients. To this day, I have no idea why I raised my hand, but I did. I ended up volunteering, working with five adults with limited verbal abilities. We put together booklets with pictures of things such as their favorite foods or favorite restaurants. The clients would point to the pictures so they could indicate what they wanted, a low-tech precursor to some of the computerized communication devices used by Imagine! clients today.

I loved everything about my volunteering experience, so when I graduated in 1985 I went to work for Imagine!’s Labor Source department. This was at the tail end of the de-institutionalization that happened across the country, which meant I worked with many clients who had significant behavioral issues. But with those issues came opportunities for staggering changes. I saw some brilliant behavior plans that made life-altering differences for some of the folks we were working with.

After about two years of working at the DDC, I went to California and started a vocational program in Sacramento. I must say I was treated like a genius when I was out there because the ideas I was presenting seemed so radical. But the truth is, almost every idea and program I suggested was stolen directly from what I saw and learned during my time at Labor Source.

After another stint with Labor Source, I went back to school to get an MBA and pursue a different career path. But my experiences of working at Labor Source remained some of my fondest memories. So, close to twenty years later, when I got a chance to join the Board of Directors of Imagine!, I jumped at the opportunity to become re-engaged with an organization that had meant so much to me.

Reconnecting with Imagine! almost two decades later was like moving from a stagecoach to a Ferrari! The innovative approach to services I had seen first-hand when I was at Labor Source had increased exponentially. Although the services had changed in many inspiring and exciting ways, it was also nice to see that so many people I had known when I had first worked for Labor Source were still around and still dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of people with developmental disabilities.

I’m just as proud to be associated with Imagine! today as I was back in the 1980s when I was working for Labor Source. Congratulations on 50 years!

Kevin Nelson in 2013

Are you interested in sharing your story for “50 Years, 50 Stories?” If so, contact Caroline Siegfried at caroline@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6405. We’d love to hear from you!