Back to Home
Back to General
From Sheltered Workshop to Advocacy Professional: James Meadours’ Journey is a lived-experience webinar that explores what meaningful employment can look like when self-advocates are supported to persist, take risks, and be seen for their potential rather than their limitations.
James shares his personal employment journey, beginning with being placed in a sheltered workshop as a teenager when his family believed it was the only option. He describes how his own determination and the support of a committed ally helped him move into supported employment. Along the way, James experienced setbacks. For example, after leaving a job without another position secured, he was pressured to return to the sheltered workshop. He discusses how supported employment staff intervened at a critical moment, recognizing that returning would derail his confidence and motivation.
Participants hear how James’s strong work ethic and “hunger for work” helped him succeed in a new position, where he challenged assumptions about who can train and mentor others. Before leaving that role, James encouraged his employer to hire another person with a disability and to allow James, rather than a job coach, to train them. This experience became a turning point, leading James to serve as a VISTA volunteer and, eventually, to paid advocacy roles that continue today, including his current work in national policy advising and professional training.
Throughout the session, James reflects on the role of allies, the impact of high expectations, and the importance of perseverance through ups and downs. This webinar offers employment professionals a powerful opportunity to examine how their decisions, language, and timing can either limit or unlock a person’s path toward competitive integrated employment and leadership.
Objectives
Upon completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify key decision points where employment professionals and allies can either reinforce segregated employment pathways or actively support movement toward competitive integrated employment.
- Describe how self-advocate motivation, persistence, and risk-taking interact with effective ally support to influence long-term employment and career outcomes.
- Apply lessons from a lived-experience employment journey to their own practice by recognizing strategies that promote dignity, high expectations, and growth beyond traditional job roles.
About the presenter:
James Meadours is a powerful voice for the rights of people with IDD. He has held leadership positions including President of People First of Oklahoma, Chair of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered, and President of Texas Advocates. He is a recipient of The Arc’s Catalyst Award and has served on the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. He currently serves on the Centene National Disability Advisory Council as Vice Chair of the Public Policy Committee.
James is a survivor of sexual assault and has spoken publicly to raise awareness on this issue. He was featured in NPR’s Abused and Betrayed series and anchors Seen and Heard: IDD Community, a project addressing sexual assault among people with IDD.
As Advocacy and Outreach Lead for Strategic Education Solutions, James presents nationally, recruits and trains team members, and builds partnerships. He has presented at conferences including The Arc of the U.S., AAIDD, NACDD, SXSW EDU, and more.
