Chad Sinanian|
Chad Sinanian |
DANBURY — Chad Sinanian has spent a decade helping people with developmental disabilities.
"The best part of my work is showing persons with disabilities that they’re regular members of society and deserve to be treated as such,” says the 36-year-old Danbury resident. Sinanian knows the obstacles faced by the people he helps; he also has developmental disabilities.
But that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing his goals. Sinanian came to Danbury from Long Island in 1992 after his father died. He wanted to join a program that would allow him to live independently.
That program was Datahr, now called Ability Beyond Disability. The agency now pays Sinanian as a sensitivity trainer to teach new employees how to treat workers with disabilities. He also is an advocate for the agency’s clients.
Sinanian also has become an advocate for other groups that help those with disabilities, such as the Western Connecticut Association for Human Rights and the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities. He was appointed to the council by Gov. John G. Rowland.
Sinanian, and other volunteers on state boards and commissions, will be honored Monday by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz at an awards ceremony in New Britain.
"Volunteers are very important to a thriving democracy and they deserve recognition,” said Larry Perosino, spokesman for Bysiewicz.
Sinanian said when he received a letter from the secretary of the state’s office, he "thought it was just some form.” But once he realized he won an award, he found himself "jumping around” with excitement.
Sinanian’s friends are excited for him.
"He’s an excellent advocate who has a real passion for identifying critical issues,” said Jean Bowen, executive director of WeCAHR, another agency that works with the disabled.
Among the issues Sinanian works on are the possible cuts in state funding for Medicaid, which helps support group homes and job employment for those with disabilities, and the lack of good jobs for people with disabilities in the Danbury area.
Sinanian also uses his energy and talent for another private, nonprofit advocacy group, People First. He’s the secretary of the statewide organization and president of the local group.
In his sensitivity training job with Ability Beyond Disability, Sinanian says he shows the agency’s new employees the difference between "advising and bossing,” along with workshops on how to better the lives of the organization’s clients and speaks before area groups, such as the Kiwanis Club, telling of his "experiences trying to be accepted as a regular member of society.”