Kids with disabilities get dream jobs for a day

Around 35 young folks in Idaho Falls and Rigby living with developmental disabilities got a chance to work their dream job on Wednesday for Disability Mentoring Day.

French novelist Marcel Proust once said, “if a little dreaming is dangerous the cure for it is not to dream less, but to dream more, to dream all the time.”

“It helps me a lot,” said Houston Brown, a participant. “It helps me learn what to do when I get out of high school.”

For Brown, Wednesday was a dream working alongside a mechanic at Action Motorsports in Idaho Falls.

Tools in hand, Brown got to forget about his learning disability for a while and focus on fixing things.

“I learned how to put a winch on a 4-wheeler and skis on a sled,” said Brown.

Brown also learned how to change tires on a utility 4-wheeler, all stuff his mentor Joseph Gonzales gets to do every day.

“I thought it was pretty fun and exciting,” said Gonzales. “He was pretty good.”

Disability Mentoring Day is part of a month-long initiative to increase employer awareness about disability hiring.

The main goal is to get youth with disabilities excited about joining the workforce.