Top 10 Tips For Service Providers, by David Gayes
Written by admin2 on December 8th, 2007Filed under: Themes, Cerebral Ballsy, Wheelchairman of the Board, Top 10 Lists
Top 10 Tips For Service Providers
by David Gayes
1. Keep in mind that I am your client. Treat me and my needs with respect and care.
2. Show up on time; call if you’re going to be late. Respect the value of my time.
3. Look me in the eye. Talk to me, not to my parent or assistant.
4. Listen. Listen. Listen. Assumptions are the enemy. Let me explain my individual needs to you. Ask questions to clarify.
5. Offer your professional expertise.
6. Together, let’s come up with possible solutions for my needs.
7. I don’t expect you to know everything. When you don’t know something, check with your colleagues, do some research and get back to me. Arrogance will not help us problem solve.
8. Stay focused on your job. Simple friendly pleasantries are fine; however, you were not hired to be my minister, my parent, or my buddy.
9. Follow through in a timely manner on any commitments you make. It’s your job, and I’m counting on you.
10. Know that I am grateful for your services, expertise and a job well done.
David Gayes recently took a year away from college to pursue an interview project he called Growing up with a disability. In these interviews, David recorded the stories of people living with disabilities—personal stories, real stories. He’s a natural interviewer, and his writing is at once funny and witty and poignant and lyrical.
He’s currently back at college, studying hard and at a hectic pace, but look out for his name in a few years, because our money’s on him taking the world of journalism/media by storm. [Note: although he won’t be conducting too many new interviews for awhile, David will still be updating his blog whenever he can.]
In David’s own words: “I like sports, music, travel, and conversation. And, I have cerebral palsy. I believe society often underestimates the complexity of living with a disability—the joys, the challenges, the ordinary, and the extraordinary.”
