Duncan Banner and reporter receive commendations from the Governor

Duncan, Okla. -- Dawndee Bostwick, reporter, and the Duncan Banner received a commendation from Gov. Brad Henry Oct. 30 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City.
Bostwick and the Banner were recognized for a series of front-page articles relating to persons with developmental disabilities. Bostwick, the reporter who wrote all of the articles, professionally told the stories of families that included persons with disabilities.

The awards program stated, “So often, the media refers to such families with pity and sorrow as if they were serving a sentence. The Banner’s readers were shown the opposite through this series, while also informing them of community options for education, therapies and services. These articles brought positive attention to the fact that there are many families in the Duncan area enjoying life with a child with developmental disabilities, making it clear that having such a child is truly a blessing. “

In addition to recognizing outstanding employees with disabilities and the businesses that hire them, the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards also recognize media organizations that promote positive stories about persons with disabilities.

“It is employees, businesses, and media organizations like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Howard Hendrick, Cabinet Secretary of Human Services and Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Hendrick presented the commendations on behalf of Gov. Henry who was unable to attend the ceremony.

“For the past three years, Oklahoma has led the nation in assisting people with developmental disabilities to find competitive jobs and become working taxpayers,” said Hendrick. “Today, 60 percent of individuals with developmental disabilities served by the OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services Division participate in supported employment services.”

The Governor’s Disability Employment Awards are co sponsored by Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, along with OKDHS/DDSD, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

*To see Oklahoma’s ranking as compared to other states in regard to the numbers of persons with developmental disabilities in competitive jobs (supported employment) go to, www.statedata.info/.  This website is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, supported in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under cooperative agreement with additional support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. 

###