ATLANTA -- A pop up restaurant in Atlanta was designed to show employers that people with disabilities can and want to work.
The pop up dining experience on Oct. 10 showcased the waitstaff's independence and capability. Like Bradley Carlisle, a perfect host.
Bradley, an outgoing server, just won buddy of the year with the Atlanta Down Syndrome Association and wants to use his platform for good.
Dinner aims to show that people with disabilities can and want to work
"I'd like to help and raise awareness for the Down Syndrome program. My voice, my program," he said at the Atlanta History Center.
Events like this help show employers what Bradley and his friends are capable of and they're inspiring a whole new generation of kids with down syndrome. Like Asher, the boy with down syndrome who has already landed huge commercial modeling gigs.
PHOTOS: Asher Nash
"Asher is only 3 years old, but I think about his future all the time. Because eventually he's going to want a job, or pursue a career, so events like this are huge," said his mom, Meaghan Nash.
She said he should be paid the same as everyone else as his career continues.
Right now, a federal exception in the law allows employers to pay employees with disabilities less than minimum wage, sometimes less than one dollar an hour, if they call it career training instead of employment.
"They'll lower your pay and they'll assume that nothing will be said about it because they'll think that the employee doesn't understand. That's a huge problem because at the end of the day, the person with down syndrome, or autism, or any disability, they're a person first and they deserve to have equal pay just like anyone else," she said.
People who went to the dinner, sponsored by The National Down Syndrome Society, pledged to advocate for workers with down syndrome or any other disability who are just as capable, deserving, and worthy as everyone else.
Bradley, the server, said his dream job is at the Fox Theatre and he impressed a lot of people at the dinner, so here's hoping someone from the Fox was listening.
