Going to college was not something that Brad Konechne thought he could ever do. After he attended the Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) 9 years ago, he started to change his mind. He met other youth with disabilities that were planning on attending college or had already started college. He then began to believe that anything was possible. Because he has cerebral palsy, Brad knew that he would have barriers to work through to further his education and become employed. He did not let this stop him. He decided he wanted to do the same things that people without disabilities do such as attend college and have a career. After graduation from high school, Brad attended and graduated from Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls. He said once he started college he told himself that he could do anything he set his mind to. During his schooling, Brad utilized services from DakotaLink, which offers assistive technology to residents of South Dakota. Brad needed assistance with reading and DakotaLink was able to assist him with a reading device called Kurzweil 3000. After college graduation in 2006, Brad moved back home to Kimball, SD where he currently lives.

Brad’s college degree is in graphics communication which has lead to working on a small business endeavor for website design. Brad works part time at Overweg Repair, LLC in Kimball, where he works on their website and also does some car detailing. He believes his success with employment is due to his mother’s encouragement to go to college. He also received support from YLF students to move forward with his life. Brad said he enjoys living in a small town, because everyone knows each other and helps each other out. People in his community spread the word that Brad does web design which he said is his best form of advertising. Brad said the benefits of being employed are getting to meet new people and feeling like he is a part of the community.

Brad would like to tell other people with disabilities that you can’t give up when you are looking for a job or going to school. You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Brad hopes that more employers will give people with disabilities a chance so that they can prove they can do their job as well as anyone else.

Brad became enrolled in Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities (MAWD) in 2009 after he was informed of the program by staff from the Freedom to Work Project. Brad says he is thankful for MAWD because it provides him with medical coverage and he no longer has to rely on Social Security benefits which felt restrictive to him. MAWD is an incentive for qualifying people with disabilities to remain working or return to work while providing healthcare coverage through Medicaid.