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Abita Springs resident learned to be okay 'with the man in the mirror ' now lauded by governor for his work among people with disabilities.

- SARAH BONNETTE/Contributing writer JAN 21, 2020 - 7:00 AM

For Abita Springs resident Jeff Arseneaux, there’s no offensive question when it comes to his cerebral palsy diagnosis. What’s worse are the questions that don’t get asked.

That’s because he wants people to know more about the struggles he lives with each day. “I want you to want to know about me. … When somebody asks me about me, cerebral palsy is part of that conversation,” he said recently at a PJ’s Coffee in Mandeville.

Arseneaux said answering questions like, can he button his shirts, or cook his food is “my responsibility. If I’m that person that got the GOLD Award, then it’s my responsibility.”

The award is the Ken Vince Memorial Award, one of the Governor’s Outstanding Leadership in Disabilities Awards. It is named for a rehabilitation counselor who touched the lives of hundreds of Louisiana residents through his advocacy for people with disabilities. The recipient must be a male with disabilities who is recognized for his leadership abilities and achievements as a disability advocate, according to the award’s nomination packet.

In December, Arseneaux was one of 10 Louisianians honored at the annual ceremony in Baton Rouge for having worked to help the state’s disabled residents.

“I knew about the GOLD Awards, but it’s not something I went after. I do what I do because it’s who I am,” the New Orleans native said.

“It was a huge honor to be recognized," he said. "My mission is to help people with disabilities be included in the world and to take ownership of being included, not to wait for someone to invite them.”

Arseneaux was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 2½ years old, after being born with very little oxygen circulating to his brain, according to his profile on the Families Helping Families of Greater New Orleans website. The diagnosis, most often caused by damage to a developing brain, can affect movement, fine motor skills and speech to varying degrees, among other symptoms.

The 47-year old’s childhood experiences in an education system without accommodations for disabled students like him — there was only special-ed and regular classrooms, he said — helped forge his can-do attitude. He became determined to “make it,” he said, when, as a high school senior, an educational evaluator told him he didn’t have “what it took to go to college.”

Those words didn’t stop him from enrolling at Delgado Community College, where he earned an associate’s degree in business administration. After graduation, Arseneaux moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where his parents were living at the time. He went to work for a grocery store and rose through the ranks from a bagger to a manager.

He spent 15 years in the grocery business before taking a distribution position for Walgreens. It wasn’t a good fit for him, and he found himself unemployed and alone. That’s when he returned to Louisiana.

“I ended up back in my mom’s home — just head to toe — broken, with no direction,” he said. “I looked in the mirror, and said ‘What do I need to do to be happy?’ The answer wasn’t find a job. Or find a wife. Or have a child. It was to be OK with the man in the mirror.”

That’s when he discovered nonprofits and the resources available to those living with disabilities. “I started seeing myself use what I’ve been through and where I’ve gone as a tool to motivate this community,” he said.

He’s served on several boards, including Northshore Families Helping Families. His now is a consultant to the Hammond-based Florida Parishes Human Services Authority, working to coordinate job fairs for disabled employees. “We have assets people don’t know about, mainly enthusiasm and loyalty,” he said.

A dynamic public speaker, he strives to educate businesses and civic organizations on the realities of being disabled, including everything from the need for meaningful employment and accessible parking to the hope of finding love and starting a family.

Arseneaux’s efforts are about having disabled people be seen and heard. “We need to be visible. A lot of this inclusion you hear about, it’s not on you, it’s on us to create that atmosphere,” he said. “That’s why it took me so long to get that GOLD Award, because I don’t put the ownership on others. I put it on me.”

Although recognized for his advocacy work, Arseneaux describes himself as an entrepreneur seeking opportunities. “There’s a reason for that. I’m proud of being a self-advocate, but I want to be known as somebody out there who has to make a living and is trying to turn what people look at as a negative into a positive,” he said.