1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:02,650 So, 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:04,560 My name is Michelle Nario - Redmond 3 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:06,320 I am a social psychologist and 4 00:00:06,370 --> 00:00:08,380 teach at Hiram College 5 00:00:08,519 --> 00:00:11,404 in psychology and biomedical humanities program 6 00:00:11,437 --> 00:00:15,727 and I just wrote a book on Abilism the causes and consequences 7 00:00:15,727 --> 00:00:18,967 of disability prejudice. My first memory 8 00:00:18,967 --> 00:00:21,267 and I'll just back up and say in 1990, 9 00:00:21,267 --> 00:00:23,730 when the ADA passed I was in graduate school, 10 00:00:25,099 --> 00:00:33,134 in Kansas, and disability prejudice, the ADA or anything 11 00:00:33,134 --> 00:00:38,954 related to disability issues were completely off my radar, 12 00:00:40,054 --> 00:00:43,578 and I worked at a place where one of the pioneers 13 00:00:43,578 --> 00:00:46,756 of disability studies worked, Beatrice Wright, 14 00:00:46,756 --> 00:00:50,396 and I hadn't yet to have a class with her. 15 00:00:50,396 --> 00:00:53,876 It really wasn't until 1995, which was five years later, 16 00:00:53,876 --> 00:00:58,566 when my daughter was born, Sierra, with spina bifida, 17 00:00:58,566 --> 00:01:03,394 that I became aware of disability and found the work 18 00:01:03,394 --> 00:01:08,862 of Carol Gill and Simi Litton and began to educate myself 19 00:01:08,862 --> 00:01:15,348 on disability studies and its scope, and the first memory I have of 20 00:01:15,348 --> 00:01:22,571 confronting inaccessible spaces was a few years later, when we enrolled 21 00:01:22,571 --> 00:01:26,520 my daughter Sierra in a preschool, at a catholic preschool, 22 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:31,915 right down the road; and it just didn't even dawn on me that we would have to 23 00:01:31,915 --> 00:01:36,388 work so hard for her to be accommodated as a preschooler, 24 00:01:36,472 --> 00:01:41,209 and it was really a function of the fact that the building was older, 25 00:01:41,252 --> 00:01:47,109 there were steps, and they really didn't know, nor did they need to legally know, 26 00:01:47,142 --> 00:01:52,554 about reasonable accommodations and civil rights of their students, 27 00:01:52,554 --> 00:02:00,755 because they were a private facility and weren't subject to the ADA's rules. 28 00:02:00,812 --> 00:02:05,303 So... it became clear to me that we needed to find a new preschool, 29 00:02:05,303 --> 00:02:09,911 and luckily we found a private, another private place. It wasn't 30 00:02:09,911 --> 00:02:12,946 a public school, but it was a music school settlement 31 00:02:12,946 --> 00:02:16,407 and they had resources and they were already operating 32 00:02:16,407 --> 00:02:21,566 under a sort of set of presumptions about the value of diversity 33 00:02:21,566 --> 00:02:26,928 and diverse perspectives, and we didn't really have to ask for much, 34 00:02:26,928 --> 00:02:31,654 because they bent over backwards to include my daughter 35 00:02:31,654 --> 00:02:37,356 in a typical classroom, with her peers, her preschool peers, music classes, 36 00:02:37,356 --> 00:02:41,947 there were so many eclectic movement classes, 37 00:02:41,947 --> 00:02:48,049 and they even purchased equipment for their exercise room 38 00:02:48,049 --> 00:02:52,868 and movement room that would be useful to her among others, 39 00:02:52,868 --> 00:02:58,063 and she has since grown up to become this teacher and has applied 40 00:02:58,063 --> 00:03:01,595 to work there as a preschool teacher. So, I think it would be really 41 00:03:01,595 --> 00:03:08,320 amazing, if she came full circle. But, I guess, to stance the broader 42 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:14,915 question about being frustrated and aware of inaccessibility and lack of inclusion, 43 00:03:14,915 --> 00:03:21,512 we were in a district that, when she then, was about to move to preschool, I 44 00:03:21,512 --> 00:03:27,059 knew that she wouldn't probably be able to go to a private school, not only because 45 00:03:27,059 --> 00:03:31,585 of the financial cost, but because they would not have to think about 46 00:03:31,585 --> 00:03:35,981 best practices and the law when it came to accommodating 47 00:03:35,981 --> 00:03:39,133 their students with disabilities, and so I knew we would be 48 00:03:39,133 --> 00:03:43,971 looking at the public school,and the public school in our neighborhood 49 00:03:43,971 --> 00:03:49,384 was not accessible. We went to visit it, the playground had a little house 50 00:03:49,384 --> 00:03:52,254 that she wouldn't have been able to get into, 51 00:03:52,254 --> 00:03:55,876 and it was really disheartening and so it came at a time 52 00:03:55,876 --> 00:03:58,393 when we were already looking for other opportunities, 53 00:03:58,393 --> 00:04:01,573 and my husband got an opportunity to move us as a family 54 00:04:01,573 --> 00:04:04,079 to the West Coast of Portland of Oregon, 55 00:04:04,079 --> 00:04:10,507 so the way I...we had to navigate her early educational experiences 56 00:04:10,574 --> 00:04:17,591 was to only look at spaces and schools that were in districts that were new, 57 00:04:17,591 --> 00:04:23,109 so that had buildings and had training in terms of 58 00:04:23,178 --> 00:04:26,369 accommodating their diverse students and their disabled students, 59 00:04:26,369 --> 00:04:31,262 because just having the brief experiences that I did with the preschool 60 00:04:31,319 --> 00:04:38,810 and IEP meetings that were going to require me to fight at every juncture 61 00:04:38,868 --> 00:04:42,941 for her basic rights to show what she knows 62 00:04:42,976 --> 00:04:47,312 and participate and recognize herself as a valuable contributor 63 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,910 to the school community. We're not going to be forthcoming 64 00:04:50,943 --> 00:04:54,411 without a fight, and so we narrowed our search 65 00:04:54,454 --> 00:04:57,194 to a district, and thank God we had the opportunity 66 00:04:57,221 --> 00:05:02,445 and the resources to do this, that was pretty known for their 67 00:05:02,513 --> 00:05:04,012 inclusivity. 68 00:05:04,095 --> 00:05:07,731 We did that also when we came back to the Cleveland, Ohio area. 69 00:05:07,806 --> 00:05:12,412 We were able to avoid all districts that weren't at the cutting edge 70 00:05:12,412 --> 00:05:16,514 of full inclusion and proof of excellence and had newer buildings 71 00:05:16,514 --> 00:05:19,623 that could accommodate those with disabilities, 72 00:05:19,623 --> 00:05:25,867 but I guess that that was my earliest memory of how, 'Oh, we have a road 73 00:05:25,867 --> 00:05:32,468 ahead of us and we have to take it upon ourselves to either continue to fight 74 00:05:32,468 --> 00:05:40,316 battles that had already been won, legislatively or find spaces, places 75 00:05:40,379 --> 00:05:42,982 and organizations that were ahead of the curve 76 00:05:42,982 --> 00:05:50,434 in terms of implementing, monitoring and just execute the basic civil rights 77 00:05:50,484 --> 00:05:53,618 of their various constituents 78 00:05:53,736 --> 00:05:58,568 The impact that all of that has had on me is to just be able to communicate 79 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,284 with other parents and students with disabilities 80 00:06:02,334 --> 00:06:09,035 about not only knowing their rights but knowing how to get those rights 81 00:06:09,086 --> 00:06:18,638 how to advocate for ensuring that those rights are addressed, are met. 82 00:06:18,638 --> 00:06:21,139 I think the ADA has made a huge difference 83 00:06:21,202 --> 00:06:24,755 and the aha moment was even when I was collating information for this book 84 00:06:24,807 --> 00:06:28,922 on disability prejudice. I realised that when I was a kid, 85 00:06:28,956 --> 00:06:33,641 when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, people with disabilities weren't able to 86 00:06:33,693 --> 00:06:39,357 do any of the things that we took for granted as kids: go to the movies 87 00:06:39,432 --> 00:06:44,474 go to restaurants, go to visit a friend, at a friend's house, or invite 88 00:06:44,546 --> 00:06:47,559 others to your birthday parties. 89 00:06:47,559 --> 00:06:54,992 And, since the ADA passed in 1990, it wasn't an immediate set of changes, 90 00:06:55,011 --> 00:07:01,662 as, you know, there has been significant progress made, particularly in public 91 00:07:01,662 --> 00:07:07,910 spaces and in employment settings, where there are even employers 92 00:07:07,959 --> 00:07:13,827 who are part of an organization of inclusive excellence, who 93 00:07:13,876 --> 00:07:18,677 recognize that disabled employees are actually more reliable and 94 00:07:18,724 --> 00:07:23,145 have less turnover and are worth investing in and promoting. 95 00:07:23,229 --> 00:07:28,810 But, there are still so many places, small businesses, educational institutions 96 00:07:28,937 --> 00:07:40,893 that are not carrying out the basic, sort of gains and practices that the ADA 97 00:07:40,893 --> 00:07:45,131 has made possible .There's just way too much variation, and I think part of that 98 00:07:45,232 --> 00:07:48,983 is just a lack of education in terms of what 99 00:07:49,135 --> 00:07:54,635 is reasonable and what is necessary 100 00:07:54,711 --> 00:07:56,933 in terms of accommodating your citizenry 101 00:07:57,008 --> 00:08:01,185 and lack of resources in some cases but 102 00:08:01,260 --> 00:08:03,633 also a lot of misinformation about whether 103 00:08:03,734 --> 00:08:08,236 or not it's worth it. The ADA is going to 104 00:08:08,293 --> 00:08:12,462 be 30 here in July. We're celebrating all 105 00:08:12,544 --> 00:08:15,543 over the country and we are still fighting 106 00:08:15,638 --> 00:08:19,813 for businesses to do what they should have 107 00:08:19,914 --> 00:08:22,316 done 30 years ago, those that have been 108 00:08:22,392 --> 00:08:25,493 around this long. They have not, they have 109 00:08:25,563 --> 00:08:27,769 have waited for complaints or they have 110 00:08:27,846 --> 00:08:31,416 failed to do but the bare minimum in 111 00:08:31,466 --> 00:08:34,871 terms of recruiting the largest minority 112 00:08:34,922 --> 00:08:37,693 I work in the education sphere and to me, 113 00:08:37,792 --> 00:08:40,220 we could be doing so much more with 114 00:08:40,318 --> 00:08:42,820 advertising and recruiting for those kinds 115 00:08:42,943 --> 00:08:45,621 of students that we tend to really, at 116 00:08:45,697 --> 00:08:49,244 least my institution, do well to retain 117 00:08:49,395 --> 00:08:52,944 because we're a small, intimate college, 118 00:08:53,019 --> 00:08:55,847 Hiram College. And, and for years I've tried to 119 00:08:55,922 --> 00:08:59,624 encourage us to consider more universally 120 00:08:59,723 --> 00:09:02,348 designed approaches, but also approaches 121 00:09:02,451 --> 00:09:06,949 that do more than the bare minimum when it comes to housing and 122 00:09:07,022 --> 00:09:09,600 extracurricular accommodations for 123 00:09:09,678 --> 00:09:12,398 students to who use mobility devices. For 124 00:09:12,525 --> 00:09:15,424 example, my daughter ended up having to be 125 00:09:15,577 --> 00:09:18,251 carried in her chair, to various club 126 00:09:18,449 --> 00:09:20,556 meetings while she was on the Hiram 127 00:09:20,653 --> 00:09:24,503 College campus. She was told that, during the 128 00:09:24,554 --> 00:09:28,102 winter, when the ice storms came, that 129 00:09:28,141 --> 00:09:31,767 they couldn't transport her up the long 130 00:09:31,767 --> 00:09:33,617 hill, while they were telling everyone 131 00:09:33,617 --> 00:09:37,324 else to walk like a penguin, and we had 132 00:09:37,324 --> 00:09:41,271 vans to do this. We had to file with the 133 00:09:41,271 --> 00:09:45,332 Ohio Disability Rights Commission and 134 00:09:45,408 --> 00:09:48,242 request that the school thinks about other 135 00:09:48,242 --> 00:09:50,506 ways of accommodating her, should there 136 00:09:50,506 --> 00:09:52,558 be a storm, an ice storm, and she can't 137 00:09:52,633 --> 00:09:55,177 get up to campus. And the solution 138 00:09:55,177 --> 00:09:57,787 was to have her move to a new dorm. 139 00:09:57,787 --> 00:10:00,012 You can't just do that over night. 140 00:10:00,012 --> 00:10:01,862 You can't just move all your bedding 141 00:10:01,862 --> 00:10:04,233 and all your bathroom supplies 142 00:10:04,233 --> 00:10:06,877 and your whole... you know at the moment's 143 00:10:06,877 --> 00:10:09,465 notice, when the weather changes 144 00:10:09,465 --> 00:10:11,445 and so it has been my experience that 145 00:10:11,445 --> 00:10:15,474 still a lot of places have done the bare minimum approach 146 00:10:15,364 --> 00:10:17,815 and think that that's all they need to do 147 00:10:17,822 --> 00:10:22,162 when instead, they could be following more 148 00:10:22,162 --> 00:10:26,022 of the latest practices and implementation's science 149 00:10:26,022 --> 00:10:29,142 and making it easier for people to 150 00:10:29,142 --> 00:10:31,719 register concerns or complaints. And 151 00:10:31,719 --> 00:10:34,389 they often don't even need to file a 152 00:10:34,389 --> 00:10:36,930 formal complaint issue, if you approach a business or 153 00:10:36,930 --> 00:10:39,856 your educational institution with an issue. 154 00:10:39,856 --> 00:10:45,231 Often times, progressive thinkers that recognize the value of 155 00:10:45,231 --> 00:10:49,191 customers with disabilities frequenting their businesses or 156 00:10:49,155 --> 00:10:52,056 diversifying their faculty or their student body 157 00:10:52,056 --> 00:11:00,839 will simply not be aware that they have failed to accommodate or 158 00:11:00,839 --> 00:11:05,113 make accessible various programs and spaces. 159 00:11:05,113 --> 00:11:09,378 And that can be as simple as asking. But a lot of times a lot more 160 00:11:09,378 --> 00:11:12,150 has to be done, you have to document you have 161 00:11:12,150 --> 00:11:14,909 to make sure your emails go to multiple people 162 00:11:14,909 --> 00:11:21,332 and make the business case of why surveying your policies 163 00:11:21,332 --> 00:11:23,933 to see whether they are biases or whether 164 00:11:23,933 --> 99:59:59,999 there is discrimination in filing of 165 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 complaints or even you have a title 166 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of, you know, a (...) officer on campus or (...) cooridnator 167 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so that you can let students with disabilities know 168 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who may have not proper documentation 169 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 how they can go about making sure that 170 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they get what they need to show 171 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 what they know, before they fail classes 172 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because they haven't knocked at the door 173 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of disability services and provided proof 174 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that they have a particular condition 175 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I know, I am sort of rambling a bit, 176 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but I just, just wasn't aware of how much 177 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 further we need to go when it comes to 178 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 surveying and making sure that the ADA 179 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is being implemented and just because 180 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a law passes doesn't mean again 181 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that it is just going to happen 182 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you have to have allies and acitivists 183 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and insiders working very hard 184 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to make sure that people are recognizing 185 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the value of legislation 186 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which I think, still people are under 187 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the assumption that it applies to 188 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 people who identify with disabilities but 189 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I don't think that was even neccesserely 190 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 even the intent of the ADA 191 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think it recognizes that people flow 192 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in and out of abilities and the extent to 193 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which they are excluded or discriminated 194 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 against, because of their abilities is 195 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 really what this legislation was about 196 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 even having a record of having a 197 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 condition that maybe you no longer have 198 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or you had it temporarily can mean that 199 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you might be excluded. If you applied for 200 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 jobs recently, you know, many places 201 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 require a statement. You have to indicate 202 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 based of strict definitions whether you 203 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 have limitations in these major life 204 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 activities that will qualify you as a 205 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 disabled person and I want to believe that 206 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they are asking these questions, so that 207 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they can mindfully recruit people with 208 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 disabilities joining their ranks, their 209 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 staffing, but sometimes I think what 210 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 prevents people from using that 211 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 information to disqualify candidates 212 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so there has to be checks and balances 213 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and accountabilities when it comes to 214 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 making sure your civil rights legislation 215 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 doesn't put all of the owners on the 216 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 group itself to file and follow through 217 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and figure out which parts of the ADA are 218 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 being violated. You know that can be 219 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 really discouraging when all you want to 220 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 do is go out and you know, go to the beach 221 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and find out which beaches are accessible 222 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or whether there is, you know, a mobility 223 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 devices that are availible via the sand or 224 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you just want to go camping or you just 225 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 want to go frequent people who are 226 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 minorities on businesses or disabilities 227 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 on businesses and some of this is out 228 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 there and I tried to promote it through 229 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 books and activists pages, but there is so 230 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 much that we can do to leverage more of 231 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 these ways of monitoring and implementing 232 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 taking access to the next level whether 233 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for the disabled community pro forma or 234 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 proper or for anyone who uses strollers 235 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who might carry a lot of materials in 236 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 their hands could benefit from a push 237 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 button. I think we need all to make a 238 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 better job