0:00:01.400,0:00:02.650 So, 0:00:02.760,0:00:04.560 My name is Michelle Nario - Redmond 0:00:04.680,0:00:06.320 I am a social psychologist and 0:00:06.370,0:00:08.380 I teach at Hiram College 0:00:08.519,0:00:11.404 in psychology and biomedical[br]humanities program 0:00:11.437,0:00:15.727 and I just wrote a book on ableism[br]the causes and consequences 0:00:15.727,0:00:18.967 of disability prejudice.[br]My first memory 0:00:18.967,0:00:21.267 and I'll just back up and say in 1990, 0:00:21.267,0:00:23.730 when the ADA passed [br]I was in graduate school, 0:00:25.099,0:00:33.134 in Kansas, and disability prejudice,[br]the ADA or anything 0:00:33.134,0:00:38.954 related to disability issues [br]were completely off my radar, 0:00:40.054,0:00:43.578 and I worked at a place [br]where one of the pioneers 0:00:43.578,0:00:46.756 of disability studies worked, [br]Beatrice Wright, 0:00:46.756,0:00:50.396 and I hadn't yet to have a class with her. 0:00:50.396,0:00:53.876 It really wasn't until 1995,[br]which was five years later, 0:00:53.876,0:00:58.566 when my daughter was born,[br]Sierra, with spina bifida, 0:00:58.566,0:01:03.394 that I became aware [br]of disability and found the work 0:01:03.394,0:01:08.862 of Carol Gill and Simi Linton[br]and began to educate myself 0:01:08.862,0:01:15.348 on disability studies and its scope,[br]and the first memory I have of 0:01:15.348,0:01:22.571 confronting inaccessible spaces[br]was a few years later, when we enrolled 0:01:22.571,0:01:26.520 my daughter Sierra in a preschool,[br]at a catholic preschool, 0:01:26.960,0:01:31.915 right down the road; and it just didn't[br]even dawn on me that we would have to 0:01:31.915,0:01:36.388 work so hard for her to be accommodated[br]as a preschooler, 0:01:36.472,0:01:41.209 and it was really a function of[br]the fact that the building was older, 0:01:41.252,0:01:47.109 there were steps, and they really didn't[br]know, nor did they need to legally know, 0:01:47.142,0:01:52.554 about reasonable accommodations [br]and civil rights of their students, 0:01:52.554,0:02:00.755 because they were a private facility and[br]weren't subject to the ADA's rules. 0:02:00.812,0:02:05.303 So... it became clear to me that [br]we needed to find a new preschool, 0:02:05.303,0:02:09.911 and luckily we found a private,[br]another private place. It wasn't 0:02:09.911,0:02:12.946 a public school, but it [br]was a music school settlement 0:02:12.946,0:02:16.407 and they had resources[br]and they were already operating 0:02:16.407,0:02:21.566 under a sort of set of presumptions[br]about the value of diversity 0:02:21.566,0:02:26.928 and diverse perspectives,[br]and we didn't really have to ask for much, 0:02:26.928,0:02:31.654 because they bent over backwards[br]to include my daughter 0:02:31.654,0:02:37.356 in a typical classroom, with her peers,[br]her preschool peers, music classes, 0:02:37.356,0:02:41.947 there were so many eclectic[br]movement classes, 0:02:41.947,0:02:48.049 and they even purchased[br]equipment for their exercise room 0:02:48.049,0:02:52.868 and movement room[br]that would be useful to her among others, 0:02:52.868,0:02:58.063 and she has since grown up to become[br]this teacher and has applied 0:02:58.063,0:03:01.595 to work there as a preschool teacher.[br]So, I think it would be really 0:03:01.595,0:03:08.320 amazing, if she came full circle. [br]But, I guess, to stance the broader 0:03:08.320,0:03:14.915 question about being frustrated and aware [br]of inaccessibility and lack of inclusion, 0:03:14.915,0:03:21.512 we were in a district that, when she then,[br]was about to move to preschool, I 0:03:21.512,0:03:27.059 knew that she wouldn't probably be able to[br]go to a private school, not only because 0:03:27.059,0:03:31.585 of the financial cost, but because [br]they would not have to think about 0:03:31.585,0:03:35.981 best practices and the law when[br]it came to accommodating 0:03:35.981,0:03:39.133 their students with disabilities,[br]and so I knew we would be 0:03:39.133,0:03:43.971 looking at the public school, and the [br]public school in our neighborhood 0:03:43.971,0:03:49.384 was not accessible. We went to visit it,[br]the playground had a little house 0:03:49.384,0:03:52.254 that she wouldn't have been [br]able to get into, 0:03:52.254,0:03:55.876 and it was really disheartening[br]and so it came at a time 0:03:55.876,0:03:58.393 when we were already looking[br]for other opportunities, 0:03:58.393,0:04:01.573 and my husband got an opportunity[br]to move us as a family 0:04:01.573,0:04:04.079 to the West Coast[br]of Portland of Oregon, and 0:04:04.079,0:04:10.507 so the way I...we had to[br]navigate her early educational experiences 0:04:10.574,0:04:17.591 was to only look at spaces and schools[br]that were in districts that were new, 0:04:17.591,0:04:23.109 so that had buildings [br]and had training in terms of 0:04:23.178,0:04:26.369 accommodating their diverse students[br]and their disabled students, 0:04:26.369,0:04:31.262 because just having the brief experiences[br]that I did with the preschool 0:04:31.319,0:04:38.810 and IEP meetings that were going to[br]require me to fight at every juncture 0:04:38.868,0:04:42.941 for her basic rights [br]to show what she knows 0:04:42.976,0:04:47.312 and participate and recognize herself[br]as a valuable contributor 0:04:47.360,0:04:50.910 to the school community.[br]We're not going to be forthcoming 0:04:50.943,0:04:54.411 without a fight, [br]and so we narrowed our search 0:04:54.454,0:04:57.194 to a district,[br]and thank God we had the opportunity 0:04:57.221,0:05:02.445 and the resources to do this,[br]that was pretty known for their 0:05:02.513,0:05:04.012 inclusivity. 0:05:04.095,0:05:07.731 We did that also when we came back [br]to the Cleveland, Ohio area. 0:05:07.806,0:05:12.412 We were able to avoid all districts[br]that weren't at the cutting edge 0:05:12.412,0:05:16.514 of full inclusion and proof of excellence[br]and had newer buildings 0:05:16.514,0:05:19.623 that could accommodate those [br]with disabilities, 0:05:19.623,0:05:25.867 but I guess that that was my earliest[br]memory of how, 'Oh, we have a road 0:05:25.867,0:05:32.468 ahead of us and we have to take it upon[br]ourselves to either continue to fight 0:05:32.468,0:05:40.316 battles that had already been won, [br]legislatively or find spaces, places 0:05:40.379,0:05:42.982 and organizations that were ahead[br]of the curve 0:05:42.982,0:05:50.434 in terms of implementing, monitoring and [br]just execute the basic civil rights 0:05:50.484,0:05:53.618 of their various constituents 0:05:53.736,0:05:58.568 The impact that all of that has had on me [br]is to just be able to communicate 0:05:58.640,0:06:02.284 with other parents and students [br]with disabilities 0:06:02.334,0:06:09.035 about not only knowing their rights but[br]knowing how to get those rights 0:06:09.086,0:06:18.638 how to advocate for ensuring that those [br]rights are addressed, are met. 0:06:18.638,0:06:21.139 I think the ADA has made [br]a huge difference 0:06:21.202,0:06:24.755 and the aha moment was even when I was[br]collating information for this book 0:06:24.807,0:06:28.922 on disability prejudice. I realised that [br]when I was a kid, 0:06:28.956,0:06:33.641 when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, [br]people with disabilities weren't able to 0:06:33.693,0:06:39.357 do any of the things that we took for [br]granted as kids: go to the movies 0:06:39.432,0:06:44.474 go to restaurants, go to visit a friend,[br]at a friend's house, or invite 0:06:44.546,0:06:47.559 others to your birthday parties. 0:06:47.559,0:06:54.992 And, since the ADA passed in 1990, [br]it wasn't an immediate set of changes, 0:06:55.011,0:07:01.662 as, you know, there has been significant[br]progress made, particularly in public 0:07:01.662,0:07:07.910 spaces and in employment settings, [br]where there are even employers 0:07:07.959,0:07:13.827 who are part of an organization [br]of inclusive excellence, who 0:07:13.876,0:07:18.677 recognize that disabled employees are [br]actually more reliable and 0:07:18.724,0:07:23.145 have less turnover and are worth[br]investing in and promoting. 0:07:23.229,0:07:28.810 But, there are still so many places, [br]small businesses, educational institutions 0:07:28.937,0:07:40.893 that are not carrying out the basic, [br]sort of gains and practices that the ADA 0:07:40.893,0:07:45.131 has made possible .There's just way too [br]much variation, and I think part of that 0:07:45.232,0:07:48.983 is just a lack of education in [br]terms of what 0:07:49.135,0:07:54.635 is reasonable and what is necessary 0:07:54.711,0:07:56.933 in terms of accommodating your citizenry 0:07:57.008,0:08:01.185 and lack of resources in some cases but 0:08:01.260,0:08:03.633 also a lot of misinformation about whether 0:08:03.734,0:08:08.236 or not it's worth it. The ADA is going to 0:08:08.293,0:08:12.462 be 30 here in July. We're celebrating all 0:08:12.544,0:08:15.543 over the country and we are still fighting 0:08:15.638,0:08:19.813 for businesses to do what they should have 0:08:19.914,0:08:22.316 done 30 years ago, those that have been 0:08:22.392,0:08:25.493 around this long. They have not, they have 0:08:25.563,0:08:27.769 have waited for complaints or they have 0:08:27.846,0:08:31.416 failed to do but the bare minimum in 0:08:31.466,0:08:34.871 terms of recruiting the largest minority 0:08:34.922,0:08:37.693 I work in the education sphere and to me, 0:08:37.792,0:08:40.220 we could be doing so much more with 0:08:40.318,0:08:42.820 advertising and recruiting for those kinds 0:08:42.943,0:08:45.621 of students that we tend to really, at 0:08:45.697,0:08:49.244 least my institution, do well to retain 0:08:49.395,0:08:52.944 because we're a small, intimate college, 0:08:53.019,0:08:55.847 Hiram College. And, and for [br]years I've tried to 0:08:55.922,0:08:59.624 encourage us to consider more universally 0:08:59.723,0:09:02.348 designed approaches, but also approaches 0:09:02.451,0:09:06.949 that do more than the bare minimum[br]when it comes to housing and 0:09:07.022,0:09:09.600 extracurricular accommodations for 0:09:09.678,0:09:12.398 students to who use mobility devices. For 0:09:12.525,0:09:15.424 example, my daughter ended up having to be 0:09:15.577,0:09:18.251 carried in her chair, to various club 0:09:18.449,0:09:20.556 meetings while she was on the Hiram 0:09:20.653,0:09:24.503 College campus. She was told that, [br]during the 0:09:24.554,0:09:28.102 winter, when the ice storms came, that 0:09:28.141,0:09:31.767 they couldn't transport her up the long 0:09:31.767,0:09:33.617 hill, while they were[br]telling everyone 0:09:33.617,0:09:37.324 else to walk like a penguin, and we had 0:09:37.324,0:09:41.271 vans to do this. We had to file with the 0:09:41.271,0:09:45.332 Ohio Disability Rights Commission and 0:09:45.408,0:09:48.242 request that the school thinks about other 0:09:48.242,0:09:50.506 ways of accommodating her, should there 0:09:50.506,0:09:52.558 be a storm, an ice storm, and she can't 0:09:52.633,0:09:55.177 get up to campus.[br]And the solution 0:09:55.177,0:09:57.787 was to have her move to a[br]new dorm. 0:09:57.787,0:10:00.012 You can't just do that over night. 0:10:00.012,0:10:01.862 You can't just move all your bedding 0:10:01.862,0:10:04.233 and all your bathroom supplies 0:10:04.233,0:10:06.877 and your whole... you know at the moment's 0:10:06.877,0:10:09.465 notice, when the weather changes 0:10:09.465,0:10:11.445 and so it has been my experience that 0:10:11.445,0:10:15.474 still a lot of places have done[br]the bare minimum approach 0:10:15.364,0:10:17.815 and think that that's all they need to do 0:10:17.822,0:10:22.162 when instead, they could be following more 0:10:22.162,0:10:26.022 of the latest practices and [br]implementation's science 0:10:26.022,0:10:29.142 and making it easier for people to 0:10:29.142,0:10:31.719 register concerns or complaints. And 0:10:31.719,0:10:34.389 they often don't even need to file a 0:10:34.389,0:10:36.930 formal complaint issue, if you [br]approach a business or 0:10:36.930,0:10:39.856 your educational institution [br]with an issue. 0:10:39.856,0:10:45.231 Often times, progressive thinkers that [br]recognize the value of 0:10:45.231,0:10:49.191 customers with disabilities frequenting[br]their businesses or 0:10:49.155,0:10:52.056 diversifying their faculty or their[br]student body 0:10:52.056,0:11:00.839 will simply not be aware that they have[br]failed to accommodate or 0:11:00.839,0:11:05.113 make accessible various programs[br]and spaces. 0:11:05.113,0:11:09.378 And that can be as simple as asking.[br]But a lot of times a lot more 0:11:09.378,0:11:12.150 has to be done, you have to document[br]you have 0:11:12.150,0:11:14.909 to make sure your emails go to[br]multiple people 0:11:14.909,0:11:21.332 and make the business case of why [br]surveying your policies 0:11:21.332,0:11:23.933 to see whether they are biases or whether 0:11:23.933,9:59:59.000 there is discrimination in filing of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 complaints or even you have a title 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of, you know, a (...) officer on campus[br]or (...) cooridnator 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so that you can let students[br]with disabilities know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who may have not proper documentation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how they can go about making sure that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they get what they need to show 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what they know, before they fail classes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because they haven't knocked at the door 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of disability services and provided proof 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that they have a particular condition 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So I know, I am sort of rambling a bit, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but I just, just wasn't aware of how much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 further we need to go when it comes to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 surveying and making sure that the ADA 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is being implemented and just because 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a law passes doesn't mean again 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that it is just going to happen 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you have to have allies and acitivists 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and insiders working very hard 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to make sure that people are recognizing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the value of legislation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which I think, still people are under 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the assumption that it applies to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people who identify with disabilities but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I don't think that was even neccesserely 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even the intent of the ADA 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think it recognizes that people flow 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in and out of abilities and the extent to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which they are excluded or discriminated 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 against, because of their abilities is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 really what this legislation was about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even having a record of having a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 condition that maybe you no longer have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or you had it temporarily can mean that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you might be excluded. If you applied for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 jobs recently, you know, many places 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 require a statement. You have to indicate 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 based of strict definitions whether you 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have limitations in these major life 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 activities that will qualify you as a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disabled person and I want to believe that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they are asking these questions, so that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they can mindfully recruit people with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disabilities joining their ranks, their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 staffing, but sometimes I think what 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 prevents people from using that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 information to disqualify candidates 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so there has to be checks and balances 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and accountabilities when it comes to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 making sure your civil rights legislation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 doesn't put all of the owners on the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 group itself to file and follow through 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and figure out which parts of the ADA are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 being violated. You know that can be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 really discouraging when all you want to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 do is go out and you know, go to the beach 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and find out which beaches are accessible 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or whether there is, you know, a mobility 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 devices that are availible via the sand or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you just want to go camping or you just 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 want to go frequent people who are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 minorities on businesses or disabilities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on businesses and some of this is out 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there and I tried to promote it through 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 books and activists pages, but there is so 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 much that we can do to leverage more of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 these ways of monitoring and implementing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 taking access to the next level whether 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for the disabled community pro forma or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 proper or for anyone who uses strollers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who might carry a lot of materials in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their hands could benefit from a push 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 button. I think we need all to make a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 better job at making the business and the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 other benefit cases for improving our ADA 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 access. Where my passions lie of late is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in getting out the votes because we know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that disabled people have been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disenfranchised from the vote and from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 parenting and from all kind sorts of other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 basic human rights but this being an election 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 year there is all kinds of folks working 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to crip the vote, #cripthevote Alice Wong 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and others who have been trying to make 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sure that candidates for president and for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 congressional offices and even local 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 campaigns are expressing what their stance 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is on the ADA and on disability rights and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 human rights and hold, for the first 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 time we've seen some traction on that. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But what people don't realize is how many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 places are not accessible to voters with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disabilities either because they use 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 assisted technologies that don't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 interphase with the electronic equipement 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or they can't get accessible transportation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or the place itself is simply inaccessible 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or they are institutionalized and barred 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from voting because of that and so the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 center fro American progress has been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 publishing some of the numbers, like over 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 60% of polling places are considered 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 inaccessible. That's a problem. So voting 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by mail may benefit a lot of groups if 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you think of some of that in the future. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And then the second big issue we should 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 follow up on that not many people know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about and that I am not even so clear of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how is the ADA serves the population of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people who are incarcerated in jails and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in prisons and in institutions. I know the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ADA amendments have been 2009 done a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 better job of successfully helping folks 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 litigate when they are isolated and there 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for not included because of their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 institutionalized placements, but also 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I am aware that not many people know about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the number, the sheer number of people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with disabilities visible and a lot of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 invisible who are incarcerated and who are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 caught up in that system of jailing and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 aren't getting what they need inside or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 should have never been incarcerated to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 begin with bacause mayve they experience 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a condition that was misunderstood from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the outset and so instead of deescalating 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a situation. Police need more training, we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 need to make the public more aware of how 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 many people are languishing in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 institutions where they are not only not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 productive, but you know what a waste of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 human capital. So, as we think about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the black lives matter movement and the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 opportunities for intersectionality, I 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 think the opportunities for allies of all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 kinds of civil rights groups need to come 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 together and really leverage their powers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to begin to think about not necessarily 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about defunding police or the incarcerating 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 institutions but recognizing how many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people of color have disabilities, how many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 women are how many are incarcerated with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disabilities that may not even belong there 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so there is so much to be done on those 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 two funds alone. And, clearly employment 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people are still way under employed but I 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 know there are folks working to improve 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that and I am trying to work with those 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 organizations to araise awareness about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how they can do better in terms of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their work force and retaining and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 retaining and recruiting actively 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 professionals who, you know, they may not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 consider as a valuable resource but gosh 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people with disabilities are so of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 most creative folks because they have to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 figure out how navigate and they do have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 persepctives that are normally based on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 maybe their particular[br]impairment experinces 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but having to navigate the world that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 isn't accessible, how to find the backdoor 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how to find the policies and so there is a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 lot of resilience to be found there, too. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need to be asking community members to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 confront ableism when they see it and part 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of that is educating people on the various 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 forms that disability prejudice[br]and discrimination can take. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There is an interesting moment right now 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with regard to anti-racism frameworks 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that are getting a lot of traction and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people are beginning to, at least[br]educational institutions, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 start teaching circles where many of us 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are reading Ibram Kenids book how to be an 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 anit-racist, how to first recognize when 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 prejudice and discrimination exist on the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bases of race, that we could also be doing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with books related to disability prejudice 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and abilism but I really think the moment 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is now to consider some of the things at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the same time because I think we may loose 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 nuances of people who are confronting 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 multiple oppressions. Though, I am just 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bringing that up because I know there is a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 lot of folks at my school now thinking 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about that we review policies to find out 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (...) discriminatory 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 our policies for recruitment may have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 things embedded or cooked into the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 algorithms that are unintentionally 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 excluding or failing to retain or promote 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 those with disabilities at our institutions 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and so, when I think about the next steps 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what people can do I come back to, you know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when people say something and they may 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 just not know, they are not familiar 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 perhaps with folks with [br]various disabilities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we know that contact with people who 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 experienced disabilities and differences 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is what makes people less prejudice 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because they come much more aware of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whole person and our stereotypes are not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 generalize-able and how if they listened 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to the voices of disabled people they can 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hear first hand what is problematic and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we need to be doing by allowing folks with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disabilities to speak, to be heard and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then to support their agendas and not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 necessarily just take over. [br]So, the confrontation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 literature is all about not necessarily 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 saying: "Hey, you are a jerk. You just said 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 something racist or ableist" and putting 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people on their defensive heels. That we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 can do this in ways that actually open up 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dialogues and that we should be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 encouraging difficult dialogues and brave 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 conversations around what we can do 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 locally in our houses, in our communities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in our schools and organizations to make 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one change, to make one difference: to ask 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what is our policy, do we know whether all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of our employees know what their rights 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are, should we be scheduling regular 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 meetings with the ADA coordinator, do 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 folks know how to find information and how 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to request a accommodation. Would it be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 great if parents went into an IEP Meeting 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at their schools, knowing what their kids 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 got as accommodations. I think people are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so non forthcoming at organizations with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the things that they view as[br]special privileges that are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 only for those who, quote on quote, need 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it or deserve it. And when we look at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disability rights as special privileges, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we don't see them as civil rights that are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 required to be met and so we could be much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 more transparent about making sure our 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 websites are not only [br]accessible to navigate 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if you have a sensory or other impairments 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but to make explicit what the policy is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for requesting a accommodations, how you 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not be fired for disclosing for example 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how we can confront things in[br]non-aggressive way. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To ask people when they say something 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pejorative or maybe just outdated, you 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 know, the word "handicap" is still out 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there i call it "handicrap", the word 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "special"' and we can just ask " what do 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you mean by that, what do you mean that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they can't do that or that you curious 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about that they have sex, can you tell me 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 more about why you think that and it can 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 start a dialogue and that is something we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 can all do. I am still working hard to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 make my own home accessible to my 24 year 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 old. We did construction to modify the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 house when we first bought it is a single 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 level so that she feel like she was a part 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the family and be able to get to all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 parts of the kitchen and her bathroom but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there you know the laundry room has one 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 step that we are still negotiating how to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 make sure that she can get into garage but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 things like where we put things in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 refrigerator. You know if you have a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wheelchair user in your family or someone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who is a little person who may have a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 congenital or an otherwise amputated limb 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we put things on shelves without even 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 thinking about who can access the shelf 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and my other child who happens to be abled 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bodied would before dinner, you know, try 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to get a snack and before we could even 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 say "no" he was out the door with the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 snack. My daughter would have to come in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and say can I , can you get something of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the top shelf from me and then we would 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 say, you know, why don't you wait until 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dinner time and we have to be mindful 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about which drawers we want to put her 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 things into. She can't feel like a second 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 class citizen in her own family space and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 those are some things that we can remind 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 our peers who have kids with disabilities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as we try to go on and educated another 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 parents in our parenting roles and our 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 roles as educators and who are diversity 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 committees. Our diversity committee now is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 taking on accessibility as part of our 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mental trying to convince others that we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 need to be doing ongoing data collection 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to benchmark, I think a lot of people are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 afraid of data that might say "your campus 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 climate isn't the most accessible" but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 unless you name the thing, [br]unless you document the thing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that is perhaps of concern of a less then 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fully inclusive or accessible, you can't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 make progress. And, I think people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 appreciate, you know, the one in four 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or five people with disabilities and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their families appreciate when people say 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "we are not there yet, but this is what we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are doing and in a short term we will have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 reviewed our handbooks so that at least 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this is done by this year and next year we 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are going to advertise for positions in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 places to increase the number of disabled 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people on our staff, because students need 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mentors. They need to see people that look 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 like them and then have similar challenges 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so that they know what is possible, so I 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 just sort of conclude by [br]saying my daughter, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you know, made it through preschool and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 has been in several different kinds of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 spaces on college campuses that aren't so 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 accessilble and that are. She is working 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the education as a preschool teacher 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 herself. But now since[br]the covid-19 outbreak 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she was laid off, she was furloughed from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 her brand new job. And, of late she is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 putting resumes back out and there must be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 something about the pandemic now where not 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 many people are wanting to go back to work 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in close encounters with kids. She is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 getting one interview after another and so 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she may end up with multiple offers now 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I remind her to tell the folks that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 preschools when they get someone like her 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on their staff so many students gravited 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 toward her because [br]she has this visible signs 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of her disability, her wheelchair and if 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you can educate the youngs,[br]the preschoolers and show them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people of all abilities can be teachers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and parents and ongoing learners, you know 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they tend to even those kids with behavior 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 problems com to her. They see as this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 beacon of hope, I think, that is a real 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cue for employers who ever gets my 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 daughter as a teacher is going to be lucky.