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So,

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My name is Michelle Nario - Redmond

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I am a social psychologist and

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I teach at Hiram College

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in psychology and biomedical
humanities program

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and I just wrote a book on ableism
the causes and consequences

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of disability prejudice.
My first memory

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and I'll just back up and say in 1990,

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when the ADA passed 
I was in graduate school,

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in Kansas, and disability prejudice,
the ADA or anything

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related to disability issues 
were completely off my radar,

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and I worked at a place 
where one of the pioneers

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of disability studies worked, 
Beatrice Wright,

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and I hadn't yet to have a class with her.

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It really wasn't until 1995,
which was five years later,

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when my daughter was born,
Sierra, with spina bifida,

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that I became aware 
of disability and found the work

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of Carol Gill and Simi Linton
and began to educate myself

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on disability studies and its scope,
and the first memory I have of

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confronting inaccessible spaces
was a few years later, when we enrolled

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my daughter Sierra in a preschool,
at a catholic preschool,

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right down the road; and it just didn't
even dawn on me that we would have to

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work so hard for her to be accommodated
as a preschooler,

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and it was really a function of
the fact that the building was older,

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there were steps, and they really didn't
know, nor did they need to legally know,

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about reasonable accommodations 
and civil rights of their students,

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because they were a private facility and
weren't subject to the ADA's rules.

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So... it became clear to me that 
we needed to find a new preschool,

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and luckily we found a private,
another private place. It wasn't

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a public school, but it 
was a music school settlement

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and they had resources
and they were already operating

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under a sort of set of presumptions
about the value of diversity

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and diverse perspectives,
and we didn't really have to ask for much,

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because they bent over backwards
to include my daughter

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in a typical classroom, with her peers,
her preschool peers, music classes,

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there were so many eclectic
movement classes,

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and they even purchased
equipment for their exercise room

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and movement room
that would be useful to her among others,

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and she has since grown up to become
this teacher and has applied

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to work there as a preschool teacher.
So, I think it would be really

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amazing, if she came full circle. 
But, I guess, to stance the broader

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question about being frustrated and aware 
of inaccessibility and lack of inclusion,

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we were in a district that, when she then,
was about to move to preschool, I

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knew that she wouldn't probably be able to
go to a private school, not only because

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of the financial cost, but because 
they would not have to think about

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best practices and the law when
it came to accommodating

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their students with disabilities,
and so I knew we would be

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looking at the public school, and the 
public school in our neighborhood

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was not accessible. We went to visit it,
the playground had a little house

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that she wouldn't have been 
able to get into,

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and it was really disheartening
and so it came at a time

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when we were already looking
for other opportunities,

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and my husband got an opportunity
to move us as a family

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to the West Coast
of Portland of Oregon, and

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so the way I...we had to
navigate her early educational experiences

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was to only look at spaces and schools
that were in districts that were new,

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so that had buildings 
and had training in terms of

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accommodating their diverse students
and their disabled students,

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because just having the brief experiences
that I did with the preschool

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and IEP meetings that were going to
require me to fight at every juncture

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for her basic rights 
to show what she knows

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and participate and recognize herself
as a valuable contributor

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to the school community.
We're not going to be forthcoming

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without a fight, 
and so we narrowed our search

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to a district,
and thank God we had the opportunity

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and the resources to do this,
that was pretty known for their

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inclusivity.

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We did that also when we came back 
to the Cleveland, Ohio area.

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We were able to avoid all districts
that weren't at the cutting edge

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of full inclusion and proof of excellence
and had newer buildings

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that could accommodate those 
with disabilities,

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but I guess that that was my earliest
memory of how, 'Oh, we have a road

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ahead of us and we have to take it upon
ourselves to either continue to fight

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battles that had already been won, 
legislatively or find spaces, places

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and organizations that were ahead
of the curve

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in terms of implementing, monitoring and 
just execute the basic civil rights

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of their various constituents

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The impact that all of that has had on me 
is to just be able to communicate

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with other parents and students 
with disabilities

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about not only knowing their rights but
knowing how to get those rights

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how to advocate for ensuring that those 
rights are addressed, are met.

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I think the ADA has made 
a huge difference

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and the aha moment was even when I was
collating information for this book

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on disability prejudice. I realized that 
when I was a kid,

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when I was growing up in the 60's and 
70's, people with disabilities weren't

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able to do any of the things that we took 
for granted as kids: go to the movies

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go to restaurants, go to visit a friend,
at a friend's house, or invite

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others to your birthday parties.

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And, since the ADA passed in 1990, 
it wasn't an immediate set of changes,

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as, you know, there has been significant
progress made, particularly in public

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spaces and in employment settings, 
where there are even employers

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who are part of an organization 
of inclusive excellence, who

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recognize that disabled employees are 
actually more reliable and

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have less turnover and are worth
investing in and promoting.

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But, there are still so many places, 
small businesses, educational institutions

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that are not carrying out the basic, 
sort of gains and practices that the ADA

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has made possible .There's just way too 
much variation, and I think part of that

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is just a lack of education in 
terms of what

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is reasonable and what is necessary

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in terms of accommodating your citizenry

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and lack of resources in some cases but

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also a lot of misinformation about whether

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or not it's worth it. You know, 
the ADA is going to

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be 30 here in July. We're 
celebrating around

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the country and we are still fighting

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for businesses to do what they should have

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done 30 years ago, those that have been

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around this long. They have not, they have

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have waited for complaints or they have

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failed to do but the bare minimum in

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terms of recruiting the largest minority

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I work in the education sphere and to me,

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we could be doing so much more with

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advertising and recruiting for those kinds

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of students that we tend to really, at

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least my institution, do well to retain

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because we're a small, intimate college,

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Hiram College. And, and for 
years I've tried to sort of

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encourage us to consider more universally

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designed approaches, but also approaches

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that do more than the bare minimum
when it comes to housing and

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extracurricular accommodations for

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students to who use mobility devices. For

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example, my daughter ended up having to be

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carried in her chair, to various club

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meetings while she was on the Hiram

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College campus. She was told that, 
during the

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winter, when the ice storms came, that

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they couldn't transport her up the long

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hill, while they were
telling everyone

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else to walk like a penguin, and we had

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vans to do this. We had to file with the

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Ohio Disability Rights Commission and

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request that the school thinks about other

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ways of accommodating her, should there

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be a storm, an ice storm, and she can't

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get up to campus.
And the solution

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was to have her move to a
new dorm.

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You can't just do that over night.

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You can't just move all your bedding

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and all your bathroom supplies

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and your whole... you know at the moment's

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notice, when the weather changes

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and so it has been my experience that

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still a lot of places have done
the bare minimum approach

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and think that that's all they need to do

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when instead, they could be following more

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of the latest practices and 
implementation's science

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and making it easier for people to

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register concerns or complaints. And

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they often don't even need to file a

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formal complaint issue, if you 
approach a business or

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your educational institution 
with an issue.

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Often times, progressive thinkers that 
recognize the value of

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customers with disabilities frequenting
their businesses or

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diversifying their faculty or their
student body

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will simply not be aware that they have
failed to accommodate or

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make accessible various programs
and spaces.

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And that can be as simple as asking.
But a lot of times a lot more

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has to be done, you have to document
you have

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to make sure your emails go to
multiple people

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and make the business case of why 
surveying your policies

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to see whether they are biases or whether

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there is discrimination in filing of

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complaints or even you have a title

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of, you know, an officer on campus
or ADA - cooridnator

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so that you can let students
with disabilities know

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who may have not proper documentation

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how they can go about making sure that

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they get what they need to show

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what they know, before they fail classes

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because they haven't knocked at the door

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of disability services and provided proof

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that they have a particular condition

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So I know, I am sort of rambling a bit,

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but I just, just wasn't aware of how much

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further we need to go when it comes to

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surveying and making sure that the ADA

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is being implemented and just because

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a law passes doesn't mean again

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that it is just going to happen

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you have to have allies and acitivists

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and insiders working very hard

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to make sure that people are recognizing

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the value of legislation

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which I think, still people are under

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the assumption that it applies to

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people who identify with disabilities but

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I don't think that was even neccesserely

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even the intent of the ADA

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I think it recognizes that people flow

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in and out of abilities and the extent to

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which they are excluded or discriminated

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against, because of their abilities is

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really what this legislation was about

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even having a record of having a

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condition that maybe you no longer have

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or you had it temporarily can mean that

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you might be excluded. If you applied for

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jobs recently, you know, many places

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require a statement. You have to indicate

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based on strict definitions whether you

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have limitations in these major life

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activities that will qualify you as a

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disabled person and I want to believe that

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they are asking those questions, so that

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they can mindfully recruit people with

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disabilities to join their ranks, their

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staffing, but sometimes I think what

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prevents people from using that

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information to disqualify candidates

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so there has to be checks and balances

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and accountabilities when it comes to

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making sure your civil rights legislation

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doesn't put all of the owners on the

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group itself to file and follow through

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and figure out which parts of the ADA are

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being violated. You know that can be

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really discouraging when all you want to

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do is go out and you know, go to the beach

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and find out which beaches are accessible

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or whether there is, you know, a mobility

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devices that are availible via the sand or

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you just want to go camping or you just

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want to go frequent people who are

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minorities on businesses or disabilities

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on businesses and some of this is out

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there and I tried to promote it through

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books and activists pages, 
but there is just so

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much that we can do to leverage more of

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these ways of monitoring and implementing

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and taking access to 
the next level whether

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for the disabled community pro forma or

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proper or for anyone who uses strollers

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who might carry a lot of materials in

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their hands could benefit from a push

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button. I think we need all to do a better

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job at making the business and the

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other benefit cases for improving our ADA

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access. Where my passions lie of late is

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in getting out the votes because we know

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that disabled people have been

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disenfranchised from the vote and from

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parenting and from all kinds of other

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basic human rights but
this being an election

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year there is all kinds of folks working

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to crip the vote, #cripthevote Alice Wong

248
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and others who have been trying to make

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sure that candidates for president and for

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congressional offices and even local

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campaigns are expressing what their stance

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is on the ADA and on disability rights and

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human rights and hold, for the first

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time we've seen some traction on that.

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But what people don't realize is how many

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places are not accessible to voters with

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disabilities either
because they use

258
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assisted technologies that don't

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inter-phase with the electronic equipment

260
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or they can't get accessible
transportation

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or the place itself is simply inaccessible

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or they are institutionalized and barred

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from voting because of that and so the

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center for American progress has been

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publishing some of the numbers, like over

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60% of polling places are considered

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inaccessible. That's a problem. So voting

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by mail may benefit a lot of groups if

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you think of some of that in the future.

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And then the second big issue we should

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follow up on that not many people know

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about and that I am not even so clear as

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how is the ADA serves the population of

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people who are incarcerated in jails and

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in prisons and in institutions. I know the

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ADA amendments have been 2009 done a

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00:17:00,752 --> 00:17:05,638
better job of successfully helping folks

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00:17:05,638 --> 00:17:08,790
litigate when they are isolated and there

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00:17:08,790 --> 00:17:10,778
for not included because of their

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institutionalized placements, but I also

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I am aware that not many people know about

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the number, the sheer numbers of people

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with disabilities visible and a lot of

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00:17:24,736 --> 00:17:28,212
invisible who are incarcerated
and who have been

285
00:17:28,212 --> 00:17:35,200
caught up in that system of jailing and

286
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aren't getting what they need inside or

287
00:17:37,932 --> 00:17:40,708
should have never been incarcerated to

288
00:17:40,708 --> 00:17:43,374
begin with because maybe they experience

289
00:17:43,374 --> 00:17:46,730
a condition that was misunderstood from

290
00:17:46,730 --> 00:17:49,479
the outset and so instead of deescalating

291
00:17:49,479 --> 00:17:54,210
a situation. Police need more training, we

292
00:17:54,210 --> 00:17:57,039
need to make the public more aware of how

293
00:17:57,039 --> 00:18:01,377
many people are languishing in the

294
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institutions where they are not only not

295
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productive, but you know what a waste of

296
00:18:07,374 --> 00:18:09,903
human capital. So, as we think about

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00:18:09,903 --> 00:18:12,084
the black lives matter movement and the

298
00:18:12,084 --> 00:18:14,582
opportunities for intersectionality, I

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00:18:14,582 --> 00:18:18,744
think the opportunities for allies of all

300
00:18:18,744 --> 00:18:21,526
kinds of civil rights groups need to come

301
00:18:21,526 --> 00:18:24,756
together and really leverage their powers

302
00:18:24,756 --> 00:18:27,640
to begin to think about not necessarily

303
00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,642
just defunding police or the decarcerating

304
00:18:31,642 --> 00:18:35,482
institutions but recognizing how many

305
00:18:35,482 --> 00:18:38,696
people of color have disabilities, 
how many

306
00:18:38,696 --> 00:18:42,475
women, and how many are incarcerated with

307
00:18:42,475 --> 00:18:46,793
disabilities that may not 
even belong there

308
00:18:46,793 --> 00:18:49,710
so there is so much to be done on those

309
00:18:49,710 --> 00:18:54,203
two funds alone. And, clearly employment,
you know that

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00:18:54,203 --> 00:18:58,051
people are still way under employed but I

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00:18:58,051 --> 00:19:01,493
know there are folks working to improve

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00:19:01,493 --> 00:19:05,414
that and I am trying to work with those

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00:19:05,414 --> 00:19:08,731
organizations to araise awareness about

314
00:19:08,731 --> 00:19:10,834
how they can do better in terms of

315
00:19:10,834 --> 00:19:15,235
their work force and retaining
and recruiting actively

316
00:19:15,235 --> 00:19:18,311
professionals who, you know, they may not

317
00:19:18,311 --> 00:19:22,151
consider as a valuable resource but gosh

318
00:19:22,151 --> 00:19:24,054
people with disabilities are some of the

319
00:19:24,054 --> 00:19:25,834
most creative folks because they have to

320
00:19:25,834 --> 00:19:28,508
figure out how navigate and they do have

321
00:19:28,508 --> 00:19:31,949
persepctives that are normally based on

322
00:19:31,949 --> 00:19:34,535
maybe their particular
impairment experinces

323
00:19:34,535 --> 00:19:37,245
but having to navigate the world that

324
00:19:37,245 --> 00:19:40,316
isn't accessible, how to find the backdoor

325
00:19:40,316 --> 00:19:43,919
how to find the policies and so there is a

326
00:19:43,919 --> 00:19:47,932
lot of resilience to be found there, too.

327
00:19:47,932 --> 00:19:52,831
We need to be asking community members to

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00:19:52,831 --> 00:19:56,350
confront ableism when they see it and part

329
00:19:56,350 --> 00:19:58,816
of that is educating people on the various

330
00:19:58,816 --> 00:20:03,749
forms that disability prejudice
and discrimination can take.

331
00:20:03,749 --> 00:20:05,892
There is an interesting moment right now

332
00:20:05,892 --> 00:20:09,088
with regard to anti-racism frameworks

333
00:20:09,088 --> 00:20:11,152
that are getting a lot of traction and

334
00:20:11,152 --> 00:20:14,473
people are beginning to, at least
educational institutions,

335
00:20:14,473 --> 00:20:19,008
start teaching circles where many of us

336
00:20:19,008 --> 00:20:21,800
are reading Ibram Kendis book how to be an

337
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,155
anit-racist, how to first recognize when

338
00:20:25,155 --> 00:20:27,215
prejudice and discrimination exist on the

339
00:20:27,215 --> 00:20:30,045
bases of race, that we could also be doing

340
00:20:30,045 --> 00:20:32,796
with books related to disability prejudice

341
00:20:32,796 --> 00:20:35,664
and ableism but I really think the moment

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00:20:35,664 --> 00:20:38,092
is now to consider some of the things at

343
00:20:38,092 --> 00:20:41,446
the same time because I think we may loose

344
00:20:41,446 --> 00:20:44,805
nuances of people who are confronting

345
00:20:44,805 --> 00:20:47,188
multiple oppressions. Though, I am just

346
00:20:47,188 --> 00:20:49,455
bringing that up because I know there is a

347
00:20:49,455 --> 00:20:52,288
lot of folks at my school now thinking

348
00:20:52,288 --> 00:20:56,740
about that we review policies to find out

349
00:20:56,740 --> 99:59:59,999
whether our syllabi are discriminatory

350
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our policies for recruitment may have

351
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things embedded or cooked into the

352
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
algorithms that are unintentionally

353
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
excluding or failing to retain or promote

354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
those with disabilities at our institutions

355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and so, when I think about the next steps

356
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what people can do I come back to, you know

357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when people say something and they may

358
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
just not know, they are not familiar

359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
perhaps with folks with 
various disabilities

360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we know that contact with people who

361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
experienced disabilities and differences

362
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is what makes people less prejudice

363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because they come much more aware of the

364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
whole person and our stereotypes are not

365
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
generalize-able and how if they listened

366
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the voices of disabled people they can

367
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
hear first hand what is problematic and

368
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we need to be doing by allowing folks with

369
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
disabilities to speak, to be heard and

370
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
then to support their agendas and not

371
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
necessarily just take over. 
So, the confrontation

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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
literature is all about not necessarily

373
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
saying: "Hey, you are a jerk. You just said

374
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
something racist or ableist" and putting

375
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
people on their defensive heels. That we

376
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
can do this in ways that actually open up

377
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
dialogues and that we should be

378
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
encouraging difficult dialogues and brave

379
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
conversations around what we can do

380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
locally in our houses, in our communities

381
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in our schools and organizations to make

382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one change, to make one difference: to ask

383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what is our policy, do we know whether all

384
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of our employees know what their rights

385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are, should we be scheduling regular

386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
meetings with the ADA coordinator, do

387
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
folks know how to find information and how

388
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to request a accommodation. Would it be

389
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
great if parents went into an IEP Meeting

390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at their schools, knowing what their kids

391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
got as accommodations. I think people are

392
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so non forthcoming at organizations with

393
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the things that they view as
special privileges that are

394
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
only for those who, quote on quote, need

395
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it or deserve it. And when we look at

396
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
disability rights as special privileges,

397
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we don't see them as civil rights that are

398
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
required to be met and so we could be much

399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more transparent about making sure our

400
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
websites are not only 
accessible to navigate

401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you have a sensory or other impairments

402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but to make explicit what the policy is

403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for requesting a accommodations, how you

404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not be fired for disclosing for example

405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how we can confront things in
non-aggressive way.

406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To ask people when they say something

407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
pejorative or maybe just outdated, you

408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
know, the word "handicap" is still out

409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there i call it "handicrap", the word

410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"special"' and we can just ask " what do

411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you mean by that, what do you mean that

412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they can't do that or that you curious

413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about that they have sex, can you tell me

414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more about why you think that and it can

415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
start a dialogue and that is something we

416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
can all do. I am still working hard to

417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
make my own home accessible to my 24 year

418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
old. We did construction to modify the

419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
house when we first bought it is a single

420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
level so that she feel like she was a part

421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the family and be able to get to all

422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
parts of the kitchen and her bathroom but

423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there you know the laundry room has one

424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
step that we are still negotiating how to

425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
make sure that she can get into garage but

426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things like where we put things in the

427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
refrigerator. You know if you have a

428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wheelchair user in your family or someone

429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who is a little person who may have a

430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
congenital or an otherwise amputated limb

431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we put things on shelves without even

432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
thinking about who can access the shelf

433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and my other child who happens to be abled

434
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
bodied would before dinner, you know, try

435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to get a snack and before we could even

436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
say "no" he was out the door with the

437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
snack. My daughter would have to come in

438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and say can I , can you get something of

439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the top shelf from me and then we would

440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
say, you know, why don't you wait until

441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
dinner time and we have to be mindful

442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about which drawers we want to put her

443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things into. She can't feel like a second

444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
class citizen in her own family space and

445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
those are some things that we can remind

446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our peers who have kids with disabilities

447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as we try to go on and educated another

448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
parents in our parenting roles and our

449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
roles as educators and who are diversity

450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
committees. Our diversity committee now is

451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
taking on accessibility as part of our

452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
mental trying to convince others that we

453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
need to be doing ongoing data collection

454
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to benchmark, I think a lot of people are

455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
afraid of data that might say "your campus

456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
climate isn't the most accessible" but

457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
unless you name the thing, 
unless you document the thing

458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that is perhaps of concern of a less then

459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fully inclusive or accessible, you can't

460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
make progress. And, I think people

461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
appreciate, you know, the one in four

462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or five people with disabilities and

463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
their families appreciate when people say

464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"we are not there yet, but this is what we

465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are doing and in a short term we will have

466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
reviewed our handbooks so that at least

467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this is done by this year and next year we

468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are going to advertise for positions in

469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
places to increase the number of disabled

470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
people on our staff, because students need

471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
mentors. They need to see people that look

472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like them and then have similar challenges

473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so that they know what is possible, so I

474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
just sort of conclude by 
saying my daughter,

475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you know, made it through preschool and

476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
has been in several different kinds of

477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
spaces on college campuses that aren't so

478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
accessilble and that are. She is working

479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the education as a preschool teacher

480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
herself. But now since
the covid-19 outbreak

481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she was laid off, she was furloughed from

482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
her brand new job. And, of late she is

483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
putting resumes back out and there must be

484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
something about the pandemic now where not

485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
many people are wanting to go back to work

486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in close encounters with kids. She is

487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
getting one interview after another and so

488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she may end up with multiple offers now

489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I remind her to tell the folks that

490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
preschools when they get someone like her

491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on their staff so many students gravited

492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
toward her because 
she has this visible signs

493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of her disability, her wheelchair and if

494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you can educate the youngs,
the preschoolers and show them

495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
people of all abilities can be teachers

496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and parents and ongoing learners, you know

497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they tend to even those kids with behavior

498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
problems com to her. They see as this

499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beacon of hope, I think, that is a real

500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
cue for employers who ever gets my

501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
daughter as a teacher is going to be lucky.