vimeo.com/.../436888534

I'm Art Blaser in Orange, California

South of Los Angeles.

And the first question had to do with

my background and how I became aware

of the ADA, a disability association.

In my case,
although I had some knowledge before,

not a lot less than most people,

til I became disabled,

which was in 1983,
I had a brain stem stroke

and became disabled and a full time

wheelchair user today.

And I would say that

the issues of disability accommodations

I confronted.

A big one was access to my home

and a simple one was access to my job.

That although curb cuts were in theory

supposed to be in place

by 1995, in practice, they weren't.

They are today, which I think is

emblematic of the impact of the ADA.

As of now we've got things

to the time, but,

the spirit of the ADA

was the confrontation of

people being public about their needs.

And eventually, Orange, where I live,

had curb cuts at the corners, which meant

it was possible for me to live

about five blocks from campus.

I had improvements also and accommodations

which included a computerized voice

that makes it possible to teach.

The kinds of things that

wouldn't have existed decades ago.

Fortunately, in California as a professor,

I was able to take advantage of

good state laws.

But I think they're being forced by

the spirit of the ADA.

We see the ADA's effect for good

point of the spirit

and some things that don't work

just about every day that they

try to get access to different buildings.

And quite often, the experience

of other people say

this shouldn't be happening,

but in fact it is.

But the big difference is

is that were people motivated,

eventually things change and adapt.

I've noticed it most

in education

that I teach

at Chapman University, since 1981,

so before the ADA.

And, when I was not disabled,

I teach today

I noticed a lot of the effects through

teaching disabilities at least.

And, I've had students

who actually grew up knowing

that the ADA existed

and they're the so-called "ADA generation"

which makes a big difference.

People are claiming disability and trying

to make the world a better place.

And, in many cases, they're successful,

and in some cases, not.

But there are reasons for it

and I think there's a desire

to understand the reasons.

I think they want us to

prioritize and recognize separated people,

the association of where

and how people live,

and the contrast between nursing homes

and lacks of the community

or congregate settings.

And we're experiencing through COVID-19,

the current crisis,

a lot of death in nursing homes worldwide.

And, we also have the coordinance of the

Unites States fills decades, which Friday

the interpretations of it, but

it will threat of the right of people

to live in the community

guaranteed by the

Americans with Disabilities Act.

I think one of the

unfortunate things we are seeing

is the lack of forward movement

toward nursing home reforms

or eStatements.

We can't continue to live in congregate

settings and a number of people are

active big of what that thing is,

the independent living centers

and independent living movement,

some things that I feel privileged

in a lot of ways to be involved in

with a center for independent living

for Orange county and LA.

And a major issue has been

transitions from nursing homes.

And, that will continue to be a major

issue including interpretations of cores,

which I think is very important

not only in the United States,

but also elsewhere as well.

England has noticed roughly

the same thing happening

that about half of the deaths

are people in nursing homes.

They can tell that a bit of the issue

is that now we're seeing a lot

of people who've had COVID-19

tested positive and recovered,

but a lot of indications that they

haven't recovered perfectly.

That many of them like me have stroke,

some things that are similar to

multiple sclerosis,

and a lot of people haven't thought

of themselves as disabled, but in fact

have many of the conditions of disability.

And an important factor

in the coming years

I think will be that people

claim disability

and discover that it's actually a part

of the way a lot of us live.

And that's something that's

going to go away because

to people like me

is we can make the world a lot better

by acknowledging the rights

that should come along with disability.

The most important step that

we as community members can take

is education while they can see that

all of us are involved

in through their lifespan

because they can see inside there.

And considering people to both

dimensions of disability

some with pride and positive atitudes

towards human differences continue

through their lifespans and

know religious organizations

at first, might find it difficult to

deal with disabilities through politics

like the Americans with Disability Act

and Vocabularies Right,

but that's very necessary.

And at the colleges and universities

I know we have to graduate disabilities

to this program.

But as a community,

I think everything affects the media.

Sometimes we see things differently,

but an increase in disability

of disability is important.

Fortunately, we have projects like

the disability and visibility project,

a number of instances

of involvement of the media,

foundations like the Rotherham Foundation.

But a number of indications that

in the future disability will be something

that people are likely to talk about

and deal with in a positive way.