WEBVTT 00:00:01.020 --> 00:00:01.950 So, 00:00:01.950 --> 00:00:04.350 My name is Michelle Nario - Redmond 00:00:04.350 --> 00:00:06.320 I am a social psychologist and 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.380 I teach at Hiram College 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:11.404 in psychology and biomedical humanities program 00:00:11.404 --> 00:00:15.727 and I just wrote a book on ableism the causes and consequences 00:00:15.727 --> 00:00:18.967 of disability prejudice. My first memory 00:00:18.967 --> 00:00:21.267 and I'll just back up and say in 1990, 00:00:21.267 --> 00:00:23.730 when the ADA passed I was in graduate school, 00:00:25.099 --> 00:00:33.134 in Kansas, and disability prejudice, the ADA or anything 00:00:33.134 --> 00:00:38.954 related to disability issues were completely off my radar, 00:00:40.054 --> 00:00:43.578 and I worked at a place where one of the pioneers 00:00:43.578 --> 00:00:46.756 of disability studies worked, Beatrice Wright, 00:00:46.756 --> 00:00:50.396 and I hadn't yet to have a class with her. 00:00:50.396 --> 00:00:53.876 It really wasn't until 1995, which was five years later, 00:00:53.876 --> 00:00:58.566 when my daughter was born, Sierra, with spina bifida, 00:00:58.566 --> 00:01:03.394 that I became aware of disability and found the work 00:01:03.394 --> 00:01:08.862 of Carol Gill and Simi Linton and began to educate myself 00:01:08.862 --> 00:01:15.348 on disability studies and its scope, and the first memory I have of 00:01:15.348 --> 00:01:22.571 confronting inaccessible spaces was a few years later, when we enrolled 00:01:22.571 --> 00:01:26.520 my daughter Sierra in a preschool, at a catholic preschool, 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 00:01:31.915 --> 00:01:36.388 work so hard for her to be accommodated as a preschooler, 00:01:36.472 --> 00:01:41.209 and it was really a function of the fact that the building was older, 00:01:41.252 --> 00:01:47.109 there were steps, and they really didn't know, nor did they need to legally know, 00:01:47.142 --> 00:01:52.554 about reasonable accommodations and civil rights of their students, 00:01:52.554 --> 00:02:00.755 because they were a private facility and weren't subject to the ADA's rules. 00:02:00.812 --> 00:02:05.303 So... it became clear to me that we needed to find a new preschool, 00:02:05.303 --> 00:02:09.911 and luckily we found a private, another private place. It wasn't 00:02:09.911 --> 00:02:12.946 a public school, but it was a music school settlement 00:02:12.946 --> 00:02:16.407 and they had resources and they were already operating 00:02:16.407 --> 00:02:21.566 under a sort of set of presumptions about the value of diversity 00:02:21.566 --> 00:02:26.928 and diverse perspectives, and we didn't really have to ask for much, 00:02:26.928 --> 00:02:31.654 because they bent over backwards to include my daughter 00:02:31.654 --> 00:02:37.356 in a typical classroom, with her peers, her preschool peers, music classes, 00:02:37.356 --> 00:02:41.947 there were so many eclectic movement classes, 00:02:41.947 --> 00:02:48.049 and they even purchased equipment for their exercise room 00:02:48.049 --> 00:02:52.868 and movement room that would be useful to her among others, NOTE Paragraph 00:02:52.868 --> 00:02:58.063 and she has since grown up to become this teacher and has applied 00:02:58.063 --> 00:03:01.595 to work there as a preschool teacher. So, I think it would be really 00:03:01.595 --> 00:03:08.320 amazing, if she came full circle. But, I guess, to stance the broader 00:03:08.320 --> 00:03:14.915 question about being frustrated and aware of inaccessibility and lack of inclusion, 00:03:14.915 --> 00:03:21.512 we were in a district that, when she then, was about to move to preschool, I 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 00:03:27.059 --> 00:03:31.585 of the financial cost, but because they would not have to think about 00:03:31.585 --> 00:03:35.981 best practices and the law when it came to accommodating 00:03:35.981 --> 00:03:39.133 their students with disabilities, and so I knew we would be 00:03:39.133 --> 00:03:43.971 looking at the public school, and the public school in our neighbourhood 00:03:43.971 --> 00:03:49.384 was not accessible. We went to visit it, the playground had a little house 00:03:49.384 --> 00:03:52.254 that she wouldn't have been able to get into, 00:03:52.254 --> 00:03:55.876 and it was really disheartening and so it came at a time 00:03:55.876 --> 00:03:58.393 when we were already looking for other opportunities, 00:03:58.393 --> 00:04:01.573 and my husband got an opportunity to move us as a family 00:04:01.573 --> 00:04:04.079 to the West Coast of Portland of Oregon, and 00:04:04.079 --> 00:04:10.507 so the way I...we had to navigate her early educational experiences 00:04:10.574 --> 00:04:17.591 was to only look at spaces and schools that were in districts that were new, 00:04:17.591 --> 00:04:23.109 so that had buildings and had training in terms of 00:04:23.178 --> 00:04:26.369 accommodating their diverse students and their disabled students, 00:04:26.369 --> 00:04:31.262 because just having the brief experiences that I did with the preschool 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:38.810 and IEP meetings that were going to require me to fight at every juncture 00:04:38.868 --> 00:04:42.941 for her basic rights to show what she knows 00:04:42.976 --> 00:04:47.312 and participate and recognize herself as a valuable contributor 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.910 to the school community. We're not going to be forthcoming 00:04:50.943 --> 00:04:54.411 without a fight, and so we narrowed our search 00:04:54.454 --> 00:04:57.194 to a district, and thank God we had the opportunity 00:04:57.221 --> 00:05:02.445 and the resources to do this, that was pretty known for their 00:05:02.513 --> 00:05:04.012 inclusivity. 00:05:04.095 --> 00:05:07.731 We did that also when we came back to the Cleveland, Ohio area. 00:05:07.731 --> 00:05:12.412 We were able to avoid all districts that weren't at the cutting edge 00:05:12.412 --> 00:05:16.514 of full inclusion and proof of excellence and had newer buildings 00:05:16.514 --> 00:05:19.623 that could accommodate those with disabilities, 00:05:19.623 --> 00:05:25.967 but I guess that that was my earliest memory of how, 'Oh, we have a road 00:05:25.967 --> 00:05:32.468 ahead of us and we have to take it upon ourselves to either continue to fight 00:05:32.468 --> 00:05:40.316 battles that had already been won, legislatively or find spaces, places 00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:42.982 and organizations that were ahead of the curve 00:05:42.982 --> 00:05:50.434 in terms of implementing, monitoring and just execute the basic civil rights 00:05:50.484 --> 00:05:53.618 of their various constituents 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 00:05:58.640 --> 00:06:02.284 with other parents and students with disabilities 00:06:02.334 --> 00:06:09.035 about not only knowing their rights but knowing how to get those rights 00:06:09.086 --> 00:06:18.638 how to advocate for ensuring that those rights are addressed, are met. 00:06:18.638 --> 00:06:21.099 I think the ADA has made a huge difference 00:06:21.099 --> 00:06:24.755 and the aha moment was even when I was collating information for this book 00:06:24.807 --> 00:06:28.922 on disability prejudice. I realized that when I was a kid, 00:06:28.956 --> 00:06:33.693 when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, people with disabilities weren't 00:06:33.693 --> 00:06:39.357 able to do any of the things that we took for granted as kids: go to the movies 00:06:39.432 --> 00:06:44.474 go to restaurants, go to visit a friend, at a friend's house, or invite 00:06:44.546 --> 00:06:47.559 others to your birthday parties. 00:06:47.559 --> 00:06:54.992 And, since the ADA passed in 1990, it wasn't an immediate set of changes, 00:06:55.011 --> 00:07:01.662 as, you know, there has been significant progress made, particularly in public 00:07:01.662 --> 00:07:07.910 spaces and in employment settings, where there are even employers 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:13.827 who are part of an organization of inclusive excellence, who 00:07:13.876 --> 00:07:18.677 recognize that disabled employees are actually more reliable and 00:07:18.724 --> 00:07:23.145 have less turnover and are worth investing in and promoting. 00:07:23.229 --> 00:07:28.810 But, there are still so many places, small businesses, educational institutions 00:07:28.937 --> 00:07:40.893 that are not carrying out the basic, sort of gains and practices that the ADA 00:07:40.893 --> 00:07:45.131 has made possible. There's just way too much variation and I think part of that 00:07:45.232 --> 00:07:48.983 is just a lack of education in terms of what 00:07:49.135 --> 00:07:54.635 is reasonable and what is necessary 00:07:54.711 --> 00:07:56.933 in terms of accommodating your citizenry 00:07:57.008 --> 00:08:01.185 and lack of resources in some cases but 00:08:01.260 --> 00:08:03.633 also a lot of misinformation about whether 00:08:03.734 --> 00:08:08.236 or not it's worth it. You know, the ADA is going to 00:08:08.293 --> 00:08:12.462 be 30 here in July. We're celebrating around 00:08:12.544 --> 00:08:15.543 the country and we are still fighting 00:08:15.543 --> 00:08:19.813 for businesses to do what they should have 00:08:19.914 --> 00:08:22.316 done 30 years ago, those that have been 00:08:22.392 --> 00:08:25.493 around this long. They have not, they have 00:08:25.563 --> 00:08:27.769 have waited for complaints or they have 00:08:27.846 --> 00:08:31.416 failed to do but the bare minimum in 00:08:31.466 --> 00:08:34.871 terms of recruiting the largest minority 00:08:34.922 --> 00:08:37.693 I work in the education sphere and to me, 00:08:37.792 --> 00:08:40.220 we could be doing so much more with 00:08:40.318 --> 00:08:42.820 advertising and recruiting for those kinds 00:08:42.943 --> 00:08:45.621 of students that we tend to really, at 00:08:45.697 --> 00:08:49.244 least my institution, do well to retain 00:08:49.395 --> 00:08:52.944 because we're a small, intimate college, 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:55.847 Hiram College. And, and for years I've tried to sort of 00:08:55.922 --> 00:08:59.624 encourage us to consider more universally 00:08:59.723 --> 00:09:02.348 designed approaches, but also approaches 00:09:02.451 --> 00:09:06.949 that do more than the bare minimum when it comes to housing and 00:09:07.022 --> 00:09:09.600 extracurricular accommodations for 00:09:09.678 --> 00:09:12.398 students to who use mobility devices. For 00:09:12.525 --> 00:09:15.424 example, my daughter ended up having to be 00:09:15.577 --> 00:09:18.251 carried in her chair, to various club 00:09:18.449 --> 00:09:20.556 meetings while she was on the Hiram 00:09:20.653 --> 00:09:24.503 College campus. She was told that, during the 00:09:24.554 --> 00:09:28.102 winter, when the ice storms came, that 00:09:28.141 --> 00:09:31.767 they couldn't transport her up the long 00:09:31.767 --> 00:09:33.617 hill, while they were telling everyone 00:09:33.617 --> 00:09:37.324 else to walk like a penguin, and we had 00:09:37.324 --> 00:09:41.271 vans to do this. We had to file with the 00:09:41.271 --> 00:09:45.332 Ohio Disability Rights Commission and 00:09:45.408 --> 00:09:48.242 request that the school thinks about other 00:09:48.242 --> 00:09:50.506 ways of accommodating her, should there 00:09:50.506 --> 00:09:52.558 be a storm, an ice storm, and she can't 00:09:52.558 --> 00:09:55.057 get up to campus. And the solution 00:09:55.057 --> 00:09:57.787 was to have her move to a new dorm. 00:09:57.787 --> 00:10:00.012 You can't just do that over night. 00:10:00.012 --> 00:10:01.862 You can't just move all your bedding 00:10:01.862 --> 00:10:03.923 and all your bathroom supplies 00:10:03.923 --> 00:10:06.787 and your whole... you know at the moment's 00:10:06.787 --> 00:10:09.125 notice, when the weather changes 00:10:09.125 --> 00:10:11.005 and so it has been my experience that 00:10:11.005 --> 00:10:15.474 still a lot of places have done the bare minimum approach 00:10:15.364 --> 00:10:17.815 and think that that's all they need to do 00:10:17.822 --> 00:10:22.162 when instead, they could be following more 00:10:22.162 --> 00:10:26.022 of the latest practices and implementation's science 00:10:26.022 --> 00:10:29.142 and making it easier for people to 00:10:29.142 --> 00:10:31.719 register concerns or complaints. And 00:10:31.719 --> 00:10:33.829 they often don't even need to file a 00:10:33.829 --> 00:10:36.930 formal complaint issue, if you approach a business or 00:10:36.930 --> 00:10:39.856 your educational institution with an issue. 00:10:39.856 --> 00:10:45.131 Often times, progressive thinkers that recognize the value of 00:10:45.131 --> 00:10:49.191 customers with disabilities frequenting their businesses or 00:10:49.155 --> 00:10:52.056 diversifying their faculty or their student body 00:10:52.056 --> 00:11:00.839 will simply not be aware that they have failed to accommodate or 00:11:00.839 --> 00:11:05.113 make accessible various programs and spaces. 00:11:05.113 --> 00:11:09.378 And that can be as simple as asking. But a lot of times a lot more 00:11:09.378 --> 00:11:12.150 has to be done, you have to document, you have 00:11:12.150 --> 00:11:14.909 to make sure your emails go to multiple people 00:11:14.909 --> 00:11:21.332 and make the business case of why surveying your policies 00:11:21.332 --> 00:11:23.933 to see whether they are biases or whether 00:11:23.933 --> 00:11:26.205 there is discrimination in filing of 00:11:26.205 --> 00:11:29.038 complaints or even you have a title 00:11:29.038 --> 00:11:33.154 of, you know, an officer on campus or ADA - coordinator 00:11:33.154 --> 00:11:36.203 so that you can let students with disabilities know 00:11:36.203 --> 00:11:38.603 who may have not proper documentation 00:11:38.603 --> 00:11:40.472 how they can go about making sure that 00:11:40.472 --> 00:11:42.671 they get what they need to show 00:11:42.671 --> 00:11:46.701 what they know, before they fail classes 00:11:46.701 --> 00:11:49.231 because they haven't knocked at the door 00:11:49.142 --> 00:11:52.395 of disability services and provided proof 00:11:52.395 --> 00:11:54.891 that they have a particular condition 00:11:54.891 --> 00:11:57.320 So, I know, I am sort of rambling a bit, 00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:01.550 but I just, just wasn't aware of how much 00:12:01.550 --> 00:12:04.958 further we need to go when it comes to 00:12:04.958 --> 00:12:08.958 surveying and making sure that the ADA 00:12:08.958 --> 00:12:12.958 is being implemented and just because 00:12:12.958 --> 00:12:15.740 a law passes doesn't mean again 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:18.905 that it is just going to happen 00:12:18.905 --> 00:12:22.101 you have to have allies and activists 00:12:22.101 --> 00:12:23.697 and insiders working very hard 00:12:23.697 --> 00:12:26.396 to make sure that people are recognizing 00:12:26.396 --> 00:12:28.864 the value of legislation 00:12:28.864 --> 00:12:31.585 which I think, still people are under 00:12:31.585 --> 00:12:34.276 the assumption that it applies to 00:12:34.276 --> 00:12:36.277 people who identify with disabilities but 00:12:36.277 --> 00:12:39.084 I don't think that was even necessarily 00:12:39.084 --> 00:12:40.808 even the intent of the ADA 00:12:40.808 --> 00:12:44.434 I think it recognizes that people flow 00:12:44.434 --> 00:12:48.194 in and out of abilities and the extent to 00:12:48.194 --> 00:12:51.954 which they are excluded or discriminated 00:12:51.954 --> 00:12:55.408 against, because of their abilities is 00:12:55.408 --> 00:12:58.117 really what this legislation was about 00:12:58.117 --> 00:13:01.077 even having a record of having a 00:13:01.077 --> 00:13:03.272 condition that maybe you no longer have 00:13:03.272 --> 00:13:06.786 or you had it temporarily can mean that 00:13:06.786 --> 00:13:09.933 you might be excluded. If you applied for 00:13:09.933 --> 00:13:12.505 jobs recently, you know, many places 00:13:12.505 --> 00:13:14.770 require a statement. You have to indicate 00:13:14.770 --> 00:13:17.478 based on strict definitions whether you 00:13:17.478 --> 00:13:21.238 have limitations in these major life 00:13:21.238 --> 00:13:23.527 activities that will qualify you as a 00:13:23.527 --> 00:13:25.801 disabled person and I want to believe that 00:13:25.801 --> 00:13:27.703 they are asking those questions, so that 00:13:27.703 --> 00:13:30.761 they can mindfully recruit people with 00:13:30.761 --> 00:13:33.782 disabilities to join their ranks, their 00:13:33.782 --> 00:13:36.351 staffing, but sometimes I think what 00:13:36.351 --> 00:13:38.166 prevents people from using that 00:13:38.166 --> 00:13:42.231 information to disqualify candidates 00:13:42.231 --> 00:13:44.042 so there has to be checks and balances 00:13:44.042 --> 00:13:46.107 and accountabilities when it comes to 00:13:46.107 --> 00:13:49.499 making sure your civil rights legislation 00:13:49.499 --> 00:13:53.177 doesn't put all of the owners on the 00:13:53.177 --> 00:13:57.747 group itself to file and follow through 00:13:57.747 --> 00:14:00.968 and figure out which parts of the ADA are 00:14:00.968 --> 00:14:03.448 being violated. You know that can be 00:14:03.448 --> 00:14:05.702 really discouraging when all you want to 00:14:05.702 --> 00:14:08.905 do is go out, and you know, go to the beach 00:14:08.905 --> 00:14:10.987 and find out which beaches are accessible 00:14:10.987 --> 00:14:14.082 or whether there is, you know, a mobility 00:14:14.082 --> 00:14:17.279 devices that are available via the sand or 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:20.119 you just want to go camping or you just 00:14:20.119 --> 00:14:22.209 want to go frequent people who are 00:14:22.209 --> 00:14:24.769 minorities on businesses or disabilities 00:14:24.769 --> 00:14:27.301 on businesses and some of this is out 00:14:27.301 --> 00:14:29.205 there and I tried to promote it through 00:14:29.205 --> 00:14:31.973 books and activists pages, but there is just so 00:14:31.973 --> 00:14:34.922 much that we can do to leverage more of 00:14:34.922 --> 00:14:39.466 these ways of monitoring and implementing 00:14:39.466 --> 00:14:43.146 and taking access to the next level whether 00:14:43.146 --> 00:14:47.029 for the disabled community pro forma or 00:14:47.029 --> 00:14:51.193 proper or for anyone who uses strollers 00:14:51.193 --> 00:14:54.228 who might carry a lot of materials in 00:14:54.228 --> 00:14:56.578 their hands could benefit from a push 00:14:56.578 --> 00:14:59.992 button. I think we need all to do a better 00:14:59.992 --> 00:15:03.287 job at making the business and the 00:15:03.287 --> 00:15:08.822 other benefit cases for improving our ADA 00:15:08.822 --> 00:15:14.143 access. Where my passions lie of late is 00:15:14.143 --> 00:15:17.923 in getting out the votes because we know 00:15:17.923 --> 00:15:19.791 that disabled people have been 00:15:19.791 --> 00:15:22.301 disenfranchised from the vote and from 00:15:22.301 --> 00:15:24.283 parenting and from all kinds of other 00:15:24.283 --> 00:15:27.477 basic human rights but this being an election 00:15:27.477 --> 00:15:30.104 year there are all kinds of folks working 00:15:30.104 --> 00:15:33.913 to crip the vote, #cripthevote Alice Wong 00:15:33.913 --> 00:15:36.553 and others who have been trying to make 00:15:36.553 --> 00:15:39.776 sure that candidates for president and for 00:15:39.776 --> 00:15:41.842 congressional offices and even local 00:15:41.842 --> 00:15:44.843 campaigns are expressing what their stance 00:15:44.843 --> 00:15:47.755 is on the ADA and on disability rights and 00:15:47.755 --> 00:15:50.306 human rights and hold, for the first 00:15:50.306 --> 00:15:52.409 time we've seen some traction on that. 00:15:52.409 --> 00:15:55.609 But what people don't realize is how many 00:15:55.609 --> 00:15:58.808 places are not accessible to voters with 00:15:58.808 --> 00:16:00.483 disabilities either because they use 00:16:00.483 --> 00:16:02.285 assisted technologies that don't 00:16:02.285 --> 00:16:04.830 inter-phase with the electronic equipment 00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:08.155 or they can't get accessible transportation 00:16:08.155 --> 00:16:10.289 or the place itself is simply inaccessible 00:16:10.289 --> 00:16:14.305 or they are institutionalized and barred 00:16:14.305 --> 00:16:17.699 from voting because of that and so the 00:16:17.699 --> 00:16:19.606 center for American progress has been 00:16:19.606 --> 00:16:23.653 publishing some of the numbers, like over 00:16:23.653 --> 00:16:25.918 60% of polling places are considered 00:16:25.918 --> 00:16:29.406 inaccessible. That's a problem. So voting 00:16:29.406 --> 00:16:33.486 by mail may benefit a lot of groups if 00:16:33.486 --> 00:16:36.157 you think of some of that in the future. 00:16:36.157 --> 00:16:38.423 And then the second big issue we should 00:16:38.423 --> 00:16:41.495 follow up on that not many people know 00:16:41.495 --> 00:16:44.778 about and that I am not even so clear as 00:16:44.778 --> 00:16:49.754 how is the ADA serves the population of 00:16:49.754 --> 00:16:52.630 people who are incarcerated in jails and 00:16:52.630 --> 00:16:55.861 in prisons and in institutions. I know the 00:16:55.861 --> 00:17:00.752 ADA amendments have been 2009 done a 00:17:00.752 --> 00:17:05.638 better job of successfully helping folks 00:17:05.638 --> 00:17:08.790 litigate when they are isolated and there 00:17:08.790 --> 00:17:10.778 for not included because of their 00:17:10.778 --> 00:17:14.498 institutionalized placements, but I also 00:17:14.498 --> 00:17:18.928 I am aware that not many people know about 00:17:18.928 --> 00:17:22.066 the number, the sheer numbers of people 00:17:22.066 --> 00:17:24.736 with disabilities visible and a lot of 00:17:24.736 --> 00:17:28.212 invisible who are incarcerated and who have been 00:17:28.212 --> 00:17:35.200 caught up in that system of jailing and 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.932 aren't getting what they need inside or 00:17:37.932 --> 00:17:40.708 should have never been incarcerated to 00:17:40.708 --> 00:17:43.374 begin with because maybe they experience 00:17:43.374 --> 00:17:46.730 a condition that was misunderstood from 00:17:46.730 --> 00:17:49.479 the outset and so instead of de-escalating 00:17:49.479 --> 00:17:54.210 a situation. Police need more training, we 00:17:54.210 --> 00:17:57.039 need to make the public more aware of how 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:01.377 many people are languishing in the 00:18:01.377 --> 00:18:04.460 institutions where they are not, only not 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:07.374 productive, but you know, what a waste of 00:18:07.374 --> 00:18:09.903 human capital. So, as we think about 00:18:09.903 --> 00:18:12.084 the Black Lives Matter movement and the 00:18:12.084 --> 00:18:14.582 opportunities for intersectionality, I 00:18:14.582 --> 00:18:18.744 think the opportunities for allies of all 00:18:18.744 --> 00:18:21.526 kinds of civil rights groups need to come 00:18:21.526 --> 00:18:24.756 together and really leverage their powers 00:18:24.756 --> 00:18:27.640 to begin to think about not necessarily 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:31.642 just defunding police or the decarcerating 00:18:31.642 --> 00:18:35.482 institutions but recognizing how many 00:18:35.482 --> 00:18:38.696 people of colour have disabilities, how many 00:18:38.696 --> 00:18:42.475 women, and how many are incarcerated with 00:18:42.475 --> 00:18:46.793 disabilities that may not even belong there 00:18:46.793 --> 00:18:49.710 so there is so much to be done on those 00:18:49.710 --> 00:18:54.203 two funds alone. And, clearly employment, you know that 00:18:54.203 --> 00:18:58.051 people are still way under employed, but I 00:18:58.051 --> 00:19:01.493 know there are folks working to improve 00:19:01.493 --> 00:19:05.324 that and I am trying to work with those 00:19:05.324 --> 00:19:08.201 organizations to arise awareness about 00:19:08.201 --> 00:19:10.834 how they can do better in terms of 00:19:10.834 --> 00:19:15.235 their work force and retaining and recruiting actively 00:19:15.235 --> 00:19:18.311 professionals who, you know, they may not 00:19:18.311 --> 00:19:21.671 consider as a valuable resource, but gosh 00:19:21.671 --> 00:19:23.594 people with disabilities are some of the 00:19:23.594 --> 00:19:25.834 most creative folks because they had to 00:19:25.834 --> 00:19:28.508 figure out how to navigate and they do have 00:19:28.508 --> 00:19:31.949 persepctives that are normally based on 00:19:31.949 --> 00:19:34.535 maybe their particular impairment experiences 00:19:34.535 --> 00:19:37.245 but having to navigate a world that 00:19:37.245 --> 00:19:40.316 isn't accessible, how to find the backdoor, 00:19:40.316 --> 00:19:43.919 how to find the policies and so there is a 00:19:43.919 --> 00:19:46.892 lot of resilience to find there, too. 00:19:46.892 --> 00:19:51.941 We need to be asking community members to 00:19:51.941 --> 00:19:56.350 confront ableism when they see it and part 00:19:56.350 --> 00:19:58.816 of that is educating people on the various 00:19:58.816 --> 00:20:02.969 forms that disability prejudice and discrimination can take. 00:20:02.969 --> 00:20:05.662 There is an interesting moment right now 00:20:05.662 --> 00:20:08.588 with regard to anti-racism frameworks 00:20:08.588 --> 00:20:10.982 that are getting a lot of traction and 00:20:10.982 --> 00:20:14.473 people are beginning to, at least educational institutions, 00:20:14.473 --> 00:20:19.008 start teaching circles where many of us 00:20:19.008 --> 00:20:21.800 are reading Ibram Kendi's book how to be an 00:20:21.800 --> 00:20:25.155 anti-racist, how to first recognize when 00:20:25.155 --> 00:20:27.215 prejudice and discrimination exist on the 00:20:27.215 --> 00:20:30.045 bases of race, that we could also be doing 00:20:30.045 --> 00:20:32.796 with books related to disability prejudice 00:20:32.796 --> 00:20:35.174 and ableism but I really think the moment 00:20:35.174 --> 00:20:38.092 is now to consider some of the things at 00:20:38.092 --> 00:20:41.446 the same time because I think we may lose 00:20:41.446 --> 00:20:44.805 nuances of people who are confronting 00:20:44.805 --> 00:20:47.188 multiple oppressions. Though, I am just 00:20:47.188 --> 00:20:49.455 bringing that up because I know there is a 00:20:49.455 --> 00:20:52.138 lot of folks at my school now thinking 00:20:52.138 --> 00:20:56.740 about that, we review policies to find out 00:20:56.740 --> 00:20:59.813 whether our syllabi are discriminatory, 00:20:59.813 --> 00:21:03.256 whether our policies for recruitment may have 00:21:03.256 --> 00:21:06.207 things embedded or cooked into the 00:21:06.207 --> 00:21:08.998 algorithms that are unintentionally 00:21:08.998 --> 00:21:13.282 excluding or failing to retain or promote 00:21:13.282 --> 00:21:16.887 those with disabilities at our institutions 00:21:16.887 --> 00:21:19.275 and so, when I think about the next steps 00:21:19.275 --> 00:21:22.466 what people can do I come back to, you know 00:21:22.466 --> 00:21:25.418 when people say something and they may 00:21:25.418 --> 00:21:28.004 just not know, they are not familiar 00:21:28.004 --> 00:21:30.953 perhaps with folks with various disabilities 00:21:30.953 --> 00:21:34.183 and we know that contact with people who 00:21:34.183 --> 00:21:36.570 experienced disabilities and differences 00:21:36.570 --> 00:21:39.361 is what makes people less prejudice 00:21:39.361 --> 00:21:41.459 they become much more aware of the 00:21:41.459 --> 00:21:45.148 whole person and our stereotypes are not 00:21:45.148 --> 00:21:48.058 generalize-able and how if they listened 00:21:48.058 --> 00:21:50.329 to the voices of disabled people, they can 00:21:50.329 --> 00:21:53.077 hear first hand what is problematic and 00:21:53.077 --> 00:21:56.590 we need to be doing by allowing folks with 00:21:56.590 --> 00:22:01.534 disabilities to speak, to be heard and 00:22:01.534 --> 00:22:03.457 then to support their agendas and not 00:22:03.457 --> 00:22:08.098 necessarily just take over. So, the confrontation 00:22:08.098 --> 00:22:10.712 literature is all about not necessarily 00:22:10.712 --> 00:22:12.738 saying: "Hey, you are a jerk. You just said 00:22:12.738 --> 00:22:15.886 something racist or ableist" and putting 00:22:15.886 --> 00:22:18.969 people on their defensive heels. That we 00:22:18.969 --> 00:22:22.053 can do this in ways that actually open up 00:22:22.053 --> 00:22:24.280 dialogues and that we should be 00:22:24.280 --> 00:22:26.671 encouraging difficult dialogues and brave 00:22:26.671 --> 00:22:30.114 conversations around what we can do 00:22:30.114 --> 00:22:33.110 locally in our houses, in our communities 00:22:33.110 --> 00:22:36.397 in our schools and organizations to make 00:22:36.397 --> 00:22:39.213 one change, to make one difference: to ask 00:22:39.213 --> 00:22:43.099 what is our policy, do we know whether all 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:46.281 of our employees know what their rights 00:22:46.281 --> 00:22:48.746 are, should we be scheduling regular 00:22:48.746 --> 00:22:52.004 meetings with the ADA coordinator, so that 00:22:52.004 --> 00:22:56.395 folks know how to find information and how 00:22:56.395 --> 00:22:58.425 to request accommodation. Would it be 00:22:58.425 --> 00:23:01.415 great if parents went into an IEP Meeting 00:23:01.415 --> 00:23:03.841 at their schools, knowing what their kids 00:23:03.841 --> 00:23:06.267 got as accommodations. I think people are 00:23:06.267 --> 00:23:09.701 so non-forthcoming at organizations with 00:23:09.701 --> 00:23:13.550 the things that they view as special privileges that are 00:23:13.550 --> 00:23:16.142 only for those who, quote on quote, need 00:23:16.142 --> 00:23:18.891 it or deserve it. And when we look at 00:23:18.891 --> 00:23:22.498 disability rights as special privileges, 00:23:22.498 --> 00:23:25.782 we don't see them as civil rights that are 00:23:25.782 --> 00:23:30.845 required to be met and so we could be much 00:23:30.845 --> 00:23:33.516 more transparent about making sure our 00:23:33.516 --> 00:23:36.512 websites are not only accessible to navigate 00:23:36.512 --> 00:23:41.413 if you have a sensory or other impairments 00:23:41.413 --> 00:23:43.763 but to make explicit what the policy is 00:23:43.763 --> 00:23:46.230 for requesting an accommodation, how you 00:23:46.230 --> 00:23:53.513 not be fired for disclosing for example 00:23:53.513 --> 00:23:58.460 how we can confront things in non-aggressive way. 00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:01.333 To ask people when they say something 00:24:01.333 --> 00:24:04.738 pejorative or maybe just outdated, you 00:24:04.738 --> 00:24:07.981 know, the word "handicap" is still out 00:24:07.981 --> 00:24:12.837 there i call it "handicrap", the word 00:24:12.837 --> 00:24:16.161 "special"' and we can just ask: "what do 00:24:16.161 --> 00:24:19.165 you mean by that, what do you mean that 00:24:19.165 --> 00:24:21.998 they can't do that or that you are curious 00:24:21.998 --> 00:24:25.490 about how they have sex, can you tell me 00:24:25.490 --> 00:24:27.804 more about why you think that and it can 00:24:27.804 --> 00:24:29.829 start a dialogue and that is something we 00:24:29.829 --> 00:24:33.674 can all do. I am still working hard to 00:24:33.674 --> 00:24:36.342 make my own home accessible to my 24 year 00:24:36.342 --> 00:24:39.120 old. We did construction to modify the 00:24:39.120 --> 00:24:41.537 house when we first bought it is a single 00:24:41.537 --> 00:24:44.958 level so that she feel like she was a part 00:24:44.958 --> 00:24:47.215 of the family and be able to get to all 00:24:47.215 --> 00:24:50.289 parts of the kitchen and her bathroom but 00:24:50.289 --> 00:24:52.969 there you know the laundry room has one 00:24:52.969 --> 00:24:55.546 step that we are still negotiating how to 00:24:55.546 --> 00:24:58.104 make sure that she can get into the garage but 00:24:58.104 --> 00:25:00.072 things like where we put things in the 00:25:00.072 --> 00:25:02.058 refrigerator. You know if you have a 00:25:02.058 --> 00:25:04.002 wheelchair user in your family or someone 00:25:04.002 --> 00:25:06.271 who is a little person who may have a 00:25:06.271 --> 00:25:09.926 congenital or an otherwise amputated limb 00:25:09.926 --> 00:25:12.189 and we put things on shelves without even 00:25:12.189 --> 00:25:14.978 thinking about who can access the shelf 00:25:14.978 --> 00:25:17.917 and my other child who happens to be able- 00:25:17.917 --> 00:25:20.248 bodied would, you know, before dinner try 00:25:20.248 --> 00:25:23.467 to get a snack and before we could even 00:25:23.467 --> 00:25:25.269 say "no" he was out the door with the 00:25:25.269 --> 00:25:27.494 snack. My daughter would have to come in 00:25:27.494 --> 00:25:30.813 and say "Can I, can you get something of 00:25:30.813 --> 00:25:33.081 the top shelf from me and then we would 00:25:33.081 --> 00:25:35.106 say, you know, why don't you wait until 00:25:35.106 --> 00:25:37.422 dinner time and we have to be mindful 00:25:37.422 --> 00:25:39.290 about which drawers we want to put her 00:25:39.290 --> 00:25:43.217 things into. She can not feel like a second 00:25:43.217 --> 00:25:47.884 class citizen in her own family space and 00:25:47.884 --> 00:25:50.753 those are some things that we can remind 00:25:50.753 --> 00:25:54.072 our peers who have kids with disabilities 00:25:54.072 --> 00:25:56.177 as we try to go on and educated another 00:25:56.177 --> 00:25:58.639 parents in our parenting roles and our 00:25:58.639 --> 00:26:02.209 roles as educators and who are diversity 00:26:02.209 --> 00:26:04.762 committees. Our diversity committee now is 00:26:04.762 --> 00:26:07.388 taking on accessibility as part of our 00:26:07.388 --> 00:26:11.492 mental and trying to convince others that we 00:26:11.492 --> 00:26:14.051 need to be doing ongoing data collection 00:26:14.051 --> 00:26:16.071 to benchmark, I think a lot of people are 00:26:16.071 --> 00:26:19.256 afraid of data that might say "your campus 00:26:19.256 --> 00:26:21.614 climate isn't the most accessible", but 00:26:21.614 --> 00:26:26.076 unless you name the thing, unless you document the thing 00:26:26.076 --> 00:26:29.031 that is perhaps of concern of a less than 00:26:29.031 --> 00:26:31.666 fully inclusive or accessible, you can't 00:26:31.666 --> 00:26:33.853 make progress. And, I think people 00:26:33.853 --> 00:26:36.304 appreciate, you know, the one in four 00:26:36.304 --> 00:26:38.093 or five people with disabilities and 00:26:38.093 --> 00:26:40.535 their families appreciate when people say 00:26:40.535 --> 00:26:42.655 "we are not there yet, but this is what we 00:26:42.655 --> 00:26:45.818 are doing and in a short term we will have 00:26:45.818 --> 00:26:49.321 reviewed our handbooks so that at least 00:26:49.321 --> 00:26:52.867 this is done by this year and next year we 00:26:52.867 --> 00:26:55.674 are going to advertise for positions in 00:26:55.674 --> 00:26:58.549 places to increase the number of disabled 00:26:58.549 --> 00:27:01.097 people on our staff, because students need 00:27:01.097 --> 00:27:03.265 mentors. They need to see people that look 00:27:03.265 --> 00:27:05.872 like them and then have similar challenges 00:27:05.872 --> 00:27:09.189 so that they know what is possible, so I 00:27:09.189 --> 00:27:11.581 just sort of conclude by saying my daughter, 00:27:11.581 --> 00:27:14.173 you know, made it through preschool and 00:27:14.173 --> 00:27:16.035 has been in several different kinds of 00:27:16.035 --> 00:27:18.991 spaces on college campuses that aren't so 00:27:18.991 --> 00:27:24.576 accessible and that are. She is working 00:27:24.576 --> 00:27:26.667 in the education as a preschool teacher 00:27:26.667 --> 00:27:30.027 herself. But since the COVID-19 outbreak 00:27:30.027 --> 00:27:32.422 she was laid off, she was furloughed from 00:27:32.422 --> 00:27:37.414 her brand-new job. And, of late she is 00:27:37.414 --> 00:27:40.474 putting resumes back out and there must be 00:27:40.474 --> 00:27:42.940 something about the pandemic now, where not 00:27:42.940 --> 00:27:47.586 many people are wanting to go back to work 00:27:47.586 --> 00:27:49.864 in close encounters with kids. She is 00:27:49.864 --> 00:27:52.245 getting one interview after another and so 00:27:52.245 --> 00:27:55.498 she may end up with multiple offers now 00:27:55.498 --> 00:27:58.168 and I remind her to tell the folks that 00:27:58.168 --> 00:28:00.883 preschools when they get someone like her 00:28:00.883 --> 00:28:04.665 on their staff, so many students gravitate 00:28:04.665 --> 00:28:07.132 towards her because she has these visible signs 00:28:07.132 --> 00:28:09.555 of her disability, her wheelchair and if 00:28:09.555 --> 00:28:13.728 you can educate the young preschoolers and show them 00:28:13.728 --> 00:28:16.769 that people of all abilities can be teachers 00:28:16.769 --> 00:28:21.703 and parents and ongoing learners and you know 00:28:21.703 --> 00:28:23.976 they tend to even those kids with behavior 00:28:23.976 --> 00:28:27.055 problems, they want to come to her. They see as this 00:28:27.055 --> 00:28:33.130 beacon of hope, I think, that is a real 00:28:33.130 --> 00:28:36.169 cue for these employers, who ever gets my 00:28:36.169 --> 00:28:39.545 daughter as a teacher is going to be lucky.