0:00:00.000,0:00:04.000 So, my name is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Michelle Nario Redmond. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I am a social psychologist 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I teach at Hiram College. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the psychology [br]and biomedical humanities program, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I just wrote a book on ableism, [br]the causes and consequences 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of disability prejudice.[br]My first memory, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I'll just back up and say in 1990, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when the ADA passed [br]I was in graduate school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in Kansas, and disability prejudice,[br]the ADA or anything 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 related to disability issues [br]were completely off my radar, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I worked at a place [br]where one of the pioneers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of disability studies worked, [br]Beatrice Wright, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I had yet to have a class with her. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It really wasn't until 1995,[br]which was five years later, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when my daughter was born,[br]Sierra, with spina bifoda, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that I became aware [br]of disability and found the work 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of Carol Gill and Simi Litton[br]and began to educate myself 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on disability studies and its scope,[br]and the first memory I have of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 confronting inaccessible spaces[br]was a few years later, when we enrolled 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 my daughter Sierra in a preschool,[br]at a Catholic preschool, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 right down the road; and it just didn't[br]even dawn on me that we would have to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 work so hard for her to be accommodated[br]as a preschooler, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and it was really a function of[br]the fact that the building was older, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there were steps, and they really didn't[br]know, nor did they need to legally know, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about reasonable accommodations [br]and civil rights of their students, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because they were a private facility and[br]weren't subject to the ADA's rules. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So it became clear to me that we needed [br]to find a new preschool, and luckily 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we found another private place - [br]it wasn't a public school - 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but it was a music school settlement[br]and they had resources 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and they were already operating [br]under a sort of set of presumptions 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about the value of diversity[br]and diverse perspectives, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we didn't really have to ask for much,[br]because they bent over backwards 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to include my daughter[br]in a typical classroom, with her peers, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 her preschool peers, music classes,[br]there were so many eclectic-- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 movement classes, and they even[br]purchased equipment 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for their exercise room and movement room[br]that would be useful to her among others, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and she has since grown up to become this teacher [br]and has applied to work there 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as a preschool teacher, so I think[br]it would be really amazing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if she came full circle, but I guess[br]to answer the broader question 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about being frustrated and aware of[br]inaccessibility and lack of inclusion, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we were in a district that, when she then[br]was about to move to preschool, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I knew that she probably wouldn't be [br]able to go to a private school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not only because of the financial cost[br]but also because they would not have to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 think about best practices[br]and the law when it came to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 accommodating their [br]students with disabilities, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and so I knew we would be[br]looking at the public school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the public school in our neigbourhood[br]was not accessible. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We went to visit it,[br]the playground had a little house 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that she wouldn't have been [br]able to get into, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and it was really disheartening[br]and so it came at a time 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when we were already [br]looking for other opportunities, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and my husband got an opportunity[br]to move us as a family 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to the West Coast[br]of Portland of Oregon, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so the way I-- so the way we had to[br]navigate her early educational experiences 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was to only look at spaces and schools[br]that were in districts that were new, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so that had buildings [br]and had training in terms of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 accommodating their diverse students[br]and their disabled students, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because just having the brief experiences[br]that I did with the preschool 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and IEP meetings that were going to[br]require me to fight at every juncture 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for her basic rights [br]to show what she knows 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and participate and recognize herself[br]as a valuable contributor 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to the school community.[br]We're not going to be forthcoming 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 without a fight, [br]and so we narrowed our search 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to a district,[br]and thank God we had the opportunity 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the resources to do this,[br]that was pretty known for their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 inclusivity. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We did that also when we came back [br]to the Cleveland, Ohio area. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We were able to avoid all districts[br]that weren't at the cutting edge 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of full inclusion and proof of excellence[br]and had newer buildings 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that could accommodate those [br]with disabilities, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but I guess that that was my earliest[br]memory of how, 'Oh, we have a road 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ahead of us and we have to take it upon[br]ourselves to either continue to fight 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 battles that had already been won, [br]legislatively, or, finds spaces, places 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and organizations that were ahead[br]of the curve 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in terms of implementing, monitoring and [br]just execute the basic civil rights 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of their various constituents 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The impact that all of that has had on me [br]is to just be able to communicate 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with other parents and students [br]with disabilities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about not only knowing their rights but[br]knowing how to get those rights 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how to advocate for ensuring that those [br]rights are addressed, are met. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think the ADA has made [br]a huge difference 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the 'ah ha' moment was even when I was[br]collating information for this book 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on disability prejudice, I realised that [br]when I was a kid, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, [br]people with disabilities weren't able to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 do any of the things that we took for [br]granted as kids- go to the movies 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 go to restaurants, go to visit a friend,[br]at a friend's house, or invite 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 others to your birthday parties. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Since the ADA passed in 1990, it wasn't [br]an immediate set of changes, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as, there has been significant progress[br]made, particularly in public spaces 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and in employment settings, where there[br]are even employers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who are part of an organization [br]of inclusive excellence, who 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 recognize that disabled employees are [br]actually more reliable and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have less turnover and are worth[br]investing in and promoting. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But, there are still so many places, [br]small businesses, educational institutions 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that are not carrying out basic gains and[br]practices that the ADA has made possible 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there's just way too much variation,[br]and I think part of that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is just a lack of education in terms what 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is reasonable and what is necessary 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in terms of accommodating your citizenry 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and lack of resources in some cases but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 also a lot of misinformation about whether 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or not it's worth it. The ADA is going to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 be 30 here in July. We're celebrating all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 over the country and we are still fighting 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for businesses to do what they should have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 done 30 years ago, those that have been 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 around this long. They have not, they have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have waited for complaints or they have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 failed to do but the bare minimum in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 terms of recruiting the largest minority 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I work in the education sphere and to me, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we could be doing so much more with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 advertising and recruiting for those kinds 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of students that we tend to really, at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 least my institution, do well to retain 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because we're a small, intimate college 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Hiram College. For years I've tried to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 encourage us to consider more universally 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 designed approaches but also approaches 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that do more when it comes to housing and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 extracurricular accommodations for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 students to who use mobility devices. For 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 example, my daughter ended up having to be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 carried in her chair, to various club 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 meetings while she was on the Hiram 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 College campus. She was told that, in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 winter, when the ice storms came, that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they couldn't transport her up the long 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 hill, while they were telling everyone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 else to walk like a penguin, and we had 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 vans to do this. We had to file with the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Ohio Disability Rights Commission and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 request that the school think about other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ways of accommodating her should there 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 be a storm, an ice storm, and she can't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 get up to campus.