Return to Video

vimeo.com/.../436888534

  • 0:00 - 0:06
    I'm Art Blaser in Orange, California
  • 0:06 - 0:09
    South of Los Angeles.
  • 0:09 - 0:12
    And the first question had to do with
  • 0:13 - 0:16
    my background and how I became aware
  • 0:16 - 0:21
    of the ADA, a disability association
  • 0:22 - 0:27
    In my case,
    although I had some knowledge before,
  • 0:27 - 0:31
    not a lot less than most people,
  • 0:31 - 0:33
    til I became disabled,
  • 0:34 - 0:39
    Which was in 1983,
    I had a brain stem stroke
  • 0:39 - 0:42
    and became disabled and a full time
  • 0:42 - 0:46
    wheelchair user today.
  • 0:46 - 0:48
    and I would say that
  • 0:48 - 0:53
    the issues of disability
  • 0:53 - 0:57
    I confronted
  • 0:57 - 1:01
    a big one was access to my home
  • 1:01 - 1:04
    and a simple one was access to my job.
  • 1:04 - 1:09
    That although curb cuts were in theory
  • 1:09 - 1:11
    supposed to be in place
  • 1:11 - 1:15
    by 1995, in practice, they weren't.
  • 1:15 - 1:18
    They are today, which I think is
  • 1:18 - 1:22
    emblematic of the impact of the ADA.
  • 1:22 - 1:25
    As of now we've got things
  • 1:25 - 1:27
    to the time but,
  • 1:28 - 1:31
    the spirit of the ADA
  • 1:31 - 1:35
    was the confrontation of
  • 1:35 - 1:38
    people being public about their needs
  • 1:38 - 1:42
    and eventually, Orange, where I lived,
  • 1:42 - 1:46
    had curb cuts at the corners, which meant
  • 1:46 - 1:51
    it was possible for me to live
  • 1:51 - 1:54
    about five blocks from campus.
  • 1:54 - 2:00
    I had improvements also and accommodations
  • 2:00 - 2:05
    which included a computerized voice
  • 2:05 - 2:08
    that makes it possible to teach.
  • 2:08 - 2:10
    The kinds of things that
  • 2:10 - 2:14
    wouldn't have existed decades ago.
  • 2:14 - 2:19
    Fortunately, in California as a professor
  • 2:19 - 2:22
    I was able to take advantage of
  • 2:22 - 2:24
    good state laws.
  • 2:24 - 2:27
    But I think they're being forced by
  • 2:27 - 2:30
    the spirit of the ADA.
  • 2:32 - 2:38
    We see the ADA's affect for good point of the spirit
  • 2:38 - 2:41
    and some things that don't work
  • 2:41 - 2:45
    just about every day that they
  • 2:45 - 2:50
    try to get access to different buildings.
  • 2:50 - 2:53
    and quite often the experiences
  • 2:53 - 2:55
    of other people say
  • 2:55 - 2:58
    this shouldn't be happening,
  • 2:58 - 3:00
    but in fact it is.
  • 3:00 - 3:03
    But the big difference is
  • 3:03 - 3:07
    is that were people motivated,
  • 3:07 - 3:11
    eventually things change and adapt.
  • 3:11 - 3:13
    I've noticed it most
  • 3:13 - 3:15
    in education.
  • 3:15 - 3:17
    that I teach
  • 3:17 - 3:22
    at Chapman University, since 1981,
  • 3:22 - 3:25
    so before the ADA.
  • 3:25 - 3:31
    And, When I was not disabled, I teach today
  • 3:31 - 3:35
    I noticed a lot of the affects through
  • 3:35 - 3:38
    teaching disabilities, at least.
  • 3:38 - 3:41
    and I've had students
  • 3:41 - 3:43
    who actually grew up knowing
  • 3:43 - 3:46
    that the ADA existed
  • 3:46 - 3:51
    and they're the so-called "ADA generation"
  • 3:51 - 3:54
    Which makes a big difference
  • 3:54 - 3:59
    People are claiming disability and trying
  • 3:59 - 4:03
    to make the world a better place.
  • 4:03 - 4:07
    And, in many cases, they're successful
  • 4:07 - 4:10
    and in some cases, not.
  • 4:10 - 4:12
    But there are reasons for it
  • 4:12 - 4:15
    and I think there's a desire
  • 4:15 - 4:19
    to understand the reasons.
  • 4:19 - 4:22
    I think they want us to
  • 4:22 - 4:31
    understand The association
  • 4:31 - 4:32
    where and how people live
  • 4:32 - 4:37
    and the contrast between nursing homes
  • 4:37 - 4:40
    and lacks of the community
  • 4:40 - 4:42
    Or congrigrt setting
  • 4:42 - 4:48
    and we're experiencing through Covid-19
  • 4:48 - 4:49
    The current crisis
  • 4:49 - 4:54
    a lot of death in nursing homes worldwide.
  • 4:54 - 4:59
    and we also have the cordescence at the
  • 4:59 - 5:05
    unites states fillm decades which Friday
  • 5:05 - 5:08
    The interpretations of it but
  • 5:08 - 5:12
    it will threat of the right of people
  • 5:12 - 5:14
    to live in the comunity
  • 5:14 - 5:19
    Guaranteed by the American with disabilities act
  • 5:19 - 5:22
    I think one of the
  • 5:22 - 5:25
    unfortunate things we are seeing
  • 5:25 - 5:29
    is the lack of forward movement
  • 5:29 - 5:32
    toward nursing home reforms
  • 5:32 - 5:35
    or estates
  • 5:35 - 5:39
    we can't continue to live in congregate
  • 5:39 - 5:43
    settings and a number of people are
  • 5:43 - 5:48
    active of what the big thing is
  • 5:48 - 5:50
    the independent living centers
  • 5:50 - 5:53
    and independent living movement
  • 5:53 - 5:58
    some things that I feel privileged
  • 5:58 - 6:01
    in a lot of ways to be involved in
  • 6:01 - 6:05
    with a center for independent living
  • 6:05 - 6:07
    for Orange county and LA
  • 6:07 - 6:10
    and a major issue has been
  • 6:10 - 6:14
    transitions from nursing homes
  • 6:15 - 6:20
    and that will continue to be a major
  • 6:20 - 6:25
    issue including interpretations of cores.
  • 6:25 - 6:28
    which I think is very important
  • 6:28 - 6:32
    not only in the Untied states
  • 6:32 - 6:33
    but also whereas well
  • 6:33 - 6:40
    England has noticed ruffly the same thing happing
  • 6:40 - 6:43
    That aboutbout half of the deaths
  • 6:43 - 6:45
    are people in nursing homes
  • 6:45 - 6:51
    they can tell that a bit of the isue
  • 6:51 - 6:53
    is that now were seeing a lot
  • 6:53 - 6:57
    of people who've had covid 19
  • 6:57 - 7:01
    tested positive and recovered
  • 7:02 - 7:05
    but a lot of indications that they
  • 7:05 - 7:08
    haven't recovered perfectly
  • 7:08 - 7:12
    that many of them like me have stroke
  • 7:12 - 7:17
    some things that are similar to multiple sclerosis
  • 7:17 - 7:20
    and a lot of people haven't thought
  • 7:20 - 7:25
    of themselves as disabled but in fact
  • 7:25 - 7:29
    have many of the conditions of disability
  • 7:29 - 7:35
    and an important factor in the coming years
  • 7:35 - 7:40
    I think will be that people claim disability
  • 7:40 - 7:44
    and discover that it's actually a part
  • 7:44 - 7:47
    of the way a lot of us live
  • 7:47 - 7:49
    and that's something that's
  • 7:49 - 7:52
    going to go away, become
  • 7:52 - 7:54
    to people who are like me
  • 7:54 - 7:58
    is we can make the world a lot better
  • 7:58 - 8:01
    by acnoliging the rights
  • 8:01 - 8:08
    that should come along with disability
  • 8:08 - 8:10
    the most important step that
  • 8:10 - 8:14
    we as community members can take
  • 8:14 - 8:19
    is education so that they can see that
  • 8:19 - 8:22
    all of us are involved in thew their life
  • 8:22 - 8:28
    span because they can see inside
  • 8:28 - 8:33
    and considering people of both
  • 8:33 - 8:36
    dimensions of disability
  • 8:36 - 8:42
    some with pride and positive atitudes
  • 8:42 - 8:45
    towards human differences continue
  • 8:45 - 8:48
    through the life spans and
  • 8:48 - 8:52
  • 8:52 - 8:56
    at first, might find it difficult to
  • 8:56 - 9:00
    deal with disability threw politics
  • 9:00 - 9:04
    like the Americans with Disability Acts
  • 9:04 - 9:07
    and Vocabularies Right
  • 9:07 - 9:11
    but thats very necessary
  • 9:11 - 9:15
    and the colleges and universities
  • 9:15 - 9:19
    I know we have to graduate disabilities
  • 9:19 - 9:21
    to this program
  • 9:21 - 9:29
    but as a community I think everything affects the media
  • 9:29 - 9:34
    Sometimes we see things differently
  • 9:34 - 9:38
    But an increase in disability
  • 9:38 - 9:42
    of disability is importen
  • 9:42 - 9:45
    Fortunately we have projects like
  • 9:45 - 9:50
    the disability and visibility projects
  • 9:50 - 9:53
    a number of instenses
  • 9:53 - 9:57
    of involvement of the media
  • 9:57 - 10:01
    Foundations like the ruther foundation
  • 10:01 - 10:04
    but a number of indications that
  • 10:04 - 10:09
    in the future disability will be somthing
  • 10:09 - 10:13
    that people are likely to talk about
  • 10:13 - 10:17
    and deal with in a positive way
Title:
vimeo.com/.../436888534
Video Language:
English
Team:
ABILITY Magazine
Duration:
10:18

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions