Hi All, I wanted to show you the speech I gave Thursday, November 1st @ The University of Maine's Center for Community Inclusion & Disability Studies' 20th Anniversary Celebration (You Tube Video)...
I also write a disability column called "Sitting Up" (& book reviews) for a local agency newsletter. If you would like a link, feel free to message me...
Avery
Maine
Avery's Speech on Why I'm a Disability Activist...
But I guess things are better than they used to be, and we have no choice but to deal with it.
BTW, is fraudulent handicapped parking as bad up there as it is here? :)
I hope you'll email sometime :)
I was really upset (though not surprised with our current Congress) that the CRPD Treaty did not pass. I'm hoping they will try again in '13.
Sadly, the Republicans in Congress just (a few days ago) refused to ratify the international extension of that great idea. Since we already have the law, it would not change anything we do, but would set the bar higher in other countries to do a better job of helping diabled folks get around better and lead a better life.
Fear, was their inspiration once again. Fearing any and ALL that the United Nations does is a true mark of ignorance and a proud badge for ultra-conservative Republicans.
John Kerry said, “We have the opportunity to help ensure that millions of disabled Americans — our wounded service members included — are treated with the same level of respect and dignity they have at home while they are traveling or living abroad. If any issue can withstand this age of polarization, it should be this one.”
But it failed according to some Republicans because it risks our sovereignty and might interfere with home schooling. Really! That is what they said! Pure bullshit from the conservatives. It's another travesty based on fear! Fear of doing something that isn't uniquely American, that is maybe even cosmopolitan, something that can bring countries closer together. If I were a Republican, I would hang my head in shame.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/3/un … z2GU6KvOqi
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When I was born in 1971, all of the doctors around my parents basically told them that I would never amount to anything in life, and then I should be put into an institution. My parents essentially said, “No Way, Jose” & walked out the door. A few years later, when my parents proudly showed another set of doctors that I had written my name by myself, they said that didn't matter and that I should still be put into an institution. Again, “No way, Jose.” For whatever reason, they saw something in me that negated anything that any “professional” had to say about me. I do not know where they found the strength, but I am grateful for it, because my life would have been incredibly different, otherwise.
As I grew older, I started hating the fact that I had a disability. Coming of age in an era before the Americans With Disabilities Act existed, life was showing me in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that there were people that were “haves” & people that were “have-nots” and I felt like from the virtue of my having a disability, I was automatically the category of “have not”. I started to feel like no matter how well I did or how much I accomplished, I would never be “as good” as someone without a disability. I carried this attitude with me through high school, through college, even into adulthood and if I am being completely honest, sometimes those old thoughts still creep in my head at night, though thankfully, not as often. However, a few years ago, I came to look at my disability as something that was not good or bad, it was just a part of who I am. Once I started to realize that, I began to look at disability differently. Am I glad to have a disability? I’d have to say no. Would I change it if I could? Probably. However, having a disability has also shaped the kind of person that I am,which is an experience I wouldn't trade and if I rejected the fact that I had a disability, I feel like I’d be rejecting an important part of myself.
When I was a kid and I could not get into a building, or use a restaurant bathroom, or see people point and stare at me in the street, or talk about me like I was not in the room, I would think, “When I am an adult, things are going to be better for me and others like me.” In some ways, that has been true and I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish and truly grateful for those who have supported me along the way However, the reason I consider myself an activist is because for me and for the 48 million people with with disabilities in this country alone, there is still more to be done. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a great & awesome piece of legislation but it isn’t the end-all be-all that many well-meaning people without disabilities believe it to be. Until people with disabilities have quality access & inclusion in fulfilling employment, education, housing, taransportation, social opportunities, and the like, in a society that understands and expects that we are just as deserving of such, we can’t stop our work. I want to work towards a world where having a disability is looked at as one aspect of who I am, not all that I am and not something to “overcome,”as many, again, well-meaning people without disabilities might believe, just as a part of me.
Avery
do you have a text version? i can't do youtube on my tonka toy computer (it's probably older than you are!). i'm really interested in what you have to say.
btw, that's a BIG cat! is it a maine coon?