WOW! It's been awhile since I posted here! Sorry for the absence, I have been working on finishing up my Bachelor's Degree and as of December, 2015 I am a college graduate!!
I finished up my long started History degree with a final research paper on the Disability Movement and boy did I learn a lot that I didn't know even happened during my life time!
The disabled have been fighting for rights since the 1940s with little success. Even FDR's disability was hidden from public view during his presidency. The first significant legislation changes didn't happen until 1973 with the Rehabilitation Act that allowed disabled people to work and live with accommodations in the real world. This Act opened the door for the disabled to venture forth for new and exciting experiences and fight for more rights. (with many bumps in the road along the way) I found my research very enlightening and interesting on how Americans view the disabled. I knew most thought of us as "unable" and "useless" or even "freaks". I get asked quite often, "why are you getting a college degree?" or "what are going to do with a college degree? You can't do anything." Well, my intention is to prove everyone wrong. I can and I will. Just because I cannot see like someone with 20/20 or even 20/60 vision can doesn't mean I can't do something. Reagan thought that the disabled caused "undo burden" on businesses and tried to eliminate the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This caused a mountain of letters and phone calls to Congress and the White House that he did not expect or plan for. Not to mention that this happened just 2 years after he signed a proclamation declaring a "Decade of the Disabled Person" which is mentioned very seldom in major newspapers across the U.S. The "Decade" was to spread awareness of the abilities of the disabled, not hinder them. Other countries had events and programs introducing the disabled and educated the public regarding the disabled. Today, these countries are well adapted to the disabled and offer many opportunities. The U.S.? Not so much. In 1988 Gallaudet University, a deaf university in Washington D.C., elected a hearing president to run their school. This new president was elected from a pool that included 6 qualified deaf candidates. The new president did not know sign language and was not a previous employee of any disability community. The students and some of the administration did not like this decision so they rallied which resulted in marches down Pennsylvania Ave. and shutting down the university for 2 weeks. During this protest, the new president stepped down and they appointed a new, deaf president. Through a group effort disabled people gained the American's with Disabilities Act in 1990. The movement is not over though. This is only a step in the right direction. The minds of the nation's people need to be educated and informed. Everyone deserves the same right to succeed or fail and the discrimination needs to be stopped. Unlike the other civil rights movements disability can happen to anyone at anytime. It is not something that should be swept under the rug and ignored because it doesn't include you. At 18 or even 24 I would have never guessed I would lose my eyesight, but I am. I would have never guessed at 45 I would be wearing hearing aids, but I am. Life is a hat filled with challenges and I am pulling them all out at once. I am preparing for the next chapter of my life and it will be a loud one!
My next chapter is this....I am starting my new journey at Western Michigan University in their Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Masters Degree program. I want a Ph.D. but there are NO programs that high for disability. This is how new and misunderstood disability is, they can't even create a degree for it yet. I even looked at Rehabilitation and the only degree I can find is Rehabilitation Counseling. I want to do more than that!
I sign off with this thought. What would the high and mighty government people do if they were suddenly disabled and stuck by their own laws and inaccessible dreams? Wallow in their own self pity? Take others' pity? How would they handle being told, "you can't do that now"? Disability is not prejudice or discriminatory. It can happen to anyone, anytime, at any moment.
