May 14, 2021
Highlighting Husky Voices Part 2
In part two of highlighting Husky Voices, I wanted to focus on what it may be like for some huskies to identify as having a disability and what they think is a major issue within the community or society as a whole when it comes to addressing disabilities.
Are you able to share any stories of your lived experience as a person with a disability?
“When I was younger, I had many painful experiences. I was often misunderstood because of my disability and had low self esteem. As a person with a disability, a critical experience has been gaining and maintaining confidence in my identity. A big contributor to that confidence was the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internet working, and Technology) Program at UW. In being part of a community of other people with disabilities, I gained pride and self-acceptance. Since then, community has been an integral part of my growth. Through my work at Rooted in Rights, a disability rights focused media team, I’ve become not only part of the disability community but a strong advocate and activist. People think of disability as negative, something that makes life sad. But that’s not true. Though I’ve faced challenges because of my disability, I’ve also come to know incredible people, have unique experiences, and accomplish so many positive things.”
-Courtney Cole
“Thinking about this question in the context of being a disabled student at UW, I am immediately aware of all the extra tasks that we have to do in addition to our school work. The task of requesting accommodations. The task of spending money to get documentation from doctors to get accommodations. The task of submitting accommodations for every class every quarter. The task of meeting with professors to ensure our accommodations are met. The task of taking tests at the testing center without being able to ask questions on the test. The list go on and on. All of these take away time that we should be spending on school tasks, or personal tasks, or simply resting. These institutional barriers can be addressed and significantly reduced. However, few seem to understand the extra load this puts on disabled students and the barriers persist.”
-Disabled CSE Student
“I’ve been disabled my entire life, I have multiple dynamic & invisible disabilities. Since 2018 I’ve replied on my multipurpose medical alert & response service dog in every aspect of my life. She went to college with me, we graduated in May & am now working as a disabled professional. Having invisible disabilities with a controversial and visible medical equipment, I often face daily ableism from comments, intrusive questions, challenged access, & more. The most difficult part of relying on a service dog as medical equipment is how there is so much misleading information on service dogs leading to laws & regulations often being ignored & abused. Every time we go out, we face pets & fake service dogs that pose a threat to my access & safety as a disabled individual.”
-Bri Harris
“I have an autoimmune condition, luckily it’s not something that greatly affects my health but it does affect my actions and choices. For instance, I have to be very careful of going out into the sun, and there have been times where I wish I didn’t have to be so concerned about it and just go outside with my friends whenever.”
-Ryan D
“I suffered from severe endometriosis and currently have Generalized Anxiety Disorder/Panic Disorder; those being “invisible disabilities” meant that I had to work hard to appear/act/work “normal” in ways that were exhausting as I dealt with chronic pain and panic attacks, etc.. Gender was a huge influence on my ability to access the hysterectomy I needed to treat my endometriosis (had to get a psychologist’s note to make sure I was “of sound mind”) because I was an unmarried woman without children. “
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What do you feel are the most important issues facing people with disabilities/disabled people today?
“Disability presents unique challenges, but is not a barrier in itself. The real barriers are social systems and perceptions that often prevent people with disabilities from getting what we need and want. People with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by a broken healthcare system, inaccessibility in education, discrimination in employment, and so many other structures that treat disabled people as disposable and worthless. At the same time, people with disabilities are dehumanized by the practice of “inspiration porn”, which is non-disabled people telling the stories of disabled people and creating a narrative that places people with disabilities on a pedestal and praises us for doing the most basic of tasks. Both of these actions silence the voices of people with disabilities and prevent us from having control of our own stories.“
-Courtney Cole
“Confronting the institutional and cultural biases that are pervasive in our society. This includes capitalism, hyper-individualism, ableism, racism, sexism, etc.”
-Disabled CSE Student
“Social stigmas around disabled individuals, creating barriers & enforcing ableist mentalities.”
-Bri Harris
“Being excluded/not properly treated/getting taking advantage of”
-Quyen Pham
“Inaccessibility of public buildings and transit”
-Harley Boyan
“Equal access to resources and opportunities, representation in media”
-Ryan D
“Access to care/affordable care; social recognition and equity.”