2. In 1987 I was told University was not an option for me…
In 1993 I was told I would never teach…
In 1990 I graduated college and went on to pursue a university degree.
In 1995 I graduated from University.
And in 2009,I began teaching at the college level.
I WOULD TELL SOMEONE YEARS LATER THAT I HAVE HEARD THE WORD NO M ORE
THAN YES, SO OFTEN WHEN PEOPLE TELL ME YES, I AM SKEPTICAL
TODAY I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THOSE THINGS I WAS TOLD WERE OUT OF REACH
3. How has your disability influenced
your career path?
My disability has been a central factor in my career. I didn't start out for it to be central, but it
became necessary for me to embrace the path of experiences that my disability brought me
throughout my career. I have a career in social work because of my work as a disability advocate,
which started quite by accident in childhood and became the beginning of my working career
when I was 19.
For a time, I wanted to find work away from disability as I believed my disability to be personal
and tried to construct a life where my disability wasn't a central factor.
Epic fail… My career stalled and I was very unhappy. Message: embrace it. It's you, and you are
okay!
4. If someone wanted to embark on a
similar career path and asked you for
advice, what would you say?
I would tell them to go forward amplifying the diversity that they would bring to
the profession because I believe particularly when it comes to services provided
to people with disabilities there are not enough people with disabilities shaping
program policies and procedures that actually reflect the needs of people with
disabilities. More needs to be done and the only way to accomplish a balance is
for more people with disabilities to enter and have impacts within the
profession.
It will not be easy as social work professes equality but does not and has not
made clear concise efforts to practice equity.
Getting in will be pushing in Amplify your voice as a strength not a weakness .
5. How do you balance your disability needs
and your employment responsibilities?
Being real about the constraints that living with a disability puts on my life Being aware that my disability
and the way I cope with it is a single strength that only I have. Other people will recognize the strength and
respect for me as a person arises from people's positive opinions about the way I cope. I'm very aware of
those things as I balance my disability needs and employment.
I was determined that my disability would not impede my ability to have a career so problem-solving and
solution making had to be part of my repertoire. Amplifying my disability or more precisely the lessons it
sometimes bestows upon me as part of the strength that makes me who I am.
Finding innovative ways to work surrounding myself with supportive people and recognizing when and
when not to push my own limits.
6. Who influenced you, and what impact did
their influence have overall?
My immediate family believed in me when the medical profession and later the school system would limit
my possibilities.
I also have had access to some phenomenal mentors in my career. That recognized my struggle to be taken
seriously and helped me find my voice and amplify my accomplishments and the impact those
accomplishments would make on other people.
Examples of this in my career have been:
Support through personal struggles
Fostering my leadership skills while I created a program for transitions in career mentorship for youth
Supporting my ideas to create awareness campaigns
Leveraging my skills to create research and development in areas I was interested in.
7. Do you think you have been treated
fairly throughout your career?
Not always.
I have been treated fairly by the people that gave themselves a chance to know me and work
with me towards common goals. Which, for me, luckily, has been the majority of my career thus
far.
But there are times I have felt the sting of ableism and discrimination on full display. And worse
yet, it was in situations where I thought people should know better.
Telling me as a 23-year-old undergrad that I would never teach because of my disability
And telling me that I shouldn't bother working with a disability if I wanted to have a life.
Both those situations infuriated me and amplified my determination to prove those
unenlightened individuals wrong.
8. What would you do differently?
Nothing. Experience and determination have taught me that
I have reached a place of self-reflection and respect, and I
don't know what I could have done differently because I'm
pretty pleased with the result.
9. How do you manage the difficult
days in your career?
Letting my emotions be what they are in that moment.
I remember that my family and friends love me
and the sun will come out tomorrow.
10. What is your favorite memory from
your career thus far?
In 2012, was a candidate for a community development award from the local community. As I was
scheduled to teach that evening, I wrestled with whether or not to share my nomination with the
students as I had to cancel a scheduled class with them to attend the awards dinner. I had
developed a reputation for never canceling class, so when I did, they asked why. I explained that I
had been nominated for this award and probably wouldn’t win, but I had to attend.
To my surprise, they insisted that I shared the result with them, good or bad, upon my return the
following week… The following week the students insisted I tell them the result before I started
teaching when I told them I won, they cheered, insisting that I allow them to take me out to
celebrate and bring the award to show them.
I protested but did not win the argument, so I agreed to join them for a celebratory dinner after the
completion of the semester.
For me, it was the culmination of my work as a disability advocate and my accomplishments as an
instructor coming together into one cohesive career. I realized that the respect I had strived to
achieve had arrived.
11. Do you always disclose your disability, and at
what point in the process would you do that?
Yes. My physical disability is such that I can't hide it and I have learned that hiding initially and then
disclosing just leaves the possibility of poisoning a good relationship. What to disclose and when to
disclose is a very personal choice.
Disclose only what is relevant
and work proactively in seeking accommodation solutions
12. What questions have you been asked over the
course of your career that has caused you to
pause and reconsider your choices?
Questions about my sex life… Because there are always inappropriate and come from a lurid place.
