Adaptive water skiing

 August 26:

When I became disabled no one told me what to do. You have to learn everything on your own. Luckily, most states have an independent living center and the federal government sets aside money to fund these centers. I just learned that a few weeks are when I attended the National Independent Living Conference put on by The National Independent Living Council. Yeah, I had no idea that existed! After becoming disabled, I learned to ask other disabled people what resources are available. As it turns out, there are a ton of resources available but they aren’t advertised. You have to know the right people and ask the right questions. 

In the last year I have become like a resource junkie! I take as many advocacy courses I can find and sit on as many community boards as possible. 

It all started when I moved in to my own apartment and quickly realized that transportation is a huge problem. I can’t drive and am a wheelchair user. Basically, I have to live in a city and rely on public transportation. I am lucky to own a van but I need someone to drive it. So I’m on all kinds of transportation boards and I’m an ambassador for Mobility for All. As an ambassador I train people on public transportation, Google maps and ride sharing apps for smartphones. I could go on and on about transportation but I will spare you!

Basically, it infuriates me that disability resources aren’t public knowledge. It’s a dream of mine to build a website that could be a one stop place for your disability needs, I would call it Colorado’s Disability Community.

Just today, I attended a workshop on the Fair Housing Act. It’s amazing to learn that disability rights require so many legal accommodations but again it’s not really common knowledge. Congress was very against the Fair Housing Act, until the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  It took the assassination of a political figure to sway congress to approve the Fair Housing Act. Much of the disability movement was because of the civil rights movement. After all, disability rights are civil rights.