Exhibit displays progress in disability advocacy
In the earliest years of recorded history, human disability was treated as a weakness. The disabled were shunned from society and discriminated against. Even great minds such as Aristotle recommended that children born with disabilities should be killed in their infancy.
The world’s views toward disability have begun to shift, due to groups such as the Center for Persons with Disabilities (CPD), an on-campus organization that deals with disability advocacy and research.
“The main ideas the center promotes are that disability is a natural part of the human experience, and that it is the environment in which these disabilities exist that needs to be fixed, not the people with the disability,” said Jeff Sheen, project director for the CPD.
The CPD coordinates projects, research and training for students and professionals, both in Logan and around the country, that further disability advocacy in the world. The center works to make the environment more accessible to people with disabilities.
“We do a lot of pre-service training,” Sheen said, “as well as guest lecturers for other departments about subjects like universal design and disability awareness.”
Sheen said the CPD’s local impact has been big. It has provided support to numerous families in the community who live with disabilities, he said, however, much of the local population both at USU and Logan does not realize the services or impact of the center.
“We’re kind of hidden from the community unless they’ve received our services,” Sheen said.
In order to raise awareness of the work being done by the CPD, along with the commemoration of its 40th anniversary, the CPD is presenting a poster exhibit in the basement of the Merrill-Cazier Library that outlines the history of disability advocacy and rights. The exhibit runs through Jan. 27.
According to JoLynne Lyon, public relations specialist for the CPD, the center is also offering a free screening of the documentary “Lives Worth Living.” The documentary similarly details the history of disability advocacy. It will be shown Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. in room 154 of the library.
“It is a separate event from the exhibit,” Lyon said. “But it is about the same subject — the history of disability and advocacy.”
Lyon said students are encouraged to attend the panel discussion that will follow the screening, whichl focus on the future of disability advocacy and rights, as well as the improvements that can be made by everyone in the community.
Sheen said he hopes these events will make people more aware of the impact of disability rights and also create awareness of the contribution they can make to the movement.
“We want people to leave with a personal challenge to do something better,” Sheen said. “Whether that’s to think more about accessibility or stop using the word ‘retarded,’ everyone can contribute. We don’t want the screening and poster exhibit to be static events; we want them to spur action. We want people to recognize they have a personal responsibility.”
The impact of disability advocacy can be felt in every community across the world, and Logan is no exception, Sheen said. One in five people live with a disability. He said many students think of disabilities as being physical, but they can also be mental or sensory.
Cache Valley itself has seen significant changes to its treatment of disabilities. According to Kelly Smith, an information specialist for the CPD, when the center first opened, it served as a school for students with disabilities. These students were segregated from others in public school.
“You can still tell our office building was once a school,” she said. “There are short counters with sinks in lots of the rooms. One of my first offices was located in what used to be a bathroom just off a classroom.”
Since then, disability rights have evolved in Cache Valley, and most buildings and public spaces are now accessible to the disabled. Sheen said examples of this can be seen in the community, such as the installation of many curb cuts in downtown Logan, as well as an inclusive playground at Willow Park called Angle’s Landing.
There are also programs on campus set up to help those with physical and mental disabilities enjoy their educational experience to the fullest, he said. At USU and other schools all over the country, curricula are in place to make course material accessible to all kinds of learners.
These are only a few examples of how the treatment of and facilities for the disabled have taken huge strides forward in the 20th century, both locally and nationally, Smith said.
“We have a photo archive at the office,” she said. “It’s startling just to look at those old photos and see how the equipment and facilities have changed in the last 50 years.”
Earlier generations grew up with ideas of segregation for the disabled, Sheen said, but nowadays students have been raised with a newer, more open mindset. Equality for the disabled is no longer a foreign idea.
“It has become an attitude of ‘Why wouldn’t we?'” he said.
However, attitude is still the biggest barrier in the journey to equality for the disabled, Sheen said.
“They experience the environment differently, but they are not broken,” he said. “We don’t have to fix them. They have just as much to offer us.” Smith and Sheen both said students, faculty and staff are encouraged to visit the poster exhibit and film screening to gain more appreciation for the long history concerning disability advocacy and better understand the role they can play in its future.
“It is everyone’s history, because everyone knows someone with a disability,” Smith said. “We want people to come learn more about the struggle that has gotten to this point. Disability rights have come a long way, but they still have a long way to go, and each of us can be a part of that. We each have a role to pl
ay in making the world better.”
– m.van911@aggiemail.usu.edu