Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Come on America: Those In Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones


So I didn't write a lot in 2014 yet, but I promise that will change. This posting will be my 40th blog. It is amazing what this blog has grown into a little over nine months.

            Nine months ago, I was angry and bitter and didn't know how to deal with it. They say life has a funny way of working out. I can't say that I would say that in nine months, I found my voice or at least the beginnings of it. As this blog says, I have learned a few things over the past little bit. I've written about comedy, I've written about political issues, and I've written about disability stereotypes; however, this blog will be a little different.

            Maybe it's because of how I was raised, but I have developed a spirit of a fighter that is both a good thing and a bad thing. As I sit down to write this post, in fact, I still remember the latest fight I had with my parents about being self-reliant. Without boring you with the gritty details, let's say we disagreed on how self-sufficient I should be at this point in my life.  My fight with my parents had nothing to do with a disability, at least on the surface; however, it got me thinking about a disability community problem.

            I've read a lot lately since graduating from my master's program in early December of 2013. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but many titles have been related to making one's destiny. The last book I finished, I am Malala, was a highly publicized book about a girl shot by the Taliban in Pakistan to speak up for girls' educational rights. That book not only blended history and culture, but it struck me on a personal level. The circumstances Malala had to overcome put her in extreme danger every day. Regardless of that danger, she still stood up for what she wanted.  She knew no one else was going to give it to her unless she proves herself.

Similarly, A Bold Piece of Humanity, by Bill O'Reilly, discussed the controversial commentator's belief system and how he had come to reach those beliefs. While some of Mr. O’Reilly's political views may not sit well with some, the striking thing about this book was that like Malala; he did not rely on anyone to hand him success. No, he just took it.

            What does this all have to do with disability, one might ask? Well, it is simple. I've noticed lately, and I include myself in this generalization as well, that most people with disabilities let external forces control their lives. Often they feel trapped by circumstance, so we do not complain when our aide care is sub-par or something doesn't get done in a typical fashion because we are disabled. No, we accept it as our reality. Well, the above two books, along with something my father has been trying to tell me for forever, have finally sunk in.  Hard work isn't easy. I will use a parable from a well-known book for those of you who need it put simpler. Whether or not you believe it that Jesus of Nazareth is God as I do, the Bible does have one exciting thing that everyone can live by. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. This is not a wealth criticism or even a social criticism; instead, in this case, it is a disability criticism.

            I am criticizing those like myself in the disability community who often let their circumstances define their lives.  Yes, our lives may be challenging, but our obstacles are no different than anyone else's. We are no other than a single mom of four that I know who busts her ass every day and sometimes goes without to help me and make her kid's lives better. We are also no different from a 49-year-old man who goes to work every day and doesn't smoke a day in his life but ends up getting cancer at 50. He still must get up, go to chemo, and move on with his life. We are no different from my Dad, who was perfectly healthy a year ago and is now fighting every day to keep his spirits up and keep moving towards his retirement dream. I know that was long-winded, but I do have a point.

            Disabled people think that because we rely on other people so much, whether we have a physical or mental disability, we are not in control of our lives. I'm here to tell you that our lives are what we make them, no one else.

If we do not have much physical control, then we can demand high expectations of those who do have biological control over our lives. Disability is not a limit, just a challenge. Quit letting it limit you and start challenging it. Your experiences will be better in the short term, and the world will be better in the long run. 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Many Facets of Disability

 


Okay, so it's time I do some self-examination. It is time I will be honest with myself. A lot of this blog has been egocentric; I mean that not I am selfish in presenting disability. Instead, I have only focused primarily on those born with physical disabilities, like myself. However, a recent article and a 60 Minutes interview concentrate on broadening the spectrum in which I see things.

 

Several months ago, 60 minutes did a piece questioning where all the new incidents of disability claims had come from. When I saw this piece, part of me took offense to it, but another part agreed with it. There was a comment that many people on social security disability are lazy. However, after reading a recent piece published by the Los Angeles Times, I am forced to reconsider my view.

 

While it may be true that some on disability are there fraudulently, the piece by the LA Times broad to light a new point of view. Perhaps, the claims of disability arising because the overall make-up of the United States population is changing. Whatever the case may be, the disability system will never be perfect, but as the article, which I include below, stresses: it is time to change the system. We need individuals who do their homework on disability. We need to rethink how we approach disability from a financial and societal perspective before the disability fiscal cliff is reached in as early as 2016—just some food for thought.

 

 

 

Explaining the 'mystery' of where all the disabled are coming from

By Michael Hiltzik

 

The apparent explosion in Social Security disability claimants has provided endless fodder for critics of the program in recent years. They're favored the explanation is that the growth in the ranks of the disabled, from 250,000 new claimants a year in 1970 to nearly 900,000 in 2008, comes from fraud or laziness.

 

A new study by two economists at the Social Security Administration should put that to rest. After examining 36 years of demographic data, David Pattison and Hilary Waldron found that population growth, the aging of the baby boom generation, and the increase in the proportion of women in the workforce accounted for 90% of the increase in the disabled population -- and 94% of the rise in the more recent 1990-2008 period.

The rest is accounted for by an increase in the "disability incidence rate," defined only as the factor left after the others are accounted for. But as they point out, the incidence rate has been falling over the last 18 years.

RELATED: 60 Minutes' shameful attack on the disabled

The findings remind that disability is heavily influenced by age and that America's workforce aged rapidly as baby boomers got older. In 1970, some boomers were too young to be working; by 2008, some were beginning to retire. As boomers moved into disability-prone ages (think the late 40s through the mid-60s), the rate of disability in the population would have risen even if none of the other factors was present.

Pattison's and Waldron's work considers the importance today, as the disability program faces a near-term fiscal crisis. The exhaustion of the program's resources, which could strike as early as 2016, demands action by Congress. in the past, the underfunding of Social Security disability has been addressed by shifting money out of the program's old-age trust fund to shore up the disability fund.

Something better and longer-lasting is required this time. Still, that effort isn't helped by the sort of uninformed demonizing of the disability population retailed by people like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). Coburn appeared on "60 Minutes" not long ago to wonder aloud where all the disabled people came from. If he only asked the Social Security Administration, he'd know the answer. But does he want to know? Nor does it help for "60 Minutes," National Public Radio, and other national news organizations to report on disability without doing their homework. With the publication of this latest study, they have one less excuse for getting it wrong.

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-disabled-20131202,0,7260770.story#ixzz2mj1sRMJV

Friday, December 6, 2013

Hey, Taxi!


Today an old industry comes into the 21st century. New York City is one of the busiest cities in the world. It is the center of commerce and art mecca, and it often represents cultures from many parts of the world. Although New York is a place of change, one group that was not usually able to participate in the shift may today finally be able to get their wheel in the door.

As the below article states, from the New York Times, by way of the AAPD, Thursday, a landmark case was settled in New York court, allowing the disabled access to the taxi industry. While this may seem like something small, it is an excellent step in disability equality. With access to taxis now, the quiet disabled population will have easier access to a city that the world pays attention to regularly.

 

City Agrees on Access to Taxis for Disabled

By BENJAMIN WEISER and MATT FLEGENHEIMER

        

Ending years of acrimony, New York City has agreed to settle a significant class-action lawsuit and adopt regulations requiring that half of the city’s more than 13,000 yellow cabs be accessible to people with disabilities within six years, a person involved in the negotiations said on Thursday night.

 

The deal calls for half of all new medallion taxis put into service in any given year to be wheelchair accessible until the goal of 50 percent of the city’s fleet is reached, the person said.

The lawsuit filed in 2011 charged that the city, with only a fraction of its medallion taxis accessible to wheelchair users, violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

Documents related to the settlement are expected to be filed on Friday morning in United States District Court in Manhattan. Judge George B. Daniels, who has been overseeing the case, will eventually have to approve any agreement. The deal is expected to be announced formally on Friday morning at a news conference attended by city officials and disability advocates.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Mental Health and Disability


The last blog I wrote was entitled “The Acceptance Problem.” It talked about an issue that is not often discussed within the disabled community, that of disability identity versus complete identity. Now it is only appropriate to talk about another issue that is not talked about which is disability and depression.
       There are a variety of disabilities. There are the obvious types, which can be seen, in physical disabilities. There are also hidden disabilities that impact a person’s learning style such as Asperger’s, Dyslexia or
Dysgraphia, just to name a few. However, one type of disability that is not often considered a “disability” is that of mental illness. Whether it is Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, or Depression these can be very debilitating, when one combines these disorders with a physical disability, the discussion virtually stops.       
My battle with depression has led me to come to several conclusions about disability and depression in general, along with the treatment of those who happen to have both. As I have written many times, having a disability comes with many challenges, which include: social, physical, and emotional challenges. The profession of psychiatry and psychology is designed to deal with individuals that have depression, but not often do these practitioners encounter individuals with disabilities. This statement may be incorrect in factual nature but it is not erroneous when it comes to experience. I have battled depression for a long time.
In my late teens, I began to realize that I was different. One may ask, how could you not realize that you were physically different before that? My answer is that for the majority of my life I was treated as if I lived in two worlds. My parents, up to that point, had always treated me as if I wasn’t disabled. I don’t know if there was the intent here or not, but they never let me consider my disability as an obstacle, so I never did. They did their best to allow me to participate in every opportunity that everyone else did. The way they treated me, it never crossed my mind that I was different. However, that all changed in high school.
Adolescence is hard for everyone. Kids in middle school are trying to find out who they are, but they don’t even know that that’s what they’re trying to do. In high school and even at the end of middle school, people are trying to find their niche. I don’t know why, but cliques start to develop. Suddenly, the littlest difference is made obvious, and it is an individual’s goal to hide their difference. However, when one has such physical differences from their peers, it’s kind of hard to hide. I’m not saying that children are malicious on purpose; just that society has taught us to fear difference.
As I began to become aware of my difference for the first time, it was kind of a slap in the face. I took out my anger on my Mom, Dad, and younger sister. The relationship I had with them throughout those years was not the prettiest. And for the constant fights I caused, I apologize. When I first began to deal with depression, I did not handle it properly. I did not seek out professional help. I don’t know whether its because I had been taught by society to fear the stigma that comes with dealing with emotional issues, or what it was, I just know I didn’t handle it properly.
In fact, it was not until an extremely dark incident in my late twenties, that I began to seek help. Many who read this might be uncomfortable with what I’m about to say, but I will honestly say that I had reached the end of my rope. Through a series of incidents, I realized that something needed to be done about the way I approached life and my disability overall. I thought that accepting the problem for what it was and dealing with it would be the biggest hurdle that I had to overcome, but I was wrong.
As I began dealing with the mental health profession, I realized that there was a disconnect between mental health professionals and the disabled community. Most of the mental health professionals that I dealt with seem to think that once I accepted my disability that I would not be depressed anymore. For their part, they were partly right, accepting my disability was part of my problem but not the whole problem.
Acceptance is only the first step. And that is only part of the depression at least for me when it comes to disability. For years I’ve complained that there are two types of disabled people, people that are okay with it and people that are not. However, I’ve recently learned that this is not necessarily the case. There is a third type of disabled person. One who is okay with their disability from a personal standpoint, but who is not okay with society’s treatment of persons with disabilities. Honestly, I can say that I fall into this third category.
It is hard to take the mental health profession and mental health professionals seriously when they do not often believe that there is room for this third type of person with a disability. Luckily, currently, I have the pleasure of working with Dr. Michael Mercatoris who has given me permission to use his name. Mr. Mercatoris is the first one of his kind that I have worked with, who seems to understand that depression and disability is a two-pronged problem.
First an individual, in this case, me, has to accept themselves for who they are and not what society thinks they should be. Secondly, an individual has to realize that there will be societal obstacles associated with their physical disability that may cause depression. The depression will not go away simply because society is not ready for such a radical change and full acceptance of disability as a norm. Rather anyone dealing with depression or a mental illness along with a physical disability must be willing to go against the grain. They must be willing to stand up for who they are and what they are and must be willing to sacrifice in order for society to slowly change, that being said, there are other things that need to happen as well.
If one accepts the premise that depression is going to be associated with disability from day to day, there are certain things that must occur. The mental health community in general needs to be better equipped to deal with i.e. help those with physical disabilities along with their mental health issues. One might ask: how can they do this? I don’t have all the answers but one answer might lie in the way they treat individuals in inpatient and outpatient programs. For example, if one is so desperate that they need to go into an inpatient facility and they have a physical disability, it might be appropriate for all involved with the individual to make sure that that the facility has adequate personal care available while participating in the inpatient the program so that they are not worried about their physical care needs to be met along with their mental health needs. As far as my own personal experience, I can recommend that providers may want to be more open to the idea that individuals with disabilities are intelligent beings and perhaps their pain or emotional issues go deeper than not accepting themselves for who they are, but perhaps they are too reflective for their own good and realize that society is in a sad state of affairs when it comes to disability. Although it is the 21st century, in some aspects of disability, society is still in the middle ages. This may be a hard pill to swallow for many who are disabled, including myself. However regardless of how hard it is to swallow, the disabled community should have outlets in the mental health community who understand us as people and not just a disorder. Thankfully, I have found two, Dr. Michael Mercatoris and my aunt Eileen. For that I am very thankful. 

Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Acceptance Problem: It’s Yours, Not Mine


Okay, so usually I don’t write two in a day, but something has been on my mind lately, and the blog I posted earlier wasn’t an original piece of writing. Instead, it was forwarding an inspirational story. So here’s my daily food for thought.
       I warn you that this blog may unsettle some, and it may make you uncomfortable. The un-comfortableness will come from the overuse of swear words or a sexual conversation. It might come from looking at “ourselves” (society in general) in the near. Some of you may not like what you see if you are honest with yourself. 
       I am two and a half weeks away from finishing my Master’s Degree at my school in  Northwestern, Pennsylvania. As I complete this round of my academic work, I am forced to reflect. For the last nineteen years of my life, give or take a semester or two, I have been on the “right path.” We all are required in the end states to enroll in 12 years of compulsory education. After that, different paths can emerge depending on the individual. My approach has been full of curves and wrong turns and such.
       Now some of you may say, “But you’ve told us before you have two Bachelor’s degrees and just said you’re getting your Master’s Degree! What more could you want?” And to be honest, I reflected on this question for several weeks now. I even talked to varying sources, and many of them have told me this, “You are at crisscross roads in your life because you didn’t accept your disability sooner and set your expectations reasonably.” To them, I say it is not that I have the acceptance problem. It is you. “You,” in this case, being social. Even my parents and my shrink (who I occasionally go to) maintain my sanity have remarked that perhaps a little bit of my problem is accepting my disability. 
       Is my problem accepting my disability, or instead is it accepting what society thinks I should be? Limited to or capable of because of my disability. I believe it is the latter, and I will say this straight out. You’re damn, right! I don’t accept limitations put on me by anyone except myself. If that means I have an acceptance problem, then I guess I do. 
       Last Christmas, I asked for a book on the history of the disability rights movement entitled “What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement.” I have not been able to steadily read that book due to my Master’s Program requirements, but tonight when I read Chapter 3: Discrimination, I realized not much has changed from the ’50s to today. Some of you may say, but we have the ADA! Society is much more accepting of disability! To that, I must sarcastically laugh. Yes, the ADA has removed the barriers physically to many of the obstacles that face the disabled community. What it has not done is to remove the societal stigmas that come with disability. For example, there was a story in the third chapter of the book about Johnnie Lacy, a disabled individual who wanted to be a teacher, very much like myself. Lacy was systemically persuaded not to be by the same institution, allowing her to take special education classes. When I read this story, I couldn’t help by seeing myself.         
       Yes, I will have three degrees in about two-and-a-half weeks. Still, the route a lot of my college education (especially recently), I have been persuaded or “recommended” not to pursue the paths I follow. The problem is that we fight, and we fight for so long because we know we’re capable of doing whatever we put our minds to. Still, eventually, it’s not necessarily that we give up, but we come to a realization when the whole institutional system is against you. And you have no allies except the people that know you personally; there’s not much you can do. Even though my parents and counselors (and even friends) believe that I am perfectly capable of teaching, they do not have any power when it comes to educational institutions.
       Eventually, I just gave in, so I will walk away with a degree that I will not be able to use. Because yet again, this happened. When I expressed this sediment to this and others around me, they remarked that I haven’t accepted my disability and need to be more realistic about my expectations. To them—in this format, I say you might be wrong. Screw that. I am not bitter and am perfectly aware of my limitations. What I do not accept is the lack of opportunity in the greatest country in the world. We have the Americans with Disabilities Act, that “gold standard of disability law,” but it hasn’t done jack shit when it comes to disability and equality. Just because we can get into a building doesn’t mean society wants us there, and that is the next struggle that the disability rights movement will have to undertake. 
       Finally, someone liked the comparison, but as I dive deeper into the disability rights movement and find my voice, I can’t help but compare our struggles to African Americans in the ’60s. They were discriminated against because of some God-given skin pigment, and people like me, whether wheelchair-bound or disabled in some other way. I am discriminated against because society has such a screwed up perception. Not because we are flawed but because the company itself is flawed. It may take to the end of my life and beyond to fix that problem. Right here and now, I dedicate myself to making life better for further generations of disabled Americans and disabled individuals around the world. 

A Little Bit of Hope


         Today's blog is a combination of things. It is partially comprised of an article that I shared on Facebook about an acquaintance I knew in North Carolina. However, the message of the article is more potent than one individual girl. 
         The article below is about Hope Johnson, a 32-year-old with the same type of Cerebral Palsy that I have. She is a shining example of how very few people with disabilities ignore their disability and strive for their full potential. Hope's message is that our obstacles, but what we do to overcome them, shall not define us. Although this particular piece of writing is not entirely my own, I felt it was crucial to share here because it embodies the message of The Voiceless Minority Blog in that one should fear nothing and regret less even if society tells them to worry about the obstacles that they have been given at the start of this journey called life. 
         I thank my friend Angela Swanson for sharing this on Facebook, and everyone should check out Hope's blog. 
         



"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all."

 

This Emily Dickinson quote headlines the blog of a miraculous Messiah College senior, Hope Johnson, who was born with athetoid cerebral palsyCerebral palsy is a physical disability that affects movement, coordination, balance, and posture and is caused by an injury to the brain or by unusual brain development.

 

Because of cerebral palsy's unrelenting grip, Hope, 32, is without the use of her arms, legs, and voice. She "speaks" with her left foot, painstakingly typing out words with only her big toe, on a specially designed keyboard at the base of her adopted computer workstation.

 

Worldwide, 17 million people live with cerebral palsy, and another 350 million are closely connected to a child or adult with CP. It is the most common physical disability in childhood, according to UCP Central Pennsylvania, which is marking its 60-year history of serving children, youth, adults, and seniors not only with CP but with autism, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and other conditions and diagnoses.

"I think what saddens me the most is people's attitude about individuals with disabilities. They assume that you can't." – Hope Johnson

 

Although Hope cannot "speak" in the traditional sense, she has a powerful voice and an inspiring message, which she's eager to share on her blog, aptly entitled "A The journey of Hope."

 

Dickinson's "hope" quotes illuminate and inspires her life.

 

"Her name so fits her," said Lynda Bowen, UCP Marketing and Communications Coordinator, and Hope's supervisor during her two internships at UCP.

 

Hope has stylishly short-cropped hair, expressive eyes, and a ready smile. She goes shoeless so that her polished toe can type out her thoughts. Her writings display an unshakeable belief that she is not disabled, only "differently-abled" and that she will not "become my Cerebral Palsy."

 

She first started college on a North Carolina campus lauded as handicapped accessible. But she soon learned a painful lesson: "Accessibility does not mean acceptance."

 

Now an English major, with a writing emphasis, at Messiah, Hope is proving that physical limits do not restrict the flow of creativity and intellect. She has lived on her own on-campus since 2007, with modifications added by the college to allow her to live independently.

Ann Beasom, her Community Integration Specialist, advocate, and friend, accompanies Hope to class and serves as her "voice" on campus. She does this by sounding out the words Hope types on a simple toeboard in a black binder that resembles a Scrabble game board.

 

Hope is on track to graduate from Messiah in May of 2014. When she does, she will be their first non-ambulatory, nonverbal graduate. It will have taken her ten years to earn that coveted diploma. Will she cry when she gets her certificate? "Of course!" she types without hesitation.

 

Bowen said Hope is destined to draw a standing ovation, especially from an admiring faculty.

 

Samuel Smith, chairman of Messiah College's English department and one of Hope's professors, wrote in a letter of recommendation that "Hope is one of the most inspiring individuals I have encountered in my 20+ year teaching career. A solid work ethic sustained her excellent work in my class.

 

"But perhaps just as important as her abilities and skills, Hope approaches all her work with passionate care," Smith wrote. "She has an integrity of character — a strong self of herself as a moral and responsible self — that all of us can take for inspiration."

 

Hope's long-range career goal is to advocate for people with disabilities and work as a professional writer. She got a taste of what it would be like to realize those goals during her summers as an intern for UCP's Development Department.

 

Hope is among the success stories to be shared as UCP celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2013.

"I try to live my life without limits," Hope says, clearly modeling the organization's motto of "life without limits for people with disabilities." She dazzled everyone around her during her internships with UCP, curating content for their social media, critiquing the literature on CP, and writing original content for their newsletter.

She even developed and launched a notecard fundraiser that has raised $1,500 for the organization that helped her unleash her full potential.

 

Bowen marvels at the fact that Hope's work is virtually error-free.

"Her stuff comes through, and you'd never know what it takes to do this," Bowen said. Content, grammar, and punctuation are all "flawless," providing little proof of the struggle behind the creation.

 

UCP statistics show that the unemployment rate for adults with disabilities is 71 percent, yet the vast majority of these unemployed adults want to work.

 

Hope said her grandparents taught her to type. Although they have both passed away, she is quick to acknowledge the remarkable impact on her life. Tears fill her eyes as she types on the toeboard, "They're looking down on me, smiling."

 

But she does not dwell on the grief.

 

"I think what saddens me the most is people's attitude about individuals with disabilities," she said. "They just assume that you can't."

 

What would she tell those non-believers? "I think I show more than tell."

 

But then she taps out this jewel: "You never know what's inside."

 

Her joys in life include writing, particularly poetry, and spending time at Bethany Beach, Delaware, where she rolls a chair right up to the water's foamy edge. She dreams of traveling to France, Italy, and England someday but knows that accessibility issues will complicate her movements.

 

It is her nature to be "pleasant, polite and upbeat," she said, acknowledging that "Sometimes I overcompensate." One of her biggest challenges, she said, is fatigue. It takes so much effort to type, painstakingly communicating, letter by letter.

 

In one of her most poignant poems, she writes how she is not physically limited in her nighttime dreams. She experiences the miracle of having no physical restriction. "One cannot describe the exhilaration that one feels flying. It is as if the soul is free from any bondage it encounters in life."

 

Yes, her professors have taught her, but she has taught them, too: "Anything is possible if you have an open mind."

 

She has begun work on a memoir, and one of her favorite professors has encouraged her to try to get it published.

 

On her blog, she types, "I hold power to captivate just by the pressure of my toe striking each key, and I thank my audience for putting all of this at my 'feet.'"

 

Power resides in even the smallest of people – and words. Like "hope." 

At a glance

   WHAT: UCP of Central Pennsylvania celebrates 60 years of service to people of all abilities.

   WHEN: Reception at 6 p.m. Nov. 21 and dinner at 7.

   WHERE: West Shore Country Club, 100 Brentwater Road, East Pennsboro Township.

   INFO: Anyone who has been helped by UCP is encouraged to share their story in words or photographs. Please check the website at www.ucpcentralpa.org for additional details. For more information, call 717-975-0611 or email Janeen Latin at jlatin@ucpcentralpa.org.




       I got the original article from pennlive.com. If you would like to hear more about the UCP, then go to http://www.ucpcentralpa.org/. Leonard Goldenson founded the UCP organization. Leonard Goldenson was a true pioneer in that UCP would be the first "disability to utilize telethons" for fundraising. Goldenson would eventually become the head of the American Broadcasting network ABC. 
       The UCP organization provides various services with 85% of its 750 million dollar budget towards programs ranging from education services to travel expenses, parenting, and family and support. There are more than 100 affiliates of the UCP all over the United States with Canada and Australia. UCP does not provide a one-size-fits-all type of service. It typically tailors its services to its locations and needs. 
       Overall, the UCP and the message of young Hope Johnson reiterate that disability should not define a person, but rather a person should define themselves. Disability should only be a part of that definition.