[Applause]
racism sexism homophobia when I say
these words a lot can happen at once
a flashback to an experience with one of
them or your city’s most receive quality
parades but when I say ableism
oftentimes many people don’t know what
that is and this is a huge problem
ableism is the discrimination of people
with intellectual or developmental
disabilities led someone with i/dd
can be in a wheelchair have autism Down
syndrome cerebral palsy vision or
hearing loss and so much more we as a
society minimized ableism as lesser of a
problem that’s why you’ve probably never
heard of it we look at african-americans
women and homosexuals and think there
are no less earth people and they
deserve equal rights pay and respect any
violation of that is discrimination and
it won’t be tolerated now this is true
100% but when it comes to someone with a
disability without even giving a second
thought to it we simultaneously think
but because they can’t perform certain
action or do a certain job that these
basic and fundamental rules of equality
do not apply to them when in reality
they should we seen unintentional
ableism all around us every day pushing
someone in a wheelchair without their
permission because you think that you’re
helping them a building not having
accessible facilities say the r-word
retard or retarded even in a joke these
are all examples of non intentional
ableism however there is a more severe
type of ableism known as intentional
ableism and truth be told as upsetting
and degrading as intentional ableism can
be it often starts in the most miniscule
place as the average middle school we
had a middle school students
worth mental autistic the Arbour and
many other degrading terms even in jokes
and for every child using that
vocabulary there’s a disabled kid hurt
the problem is many parents teachers and
students think that because there is no
physical violence going on or the words
were said in a joking manner then the
problem isn’t that real when in reality
it hurts just as much as physical
violence from my experience middle
school is the developing stage in which
students begin to become able Asst I
have been a part of best buddies a
non-profit international organization
focused on ending ableism for almost two
years now when the organization came to
my dental school not many people join
but thankfully I did in a short time of
being there it completely transformed me
I was making new friends having a more
optimistic view on life and I could see
that our students with disabilities were
benefiting to they would walk the halls
proud and confident of who they were
because they knew that a strong and
supportive group of people have their
back what is month once a meeting it
seemed to make me and others better
people this organization taught me a lot
about equality and an issue that I have
no idea existed but I later found out
that it had existed for a very long time
from the days of the Soviet Union to the
times of the Holocaust it was a messy to
make its way around the world but now
more than ever it’s not just a problem
it’s an epidemic with ableism getting to
young students across the globe yes
some students are ignorant they use
upsetting ablest vocabulary but the
problem is the approach that we often
take just tell me you’ll stop
or cut it out often makes matters worse
so last year in dustbunnies in my
chapter when we were having our third or
fourth meeting we were focusing in on
how much students use you creating
ablest vocabulary but we were focusing
in on one word the R word and so we
decided to take place and
annual spread word to end the word day
to raise awareness about ending the use
of the r-word we spread a message of
kindness all day but there was just one
problem
many students said the art word all day
but you might ask why why would the
seemingly great plan for an amazing
cause fail especially with students at
such a young age well that has to do
with the middle school line you see when
an organization like Best Buddies comes
to a middle school students often think
or they to tell me what to do I’ll say
whatever I want whatever I want and so
unfortunately the plan backfires it’s
like the students being rebellious
school trying to show off to their
friends
either way they were saying the R word
all day and our plan often backfires I
didn’t see that from then that day was a
turning point our supporters on day one
are still supporting us today some even
joining best buddies but the students
that were using degraded language to be
cool or show up are still using that
today the problem is when simply saying
the armor didn’t get enough they would
target members of Best Buddies
themselves they would say the R word in
front of us just to get on your nerves
because they knew and we knew that it
was a trap if we spoke up about what we
knew was right and what we believed was
right we would be humiliated in front of
our friends and peers but if we stayed
silent we were letting them win and we
were letting the message get out that it
was okay to discriminate against
disabled people which is not what we
want to do it seemed like a lost cause
eventually once members realized this
they lost hope and unfortunately
eventually I lost mine we would lie low
when we heard teasing bullying or any
other because we didn’t want to be
humiliated we wanted it so hard to keep
things professional but at the same time
it was getting personal and we attended
middle school we need social status to
survive but at some point it wasn’t just
lying low I was watching as the world
was cruel and degrading to our students
with disabilities they would get mean
nasty books in the hallways and it would
be made fun of for speaking up in class
but I felt that there was nothing I
could do every day and every night it
was a constant struggle with myself I
would ask myself what do I believe in
what am I going to stand up for my
popularity or what I believe is right
and I hope to make a difference or am I
going to stay silent I wasn’t supporting
not using the R word but I was not
supporting it either I just was I
existed at this middle school with no
purpose no cost and I felt really bad
that I wasn’t sticking up for others but
at some point I broke I just changed
something changed little did I know that
it would be right in the middle of math
class I know we were going over a
homework in a group around 4 or 5 and in
that group there were two best friends
always making jokes always laughing one
of them gets something wrong and the
other one says as a joke oh my gosh
you’re so autistic I didn’t know it at
the time but every time I was lying low
staying silent it was eating away little
by little at my coils but I just knew in
that moment
deep down I couldn’t afford to lose
anymore I had to speak up I had to say
something but I couldn’t risk being
humiliated not again I have no idea what
to do I broke out into a cold sweat I
was short breath my heart was racing and
I made a quick instinctual decision and
I and I overcame what was possibly the
longest moment of my entire life but I
took a deep breath and all I could say
was stop you’re not funny you’re making
a stereotype and you’re saying that
autistic people are stupid and can’t
learn it’s wrong it’s degrading and you
have to cut it out
to which she replied calm down it was
just a joke see that was my limit that
was when I knew what I had to stand up
for and it wasn’t my popularity
it wasn’t my social status it was what I
knew was right to end a
I said you know it’s not funny that 60%
of people with disabilities will have
been bullied that 84 percent will be
unemployed that 83 percent will be
sexually assaulted in their lifetime and
there are two times more likely to live
in poverty and 19% less likely to
graduate I don’t find that very funny I
don’t find that a joke of course he
laughed he made fun of this cause and
unfortunately like many others he’s
still using degrading language to this
day but the best part about those
moments was that I was not angry or
annoyed or frustrated I was rejuvenated
because I realized what I had to stand
up for I realized in those moments that
we can’t just wait and watch
life fix itself we have to change
society and we have to end ableism in
order to fight this human rights fight
we have to fight it together the only
way that we can end ableism you know in
our modern day world is with it is by
making a change and the only way that we
can make a change is with an open mind
and open heart and an open door to
inclusion thank you very much
you
racism sexism homophobia when I say
these words a lot can happen at once
a flashback to an experience with one of
them or your city’s most receive quality
parades but when I say ableism
oftentimes many people don’t know what
that is and this is a huge problem
ableism is the discrimination of people
with intellectual or developmental
disabilities led someone with i/dd
can be in a wheelchair have autism Down
syndrome cerebral palsy vision or
hearing loss and so much more we as a
society minimized ableism as lesser of a
problem that’s why you’ve probably never
heard of it we look at african-americans
women and homosexuals and think there
are no less earth people and they
deserve equal rights pay and respect any
violation of that is discrimination and
it won’t be tolerated now this is true
100% but when it comes to someone with a
disability without even giving a second
thought to it we simultaneously think
but because they can’t perform certain
action or do a certain job that these
basic and fundamental rules of equality
do not apply to them when in reality
they should we seen unintentional
ableism all around us every day pushing
someone in a wheelchair without their
permission because you think that you’re
helping them a building not having
accessible facilities say the r-word
retard or retarded even in a joke these
are all examples of non intentional
ableism however there is a more severe
type of ableism known as intentional
ableism and truth be told as upsetting
and degrading as intentional ableism can
be it often starts in the most miniscule
place as the average middle school we
had a middle school students
worth mental autistic the Arbour and
many other degrading terms even in jokes
and for every child using that
vocabulary there’s a disabled kid hurt
the problem is many parents teachers and
students think that because there is no
physical violence going on or the words
were said in a joking manner then the
problem isn’t that real when in reality
it hurts just as much as physical
violence from my experience middle
school is the developing stage in which
students begin to become able Asst I
have been a part of best buddies a
non-profit international organization
focused on ending ableism for almost two
years now when the organization came to
my dental school not many people join
but thankfully I did in a short time of
being there it completely transformed me
I was making new friends having a more
optimistic view on life and I could see
that our students with disabilities were
benefiting to they would walk the halls
proud and confident of who they were
because they knew that a strong and
supportive group of people have their
back what is month once a meeting it
seemed to make me and others better
people this organization taught me a lot
about equality and an issue that I have
no idea existed but I later found out
that it had existed for a very long time
from the days of the Soviet Union to the
times of the Holocaust it was a messy to
make its way around the world but now
more than ever it’s not just a problem
it’s an epidemic with ableism getting to
young students across the globe yes
some students are ignorant they use
upsetting ablest vocabulary but the
problem is the approach that we often
take just tell me you’ll stop
or cut it out often makes matters worse
so last year in dustbunnies in my
chapter when we were having our third or
fourth meeting we were focusing in on
how much students use you creating
ablest vocabulary but we were focusing
in on one word the R word and so we
decided to take place and
annual spread word to end the word day
to raise awareness about ending the use
of the r-word we spread a message of
kindness all day but there was just one
problem
many students said the art word all day
but you might ask why why would the
seemingly great plan for an amazing
cause fail especially with students at
such a young age well that has to do
with the middle school line you see when
an organization like Best Buddies comes
to a middle school students often think
or they to tell me what to do I’ll say
whatever I want whatever I want and so
unfortunately the plan backfires it’s
like the students being rebellious
school trying to show off to their
friends
either way they were saying the R word
all day and our plan often backfires I
didn’t see that from then that day was a
turning point our supporters on day one
are still supporting us today some even
joining best buddies but the students
that were using degraded language to be
cool or show up are still using that
today the problem is when simply saying
the armor didn’t get enough they would
target members of Best Buddies
themselves they would say the R word in
front of us just to get on your nerves
because they knew and we knew that it
was a trap if we spoke up about what we
knew was right and what we believed was
right we would be humiliated in front of
our friends and peers but if we stayed
silent we were letting them win and we
were letting the message get out that it
was okay to discriminate against
disabled people which is not what we
want to do it seemed like a lost cause
eventually once members realized this
they lost hope and unfortunately
eventually I lost mine we would lie low
when we heard teasing bullying or any
other because we didn’t want to be
humiliated we wanted it so hard to keep
things professional but at the same time
it was getting personal and we attended
middle school we need social status to
survive but at some point it wasn’t just
lying low I was watching as the world
was cruel and degrading to our students
with disabilities they would get mean
nasty books in the hallways and it would
be made fun of for speaking up in class
but I felt that there was nothing I
could do every day and every night it
was a constant struggle with myself I
would ask myself what do I believe in
what am I going to stand up for my
popularity or what I believe is right
and I hope to make a difference or am I
going to stay silent I wasn’t supporting
not using the R word but I was not
supporting it either I just was I
existed at this middle school with no
purpose no cost and I felt really bad
that I wasn’t sticking up for others but
at some point I broke I just changed
something changed little did I know that
it would be right in the middle of math
class I know we were going over a
homework in a group around 4 or 5 and in
that group there were two best friends
always making jokes always laughing one
of them gets something wrong and the
other one says as a joke oh my gosh
you’re so autistic I didn’t know it at
the time but every time I was lying low
staying silent it was eating away little
by little at my coils but I just knew in
that moment
deep down I couldn’t afford to lose
anymore I had to speak up I had to say
something but I couldn’t risk being
humiliated not again I have no idea what
to do I broke out into a cold sweat I
was short breath my heart was racing and
I made a quick instinctual decision and
I and I overcame what was possibly the
longest moment of my entire life but I
took a deep breath and all I could say
was stop you’re not funny you’re making
a stereotype and you’re saying that
autistic people are stupid and can’t
learn it’s wrong it’s degrading and you
have to cut it out
to which she replied calm down it was
just a joke see that was my limit that
was when I knew what I had to stand up
for and it wasn’t my popularity
it wasn’t my social status it was what I
knew was right to end a
I said you know it’s not funny that 60%
of people with disabilities will have
been bullied that 84 percent will be
unemployed that 83 percent will be
sexually assaulted in their lifetime and
there are two times more likely to live
in poverty and 19% less likely to
graduate I don’t find that very funny I
don’t find that a joke of course he
laughed he made fun of this cause and
unfortunately like many others he’s
still using degrading language to this
day but the best part about those
moments was that I was not angry or
annoyed or frustrated I was rejuvenated
because I realized what I had to stand
up for I realized in those moments that
we can’t just wait and watch
life fix itself we have to change
society and we have to end ableism in
order to fight this human rights fight
we have to fight it together the only
way that we can end ableism you know in
our modern day world is with it is by
making a change and the only way that we
can make a change is with an open mind
and open heart and an open door to
inclusion thank you very much
you
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