Photo Courtesy of Tara Winstead / Pexels
By Alfonso Julian Camacho
A Perspective
I am considered to be disabled.
I am far from alone.
Nearly 199 million of America’s 335 million people are similar to me. We share a need for self-care support and an inability to live independently.
Some folks seem to think we are not worth the bother. Our once and future president is one of them. Fred Trump III, Donald Trump’s nephew, said that the president-elect told him people like me “should just die.”
Trump savagely mocked a disabled New York Times reporter in 2016 and has viciously trashed disabled people ever since. A president leads by, and Trump is teaching us to dislike and dismiss people with disabilities. I am so insignificant to him he feels free to openly mock people like me.
“Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said during a Wisconsin rally as he inveighed against immigrants. “Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country.”
Trump implicitly told his 73.5 million supporters that mentally impaired individuals are stupid and dangerous. I am a non-speaking autistic individual and I rely on technology or my assistant to communicate. I do some things differently, but I would like to think that I am neither stupid nor dangerous.
People like Trump have made my life excruciatingly hard. The rest of us have choices: Do we follow his example? Do we ignore it? Or do we fight it? What would happen if the 69.2 million Americans who did not vote for Trump modeled kind and non-ableist behavior? That would be a seed of progress.
Most of us want to be kind and embrace all humans, but maybe we don’t know how. For generations nondisabled kids have been admonished by parents “don’t stare,” “look away” and “don’t ask” when our childhood curiosity gazes upon a disabled person. We are taught to fear, avoid and ignore people with disabilities.
When folks do interact with disabled people, they often resort to baby language, tapping heads and calling disabled people “buddy” regardless of their age.
The other side of the coin is not any prettier. Disabled individuals like me are trained to become invisible. No one scolds a nervous person who clicks a pen, taps their feet or twirls their hair.
Neurodivergent self-regulating behavior, however, is given the side eye and hit with snide whispering. We are trained not to flap our hands, to hold in our squeals and avoid movements that instinctually soothe our nervous systems.
We are expected to tolerate disrespectful behavior from others, including patronizing language and dismissal. We are trained not to disturb our neurotypical neighbors. We must, at all costs, appear nondisabled to be worthy, even if it means erasing ourselves.
No society is complete without all of its members, yet America is a nation by and for the neuro-similar. Take a look around. When do we see signs related to people with disabilities? Mainly in parking lots, ramped and other legally mandated areas.
Southwestern is not a truly inclusive campus if the “inclusion” is hidden away on private corners of the campus. Embracing people like me has got to be more than colorful flags and pins brought for one month every year. Information about people with disabilities should jump off pages and scream joyously from our walls, website and social media. Our campus should be festooned with posters teaching us to “Say hello,” “Use a normal voice,” “Presume competence,” “Please ask before pushing someone’s wheelchair” and “Some disabilities are invisible.” A campus that expresses support for neurodivergent people is a great first step. The next is to teach and invite our invisible community to join yours. I think you may like us.
Our college is in a particularly powerful position to shape the hearts and minds of our community. We are squandering that power. It is time to think differently.
Southwestern has pockets of deep support for students like me. Melinda Lara, Director of Disability Support Services, said our campus was home to 1,636 disabled students during the 2022-23 academic year who requested accommodations. DSS students may ask for a Student Education Plan that grants extra time to complete in-class assignments and tests, larger fonts, computers that take dictation and other accommodations. Disabled students registered with DSS may also receive priority enrollment.
Southwestern’s Learning Center also provides support for neurodivergent students. Elizabeth Kozel leads the college Tutorial Center which employs 142 full-time and part-time tutors.
“We have tutors hired specifically under Disability Support Services, EOPS and Veterans Services,” she said. “If you are (part of) any of those special populations and you’re meeting with one of those tutors, you can actually get double time (for tests).”
Accommodations help level the playing field academically for disabled students, but that is just the bare minimum. Disabled students find it exceedingly difficult to join clubs and engage in integrating activities. We appreciate what is mandated, but we are looking for so much more. We want to be included.
We must create a world that goes beyond the legal minimum. I am a young man forced to use women’s bathrooms because my assistant is female. I get super nasty looks if I don’t make my disability evident. I would so appreciate a gender-neutral bathroom option that would allow everyone to be comfortable.
I am one of the lucky ones. I have found a haven of equality, friendship and peer respect at Southwestern College. My professor sees me and values me for who I am. Imagine if all students felt that.
If we can dream it, we can do it.
