Renaissance woman a warrior for the disabled

Angela Van Ostran rolls over the toes of adversity and races over the speed bumps of life in her wheelchair like Ben-Hur in a chariot, Vin Diesel in a hot rod or Bruce Springsteen on Thunder Road.

No retreat, baby, no surrender.

A 2012 SDSU graduate, Southwestern College Student of Distinction and disability rights warrior, Van Ostran is hard of hearing and has Cerebral Palsy, but is an athlete, musician, award-winning writer, crusader, mentor and mother. Sometimes all in the same day.
Cerebral Palsy can emerege during infancy or early childhood. It permanently affects control of motor skills, often requiring those affected to rely on wheelchairs. Van Ostran said her mother, Debbie Zukas, tried hard to support her.

“I was the only one with a disability in my family,” she said. “Getting around without a car or wheelchair held me back from all that I wanted to do.”

Van Ostran struggled with her changing body until a transformative moment at Greg Rogers Elementary.

“Someone suggested to my mother that I start going to this school, that it would be a good fit,” said Van Ostran. “It had all these awesome things to do and people like me.”

Her first brush with adversity came when she decided to volunteer for the school’s safety patrol.

The school district and police department questioned Van Ostran’s ability to keep other kids safe.

“I was told it was never been done before, which just spurred me on even more,” she said.
“No” was not an acceptable answer. She was soon the first disabled crossing guard at Greg Rogers Elementary, the first of many barriers broken.

Transfer to Montgomery Junior High School was a jolt.

“It was a culture shock,” she said. “I went from Greg Rogers and being surrounded by all these people like me to being the only disabled student in the entire school.”

As walking grew more difficult, swimming brought equality.

“I felt weightless and free in the pool,” she said. “Once I was in, I just took off.”

She was a natural in the water and became an eight-time regional champion and a member of the United States Disabled Swim Team. She also earned a spot on the U.S. Paralympics swim team, but declined.

“I’d just had a baby, so my priorities, and time, had just shifted,” she said.

Motherhood is wonderful, Van Ostran said. Her relationship with her 17-year-old son, River, is special.

“He grew up using my wheel chair as a walker,” she said. “Sometimes he had to make his own drinks and sometimes tie his own shoes. We couldn’t always explore parts of the park because they weren’t accessible.”

River got a life-long lesson about the disabled.

“I didn’t sugar coat things with him,” said Van Ostran.

She said their bond has become an important part to Van Ostran’s advocacy of disabilities today.

SDSU instructor Mendy McClure witnessed Van Ostran’s communication skills when she dazzled a room of students during a talk on the possibilities of people with disabilities having children.
Van Ostran’s wizardry extends to music. She was a pianist and violinist with orchestra-level talent who had an uncanny ability to play by what she heard.

“I couldn’t read sheet music (as a child), but I could listen and play by ear from the radio,” she said. “I found out there was an orchestra class (in junior high), so I dropped the home economics class I was taking.”

Van Ostran won several state and national journalism awards at The Sun, including national column writing awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. She served as Viewpoints Editor and Managing Editor. SWC honored her in 2010 with its highest honor, the Student of Distinction Award.

Van Ostran earned a bachelor’s in psychology from San Diego State University, but not before shaking up the status quo. As the SDSU American Sign Language Club President and Vice President of SDSU’s President’s Advisory Committee on Disability as Diversity, Van Ostran’s soft voice was heard loud and clear. She also lead the foundation of the revolutionary SDSU Student Ability Network, an academic fraternity for disabled students.

Van Ostran is a member of the Disability Rights California Board of Directors.

“We deal with legislation for disability rights and spread awareness in the community,” she said.

Word choices are important Van Ostran said, especially when applied to the disabled community. Disabled citizens should not be labeled as having “special needs,” she said.

“They are just different needs, needs that make us equal,” she said.

She does not have a problem with the word “gimp,” however.

“We live in a culture that wishes to take back words with negative connotations, but I feel it is important to embrace them,” she said.

Van Ostran, like most of us, admits to enjoying a day off.

“My perfect day would be me in my pajamas, no work, watching movies I haven’t seen with captions (and) drinking Kool Aid,” she said.
Van Ostran has not seen many films recently. Too busy fighting, advocating and speaking out. Maybe someday there will be a film about her.