Former college president talks about disabled
Social acceptance, understanding and equality for the deaf community and the disabled were the theme of a speech given Wednesday by I. King Jordan, the retired deaf president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
“I have to give hearing people speaking lessons. They say disability, ‘DISability.’ It should be ‘disABILITY.’ The emphasis should be on ‘ability’,” Jordan said.
Jordan, a deaf community spokesman, gave a speech at Nightingale Hall to help promote the Disability Awareness Month at the University of Nevada, Reno.
In order for everyone to enjoy the speaker, Nightingale Hall was set up with two American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. Captions of everything said were projected onto a backdrop, including the applause and laughter of the audience.
Jordan urged people to understand the need for equal accessibility for the disabled community.
“A law cannot guarantee what a culture cannot give,” Jordan said.
An example Jordan gave was a story when, after a snowstorm, a high school janitor was clearing the steps of the school. A girl in a wheelchair came up to the door and saw that the access ramp was still covered in snow.
“She asked why the janitor hadn’t cleared the ramp, and the janitor replied ‘I don’t have the time to do both’,” Jordan said. “So the girl said, ‘Why don’t you clear the ramp so everybody can get into the school.’”
Jordan also shared a story of his own. He said his rights, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, were violated during a trip to a ski lodge in Vermont 10 years ago. When asked, the lodge staff refused to get a closed-caption adaptor for the in-room TVs.
“They said ‘It’s not a law in Vermont’,” he said.
After becoming the president, Jordan saw changes toward social acceptance of a deaf faculty at Gallaudet University.
“On the board of regents, three of the 21 people were deaf and needed interpreters to explain what was going on,” Jordan said. “Now a large group of the board is deaf, and the interpreters are there to help out the hearing.”
He advocated the acceptance to the idea of universal design, where a building, facilities and equipment are made accessible to all people.
Accessibility ramps are used by those in wheelchairs, as well as people using skates, skateboards, bikes and hand trucks. Closed-captioning allows hearing people to watch TV in public places like health clubs and casinos, Jordan said.
After the speech, the audience discussed their reactions to Jordan.
“I was so excited a well-known deaf culture celebrity was coming,” said Whitney Higgins, a third-level American Sign Language student at UNR.
“He was a great speaker who really believed in (what he said),” said Kristine Schwind, also an ASL student.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 5:50 pm
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