With each passing moment, the stroke of the pen constricts civil protections.
Professionals turn circles, trying to escape the gavel of tyranny. Things look bleak in the world of academia, to put it lightly. Honestly, the whole world. The field of social work is ripe for growth, now more than ever, with all that is happening in the world today. Let’s use it to fuel the fire of advocacy and change.
In my final semester of the social work program, I have my sights set on tackling a tough challenge. Personal care assistant programs are few and far between. Individuals trained for these programs provide non-medical assistance to those in need, especially those with disabilities, by assisting with mobility, resources and other daily tasks. There are only two formal PCA programs at a major university in the United States. That is little surprise considering the barriers between life with a disability and college access.
Growing up with a disability, you can get bombarded by specialists, which may seem comforting at first, especially for bewildered parents. The very existence of such specialists, however, implies by their nature that there is something to “fix” with each and every one of us.
To the powers that be, we are just markings with red pen in their ledger, and the sum doesn’t add up to what they see as the proper amount. All of society sees us as different. That we belong somewhere else, somewhere miles away.
The entirety of our society is designed to support the dollar. It is the idol that the corporate zealots pray to. They say “money talks” after all. It is the master to those to whom I want to speak directly.
Deans, board members, department heads, presidents, commissioners, provosts, my jaw hurts from all the jargon. Call yourself what you may, you are the only connection we, the students, have to those who control the system. Why should the burden of change fall to the least capable?
We have no funding because we are forced to fight over insignificant scraps, funding left over from other programs. Football programs rake in billions for universities, and they pump all that money back into their golden calf, after all, profits are sacred.
Consider this: everyone will become disabled at some point in their life.
So, whether it happens to you tomorrow in a car crash and you need to go back to college for a career change; or maybe when you’re 95 and want some help learning a new subject, you could benefit from a PCA program too. Stop hiding behind funding and liability, they are manufactured barriers, we have enough real ones to get over as is!
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about a quote by Jay Timothy Dolmage from his book “Academic Ablism: Disability and Higher Education.” He writes, “A disability is not something that students can proudly claim and live within.”
Help me make inclusion a pillar of this institution, and help me to make everybody feel welcome on campus. The doors are open.
Let’s flip Dolmage’s words and make Ferris a place where someone with a disability can proudly proclaim and live.