Should I hide?

Saturday was a re-uniting of American Association of People with Disabilities interns to take of tour of the FDR Memorial. It was great seeing everyone again, and catching up on how those in the program were doing. Even more exciting was the work related stories that showed the professional journey we have all embarked. The FDR Memorial definitely seemed like an appropriate place for us to tour. After all, the most powerful person in the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had a very visible disability. I felt it would be an inspiring tour because FDR signifies that despite an individual’s difference in looks, specifically disability, they can be whatever they want in life. That is until I heard more of FDR’s story.

At the age of 39 former President Roosevelt contracted polio, where his main symptom was he lost the use of his legs. During his presidency most people did not know he was unable to walk, and that’s how he preferred it. It seems being his true self would undermine his strong political reputation and power. Thus he attempted to be known as something outside of a person with a disability. What type of lesson does that show us as AAPD interns? Should we hide instead of having pride?

Now my aim is not to disrespect a former President of the United States. There are a number of things that I admire about FDR term in office, however, when it comes to self identity it was saddening to see he couldn’t serve as a role model in that area. I don’t want to be a person to hide and ignores a fundamental description about me. My disability serves as a large part of my identity and serves as a connector between myself and a widespread community. Should we hide instead of having pride? Never!

Week 5

For the past week, my job at Homeland Security has been working on to create that calculator program. Unfortunately, I have been struggling to make the KeyListeners (Java programming language) work to receive input from the keyboard for the calculator program for the last week. I haven’t started working on to add the accessibility features for the calculator yet. However, I have enjoyed it anyway because it is more of a challenge and it is something new for me to learn more regarding the KeyListeners. Today will be my staff meeting and I will report my problem to all of my co-workers and to see if they can help me out a little bit about that.

Last Wednesday, I went to a deaf networking lunch with Maya and Dylan in Chinatown. We all met a lot of deaf federal employees; most of them are from the IRS. I met one from Coast Guard and two from Secret Service. It is so awesome for me to see so many deaf employees working for the Federal Government. One woman from Secret Service said that I should work there after graduation! I’m so looking forward for another luncheon for deaf employees who work under Homeland Security.

On Saturday, I went to the FDR tour, and it has been a wonderful experience for me. Before the tour, I was struggling to understand why FDR would hide his disability from America while he was a President of the United States for 4 terms (almost 16 years!). After the tour with the blind man being the guide, I finally understood that FDR would not show his disability because during these times, America would view disabled people as not suitable, like running in the office. The design of FDR Memorial was beautiful and it is right by the river facing Washington Monument.

For the upcoming week, I am so excited for the 4^th of July as well because it would be my first time being in the capital of the United States. It will be so packed, but it will be so much fun!

John L. Wodatch, Disability Rights Pioneer

The highlight of my week was attending John Wodatch’s retirement party at the Department of Justice. Although I didn’t get to meet Mr. Wodatch, it was incredible to hear about his life and legacy. Some people get excited about meeting famous actors and actresses; I get excited to meet legends of the civil rights movement. Meeting lawyers who litigated some of the biggest civil rights cases in the country is my equivalent of talking to Brad Pitt.

John Wodatch was the Chief of the Disability Rights Section. The Disability Rights Section is part of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. In the disability rights movement, John Wodatch was instrumental in the passage of the ADA and its implementation. He was also the chief author of the DOJ’s ADA and Rehabilitation Act regulations. As a budding attorney, it was also really cool to know that he was integrally involved in some of the most famous desegregation cases.

A quote from John L. Wodatch that I found in the Washington Post: “The true measure of our success in enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act and the source of personal satisfaction of a career in public service comes from the steady progress that we make each day for persons with disabilities in this country, whether achieving results for one person or systemic change."

I think that this is so true. Laws should create systemic change; the vision of the ADA will only be realized when the barriers that divide people with disabilities disintegrate.

Week 5

On Saturday morning, the AAPD internship program arranged a tour of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Memorial on the National Mall. Jim Dickson of AAPD was our guide. Not only did he present a wonderful description of the layout of the memorial site, but he also incorporated some important aspects of disability history.

I learned from Jim that the original planners of the site had no intention of including any references or symbols of FDR’s disability. The planners lack of cooperation with the disability community led to some important actions. Members of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) organized protest actions at a house office building. In the end, the planners of the memorial site acquiesced to the advocates’ demands. However, I found it extremely interesting that the memorial planners still refused to use funds to construct a symbol of the President to be a role model for future generations.

I came away from the experience with two important thoughts. First, while FDR was in office, he felt pressured, for whatever reason, to hide any sign of his disability from the public. Therefore, it is troubling that people would continue to perpetuate the notion that disability is something that should still be unseen. Second, I have tried to educate myself over the years about disability history, but was never aware of this particular action by disability rights advocates. It is wrong that so many of us grow up without ever being exposed to our history. It is important to know what our rights are and why we have them.

A New Week of Aventures

The completion of more projects this past week has caused my bosses to find out exactly what I am capable of and they are giving me harder projects and those that are of more significance which has me thrilled and ever-dedicated to see those new projects through to the end. It was good to hear feedback of my performance thus far at a performance review meeting earlier in the week. They said many positive things about me, which has me really buckling down and thinking about working harder the next 6 weeks to keep them impressed, or even better, become more impressed with my contribution to the Commission of Mental and Physical Disability Law over this summer. I am getting to know my fellow interns in the office a bit better, learning about where they come from and probing them about their experience in law school and the preparation for it since I am planning to go to law school when I am done with my Bachelor’s. I am also starting to grow more and more comfortable with my bosses and starting to think more like them as I go through every little step/stage in my projects and imitate what questions or what comments they would make and tweak it myself before presenting the final product. I have found this to be effective in streamlining the amount of time it takes from the start of a project to the completion of it. On the work front, everything seems to be clicking on all cylinders as I type this blog. I eagerly look forward to another week of work, and strangely, I am starting to get a sad feeling thinking about how I will leave after only 10 weeks. I feel like that amount of time is too short and does not do justice to us interns, and that perhaps, I would love to stay another 2 weeks or so this summer and continue to make contributions. Maybe I am crazy for thinking the last 4 weeks of my summer is better spent here working in D.C. than going home and taking a short “breather” before my school year starts all over again. Stay tuned as I decide what I am going to do about this feeling.

-Colton Jannusch

FDR Tour

Each week I have spent here in Washington has had its share of challenges, but also has had more than its share of experiences that put the challenges in perspective and make them worthwhile. One such experience was the FDR Memorial tour led by Jim Dickson this past Saturday morning. We had a rather large group, consisting of the AAPD Summer Interns, AAPD staff, and a fair amount of family members of interns. What made the morning special was not the nearly perfect weather. It was not just being surrounded by new friends that share a common bond. It was not simply the fact that our tour guide was hugely responsible (more than once that day did I hear the term “legit” used to describe Jim) for ensuring that the content of the memorial depicted the struggles and triumphs of FDR, but that it also reminds us all of the work that remains.

It was amazing to hear the story of a president who hid his disability because of the stigma attached- and have it told by someone who fought to have the memorial to that president depicted in a way that shows not only how great FDR was, but the lengths to which he went to keep his disability a secret from the world. Some of us get to hide our non-visible disabilities. Others do not. What remains to be seen is whether, now that this country has elected an African American president, how long before we elect a woman? And how long before we elect a person with an open and obvious disability? Jim fought to have the statue of FDR in a wheelchair included in the memorial. We need to fight so that the next great president with a disability is there because that person is accepted regard of their disability, rather, because of their ability.

Rick Sommer

5th week

This week, I spent time learning/studying about the new Student Pathway’s program, which is run through U.S. Office on Personnel Management. This program is going to assist students and recent grads with the opportunity to gain experience in the federal government through the internship process, President Obama signed an Executive Order entitled “Recruiting and Hiring Students and Recent Graduates.” This Executive Order establishes three excepted-service program programs tailored to recruit, hire, develop, and retain students and recent graduates. The three programs are the Internship Program, a Recent Graduates Program, and a reinvigorated PMF Program. OPM has drafted regulations which will be published in Federal Register and will begin taking public comments which will help influence and shape the end product. Additionally, this week I was able to tour the FDR Memorial, which seems influential invigorating the advocates for people with disabilities. FDR, the only president elected for more than two terms is by far one of my favorite historical figures to learn about thus seeing this landmark is a must do for anyone in the DC area. Finally, I was also about the see the Giant Pandas at the Washington Zoo; though after having walk all over the city that day I didn’t walk the either zoo. I’ll have to save that for another day. - Jason S