Running head: BLACK_MULTICULTURAL INTERVIEW 1

Multicultural Interview
Ciara Black
Wright State University
EDL 661









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One of the students that chose to interview as part of my blog was my fellow Student Affairs in
Higher Education (SAHE) co-hort member Dan Perry. Dan is someone whom I have gotten
close to in the few months that we have been in our program and felt that he would make me feel
comfortable with asking questions about living with disabilities.

Dan shared with me that he was born with Cerebral Palsy which he described as a neurological
disease where the communication between the brain and parts of the body are affected.
PubMedHealth defines Cerebral Palsy as "a group of disorders that can involve brain and
nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking". Dan
confirmed that with Cerebral Palsy, people can experience speech impediments as well as hand
and leg deformities. He shared that he has had Cerebral Palsy since birth. When asked about his
childhood, Dan shared that he was able to walk and run as well as participate in high school
sports. However as he experienced puberty, his abilities began to change. He did experience
some bullying like behaviors from crosswalk monitors in elementary school.

Prior to coming to Wright State, Dan did not have a plan for which college he would attend and
was told about WSU from family friends. Upon touring the campus, he shared that he felt like it
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would be a place that he could be happy and succeed. During his college years, he competed in
swimming and attended the Para-Olympics in 2000. This is something that we have in common,
as I swam competitively in high school and still enjoy the sport. When asked about his life as
student, Dan said that he did not include other people with physical disabilities in his social
network and described his time as an undergraduate as typical.

I asked if Dan used services from the Office of Disability Services (ODS) and he replied that he
did have a continuation of the services he received in high school but that he chose to only
receive services from ODS for one year. He mentioned that his impression of the services from
ODS were more academically based and that they could not assist him in the social aspects of
student life, such as making friends and participating in student organizations. He said that for
him Campus Recreation was the avenue he used to get involved on campus.

Currently, Dan is a full time staff member here at the university in Event Services. I asked him
about his experiences as a full-time employee with physical disabilities. He replied that he does
not feel as if he is treated differently or ignored in his position. He said that overall his working
experience has been positive but that if he does get spoken to negatively, that it is typically
because people assume that he is not intelligent enough to complete the task which is not
necessarily related to his physical disability. He also talked about an experience he had at an
employment fair where he described an employer being surprised that he was as articulate as he
was and that this employer had assumed that because of his physical disability, he would be
unable to effectively communicate. Dan shared that this is a common stereotype of people with
disabilities. Another question posed to Dan was what he wanted the general public to know about
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people with physical disabilities? He said that people should know that one disabled person does
not speak for the entire population of people with disabilities. I found this statement very similar
to what I experience as an African-American woman when I am asked to give the "African
American perspective or opinion" on a topic. He also stated that there are assumptions made that
people in wheelchairs are paralyzed. There is also assumptions made that people with physical
disabilities are in need of help when this couldn't be further from the truth. Dan stated that at
least in his experience he does not need or want help from others. This notion is related to the
myths and stereotypes that I read in the literature I received from the Abilities Expo. Also the
ability privilege discussed in class about "elicited feelings of pity" and Dan confirmed that
people with physical disabilities do not want pity.

With regard to WSU, Dan shared that he wants other people with disabilities to realize that the
outside world does not look like Wright State University and that this is a shelter environment.
He added that students will continued to be challenged after they leave campus. Dan put it
simply, he said that people with physical disabilities have different ways of doing things and that
they have to make adjustments but it does NOT make them anymore different than an able-
bodied person.

Throughout the course of this quarter myself and my classmates were charged with learning
information about an undergraduate student experience that was different from our own and
taking that learning to broaden our understanding of student development. I chose students with
physical disabilities. Disability has entered my life by way of my mother. She suffered an
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ischemic stroke in 2005 and now has limited mobility. She depends on her power wheelchair to
move from place to place. She also has limited speech and must be asked to repeat what she says
several times for her to be understood. When my mother was first regaining her functioning, it
was challenging for me to imagine her living the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair. It was
so challenging because she had lived the majority of her life without disabilities. When I decided
to learn about undergraduate students with disabilities, I thought about my mother's experience
and how it compares/contrasts those of students.

Literature about students with disabilities varied in theme however the information that these
articles provided was helpful in contributing to my understanding of this student population. My
student interviews did reveal certain stigmas or myths about students with physical disabilities. I
wish I would have had more time to read additional articles however, balancing readings for
class and readings for this project was difficult. The concept of universal design that was
discussed during the OCPA conference was another aspect of the project that I wish I could had
spent more time on. The universal design idea is modeled to create a welcoming and inclusive
atmosphere for people with physical disabilities, not for people with physical disabilities to prove
their membership or worthiness in the world of able-bodied persons. It is "the exclusive we
instead of the inclusive we" that is still seen in our overall society but specifically on college
campuses for marginalized groups like students with physical disabilities.

By attending several events geared to students with physical disabilities this quarter, I was able
to see how the university, surrounding community and other partners work in collaboration to
enhance the experiences with students with physical disabilities on campus. Both the Abilities
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Expo and EmployAbility Fair were well attended. I especially enjoyed the Abilities Expo
because it educated participants on the various types of disabilities and allowed these participants
to experience those disabilities themselves through different stations. It is difficult to understand
a day in the life of someone without walking in their shoes. This was the purpose in part behind
the Abilities Expo and from what I observed, students walked away able to better understand the
lives of students with physical disabilities who they see across campus and may have in their
classes or student organizations. As for the EmployAbility Fair, I found that there are many
businesses, non-profits and government offices that were sensitive to the unique needs and
opportunities that students with physical disabilities provide to the workforce.

My student interviews were the most meaningful for me during the course of this project. It was
not just about learning about physical disabilities but actual making a connection with someone
whom you ordinarily would not and getting a glimpse into their lives. Every person experiences
obstacles in their life but you never know how different someone's life has been until you begin a
conversation. Those students with whom I spoke reinforced the idea that everyone has challenges
but it is how you decide to meet those challenges which differentiates one life experience from
another.

Overall, this project has positively influenced my impressions and deepened my knowledge of
this particular student population. I found that students with physical disabilities do not want to
be treated differently but equally and given the same life opportunities. The students with
physical disabilities that I talked to were not halted by thoughts that they couldn't do but
motivated to prove that they could do whatever they chose to do. Wright State University does a
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great job of creating an inclusive environment for students with physical disabilities and creating
a culture of opportunity and ability. The journey of the voice project invoked thoughts of how I
can be more sensitive and knowledgeable about the needs of students with physical disabilities as
an emerging student affairs professional.