Chapter Transcript
Chapter 5: High School Experience, College
19:46:21:05 - 19:47:25:20
Lisa: Sami, by the time you and Jackie went to high school. More kids were being included in regular classrooms because there was just more of a presence of kids in school because because they're being diverted from institutions, due to the closures of institutions like Pennhurst. There were certainly better education laws. So in high school as the environment better for kids with disabilities?
Sami: Definitely, because kids are kind of getting older, a little more mature. I mean you still have those immature d-bags that are going to say things but there are a lot of people that wanted to like work with people with disabilities. Like I know Katie helped out in the special needs class and like they were always, I saw like a lot more people going in there and talking about it and you know just being more friendly, being more open and understanding of people with disabilities.
19:47:25:25 - 19:47:37:20
Lisa: And how did that change your experience of school?
Sami: I mean it got a little better. I was still kind of internalizing a lot of things but it did get better.
19:47:48:15 - 19:48:36:00
Lisa: What was your experience of college like?
Sami: I loved it. I mean I went to community college first so that kind of sucked because I was with the same people I had just graduated with, so it was kind of like I don't want to see you anymore. I just saw you like least year but it was nice to start off at community college because I got to understand how college works and then coming to Temple it just like it was totally different. I mean my first couple of years I kind of hated it because I wasn't happy in the program I was in but now that I'm in recreational therapy I'm just... I feel like I am who I was trying to be for so long, so that's nice.
19:48:37:10 - 19:49:53:10
Lisa: You were here at Temple first before Jackie enrolled in the Institute on Disabilities' Academy for Adult learning. Did you worry that you would lose some of that individuality when she was here on campus?
Sami: No, not really because I never really saw her. I mean I would have to bring her in in the mornings which didn't really bother me because as soon as we got here she like got out of the car and left. Like she didn't even want to be associated with me, so she was off doing her own thing so that was nice and I mean, I was a little worried because when I was in the education program, I was scheduled to graduate the same year as Jackie was from the Institute so that kind of annoyed me because it was like, I felt like mine was like bigger than hers but I knew hers were be bigger than mine just because she has Down syndrome and I don't. But I mean both are important but I just felt like hers would have been more important than me but it didn't work out that way anyways, so I didn't have to worry about it.
19:49:54:15 - 19:51:03:00
Lisa: So when you start new relationships, when do you tell people about Jackie, or do you tell people about Jackie?
Sami: It depends. Sometimes like I don't come out and I'm like hey I'm Samantha and I have a sister with Down syndrome but with the people that I meet in the program I usually talk about it because I talk about Special Olympics a lot because it's a really good way to volunteer and to get some experience with people with disabilities and it's a lot of fun and you'll get multiple boyfriends after Monday which is awesome. But with guys, I don't really tell them because I feel like they'll get scared unless they have a sibling with a disability or a relative with a disability and they tell me first or they say the "R word". Then I'm like, " yo, you're cute and I have a sister with a disability, so don't say that word".
19:51:03:10 - 19:51:51:00
Lisa: Have you ever ended a relationship because of the way someone treated your sister?
Sami: No, because everyone's always been nice to her. Sometimes I feel like some people patronize her which kind of irritates me. But no, I never - like, I usually cut them off if they continuously say the "R" word and I've told them multiple times not to say it because that just, I mean obviously you don't respect me or my wishes so that's usually how it ends.
More Interview Chapters
- Background
- Sami's Studies in Special Education
- Sami's Childhood
- Family Involvement in Disability Organizations, Middle School Experiences
- YOU ARE HERE: High School Experience, College
- Ongoing Support for Jackie, Personal Ambitions
About Jackie and Sami Csaniz
Born: Jackie: 1986. Sami: 1987.
Jackie: Grocery Store Courtesy Clerk, Elementary School Volunteer. Sami: Student.
Chester, PA
Keywords
Down syndrome, Family, Friends and Friendships, "R" word, School, Siblings, Special Olympics
The Disability and Change Symposium is available as a free online learning module.
Combating Implicit Bias: Employment
About this year's theme
Employment statistics for persons with disabilities continue to be disappointing, ~19% compared to ~66% of peers without disabilities. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). We ask ourselves, "is there something beyond overt discrimination and access that perhaps we need to address? Are there silent barriers such as those created by implicit bias?"
Most of us believe that we are fair and equitable, and evaluate others based on objective facts. However, all of us, even the most egalitarian, have implicit biases – triggered automatically, in about a tenth of a second, without our conscious awareness or intention, and cause us to have attitudes about and preferences for people based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and religion. These implicit biases often do not reflect or align with our conscious, declared beliefs.(American Bar Association, Commission on Disability Rights, "Implicit Bias Guide," 2019)
This year's theme challenges us to each ask ourselves "What implicit bias(es) do we have and encounter, and how do we recognize them and move beyond them to create opportunities, welcome, and full participation for all?"
As always, this Symposium privileges first-person voices and experiences.
About the Disability and Change Symposium
The stated goal of the annual Symposium is "to create conversation that transcends any one-dimensional depiction of people with disabilities, and foregrounds the multidimensional lives of our speakers - as writers, educators, performers, and advocates."
The Disability and Change Symposium is a one-day, interdisciplinary conference focusing on cultural equity and disability. The event is free, accessible and open to the public.
Acknowledgments
Organized by the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, the Symposium is an outcome of collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Faculty Council on Disability whose mission is "to foster collaboration across Temple University on disability-related projects including research, teaching, programming, publication, and grant-seeking. By connecting with one another, Council members help build community among the growing number of people at Temple whose work engages with disability."
Core funding for the Disability and Change Symposium is through a grant from the Center for the Humanities at Temple University (CHAT)
We extend our appreciation to Disability Resources and Services for providing Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) and American Sign Language services for the day.
The Institute on Disabilities, Temple University College of Education is pleased to recognize some of our 2020 Symposium Partners/Sponsors from Temple University:
- Center for Bioethics, Urban Health, and Policy (CBHUP), Lewis Katz School of Medicine
- Center for Humanities at Temple (CHAT), College of Liberal Arts
- Dean of Libraries
- Dean of Students
- Delta Alpha Pi International Honor Society
- Disability Resources and Services (DRS), Student Affairs
- Division of Student Affairs
- Faculty Senate Committee on Disability Concerns
- First Year Writing
- Intellectual Heritage
- Interdisciplinary Faculty Council on Disabilities
- Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership (IDEAL)
- School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management
This year we also want to recognize the contributions of students (Associate Professor Deb Blair, STHM 2114 - Leisure & Tourism in a Diverse Society), who contributed to shaping and supporting this symposium:
- Madeline Culbert, School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management; Bachelor of Science: Tourism and Hospitality Management (est. 08/2021)
- Jair Guardia, School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, Bachelor of Science: Tourism and Hospitality Management. (est. 08/2021)
- Hallie Ingrim, School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management Bachelor of Science: Tourism and Hospitality Management
- Thomas Leonard, School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management Bachelor of Science: Tourism and Hospitality Management (est. 08/2021)
- Bryan McCurdy, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Bachelor of Science: Tourism and Hospitality Management (est. 05/2022)
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