Chapter Transcript
Chapter 6: Accomplishments and Inspirations
13:50:39:10 - 13:52:47:15
Q. Larry, what do you feel when you look back over your life and your work and your advocacy, what do you feel your greatest accomplishment has been?
A. Uhm… I think the greatest accomplishment was well they always use to have….every year they have a staffing report for people with disabilities and they use to…they always use to say a…tell a person's name…and I…and when they described the person…they say an individual with a disability, but at that time they used the work "MR" so, I…went in and wrote a letter to the head of…the "MR" meets department, to Mark Chernoff. And said that I felt it was time to make some changes because it can really hurt people's feelings who have disabilities, and still have to go through…uhm…being called "MR" when they can be called individuals, as we all are.
13:52:51:10 - 13:53:33:10
Q. What do feel that you would still like to accomplish through your work that maybe you haven't accomplished yet?
A. Uhm… I hope to accomplish as much as I can… to help in the rights…help people with disabilities…have their…day in the sun, so that uhm…their future will be brighter and happier.
13:53:38:20 - 13:54:16:25
Q. What do you hope to accomplish for yourself personally, is there something that you would like to accomplish in your own life that you have yet to do?
A. Even though I'm already a better person I think I can be a little more, but uhm…I've come a long way since I was born, and I'm sure everybody…all others like me are trying to do the same…but let them know that they're not alone.
13:54:20:05 - 13:54:57:00
Q. Who or what inspires you in your work particularly in your self-advocacy work?
A. A lot of people inspire me a…in the work that I do in advocacy, Kay, for one…I'm thankful that the organization has someone with great knowledge and wisdom that she has, and she does a great job.
13:55:00:10 - 13:55:39:05
Q. Are there any other inspirations in your life?
A. I think a…my biggest influence is Kristin Ahrens from Temple University…for getting the movement started…for people with disabilities…and I'm really proud of her accomplishments.
13:55:42:15 - 13:56:51:00
Q. What do you think people without disabilities know about people with disabilities?
A. Yes, in fact they should…I believe they should mainstream.
Q. What does that mean?
A. I mean take…instead of…I mean, why have just people with disabilities living amongst themselves in a group home when they could have people without disabilities. Let's say a…let's say you get a girlfriend and…you want to move the person in…that should be a right because it's in all the Partnership material…that everybody has the right to choose…who they want to live with.
13:56:58:10 - 13:57:18:10
Q. So, people with…people who don't have disabilities should, if I understand what you're saying correctly, people without disabilities should know that people with disabilities should have the same rights as they?
A. Yes.
13:57:18:25 - 13:57:35:00
Q. Is there anything else they should know? What should they know about people with disabilities as people?
A. That we all are the same…we're all equal…and should be treated that way.
13:57:38:10 - 13:58:52:05
Q. Thank you. Larry, those are all of the questions I had for you today, but I was wondering if there is anything that you would like to add?
A. Let's see, what I could add would be uhm… The future can be how you want it. Like my mom use to say before she passed, that my future is… hasn't been written yet…and that I'm the one who has to write it…not the outside world…not…not organizations, but it has to come from me…that the work for everybody…with disabilities…and those without disabilities…because we are just as equal…as anybody else.
More Interview Chapters
- Early Life
- School and Friendships
- Work and Life in Community
- Self-Advocacy and Advocating for Others
- SAU1, Board Memberships
- YOU ARE HERE: Accomplishments and Inspirations
About Larry Kubey
Born: 1959
Actor, Self-Advocate
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Keywords
Board membership, Community, Disability Rights Network, Equality, The Partnership, 'R' word, SAU1, Self-advocacy, Speaking For Ourselves, Workshops
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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