[Music]
[Logo: Ampers, with tagline: Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities.]
[Photo: Lisa Kidder]
Lisa Kidder: You can change barriers in physical environments, say for instance, by putting in a wheelchair ramp or putting Braille signage up, but it isn’t as easy to change people’s attitudes.
[Logo: Ampers, with taglines: Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities, and Keep Moving Forward.]
Host: This is Keep Moving Forward.
[Photo: President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Photo courtesy of the George Bush Presidential Library.]
George H.W. Bush: Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.
[Logos: ADA 25: Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990-2015, and Disability Rights Are Civil Rights. Logos courtesy of the ADA National Network, www.adata.org.]
Host: Exploring the legacy and promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
[Photos: Lisa Kidder]
Lisa Kidder: My name is Lisa Kidder. I’m a political science major at the University of Minnesota. And I’m totally blind. I think of myself as just a person who can’t see. It isn’t how I define myself.
We live in a society where it seems like almost everything is based on looks. I’ve experienced situations where people will say: you have an excellent resume, an excellent cover letter, but the problem is you’re blind. So, you might be one of the best-qualified applicants who has the most experience, but you go from being a qualified applicant to just: blind. And they don’t look past that.
And it shouldn’t matter if someone has a disability, as long as you’re effective.
[Logos: the Minnesota Council on Disability, the Minnesota Humanities Center, the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, and the Ampers radio station.]
Host: Keep Moving Forward is supported by the Minnesota Council on Disability, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, online at Ampers.org.