Oracle Online

She read from an essay she’d written some years ago about living life in a wheelchair. Kleinman read confidently from her paper, “Those who spend their days in a wheelchair...are no different than the next person. They have hopes and wants and needs just as anyone else would. Being as I am unable to walk, the last thing I need is someone pitying me for my misfortune which only reminds me that I am in fact different.”

Kleinman’s objective was evident as she concluded her paper by saying, “Just because someone is in a wheelchair, it does not mean that they deserve special treatment.”
It was clear that Kleinman felt as normal as any other person at Hamline and insisted on being treated as such. The boisterous applause from her listeners echoed her thesis.

Sophomore Emily Moreland subsequently took the floor and gave a personal interpretation of growing up with a complex reading disability. It was clear from her speech that she was as intelligent as anyone in company, but she identified the fact that she needed to work extra hard to excel in her studies. “What might take one student two days to read may take me six,” Emily said.

During her speech, she made it evident that people with both apparent and invisible disabilities welcome discussion and questions about their various dispositions. She said that an open discussion was much more comfortable and appreciated than “polite silence.”

Associate Director of Residential Life Javier Gutierrez spoke next; he asserted that he was “temporarily able bodied,” but recognized how swiftly he could become personalized with a disability of some sort. Gutierrez stressed the notions of not only tolerance but also appreciation and recognition.

He said that it was impossible for a “temporarily able bodied” person to realize what life would be like without the ability to walk or the difficulties that would be imposed with any learning disability.
After the speakers had presented, Arnold stood up again to close the meeting. She articulated Access Now’s larger goals at Hamline.

“We are here not just to push for physical additions and accommodation for campus, we are [also] here for education and advocacy,” she said. Students and staff that participate in Access Now are working hard to ensure that their voices are heard and their basic needs are met. With growing support across campus, those goals seem more and more attainable.