Resources, Resources, My Kingdom for Resources

I am currently teaching a summer course at The University of Iowa on veterans with disabilities and their portrayal in film and literature. Because I grew up blind in the late 50’s and 60’s and because I attended college and graduate school in the years before the ADA, I have a fair understanding of what its like to feel like the only person with a disability in the room. I also remember the pain of having to be a self-advocate for the right to be in that room. Being a pwd is no picnic and let’s face it: coming home with a disability in mid-life is enormously difficult even after the ADA.

My own university has failed to install accessible restrooms in important academic buildings that it has frequently renovated since the ADA went into effect. The fight for access isn’t over by any means. If you’re a veteran with a disability who uses a wheelchair you will find the University of Iowa’s student union and its English-Philosophy Building–two major facilities on this campus–to be entirely inaccessible if you want to go to the bathroom. Not long ago I received a patronizing note from an administrator who told me that in the case of the student union there was an accessible restroom on the second floor of the building. But of course this isn’t true. People with motorized wheelchairs can’t get into the room.

I remain a blogger in large part because I believe in the power of the internet as a resource delivery system. I have received the following resource announcement and wish to pass it along. As the wounded service men and women of the U.S. transition back to civilian life they need all the resources they can get. They also need accessible facilities at the nation’s colleges and universities. 

National Resource Directory
The National Resource Directory (NRD) is an online resource for wounded, ill and injured Service Members, Veterans, their families and those who support them. The NRD provides information on, and access to, medical and non–medical services and resources across the country which will help them reach their personal and professional goals as they successfully transition from recovery to community living. The NRD is an online partnership of the Department of Defense, Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as numerous Veteran service and benefit organizations; non–profit community–based and faith–based organizations; academic institutions, professional associations and philanthropic organizations.

S.K.

Author: stevekuusisto

Poet, Essayist, Blogger, Journalist, Memoirist, Disability Rights Advocate, Public Speaker, Professor, Syracuse University View all posts by stevekuusisto