2005-12-04 - 9:07 a.m.
Today marks five years of me having MS. The diary entry from my four-year anniversary, about how motivated I was by Laura Rothenberg, seems to be pretty popular (reading about her life should be pretty popular). I thought today I�d put up something else I previously wrote about another hero of mine, someone I learned so much from at a time when I really needed guidance. Sarah was a teacher in BC168-9, the class where I was invited to talk about sex last month.
I wrote this after the semester over winter break as a nomination essay for her to be a �roll model� (see, that�s a �clever� pun). A group of women in the fashion industry with spinal cord injuries created Discovery through Design, an organization �dedicated to celebrating the style and success of women roll models�. They held a contest to find awesome women with disabilities and suggested candidates not be nominated by themselves. This was my essay proposing Sarah. Sarah herself didn�t end up entering the contest, being kind of busy with her forthcoming baby and all (since born and being cute), but here it is:
Sarah was my teacher last year in a class at Brown University � �Pathology to Power: Disability, Health & Community�. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years ago. Over the summer of 2004, my physical capacity decreased considerably and I found myself feeling that this meant my capacity for living had also become limited. I enrolled in the course with the somewhat fatalistic idea that, if I�m going to have a disability, I might as well learn about them. Sarah created the class as an overview of how the roles of health and disease in the lives of people with disabilities are viewed by society through perspectives of historical analysis, biomedical discourse, and cultural critique.
It was unquestionably the hardest class I�ve ever taken and the one in which I learned the most. Not just the class experience, but meeting Sarah changed my outlook entirely. First of all, she is simply an amazing teacher. She was able to put a roomful of students at ease enough for us to discuss without fear topics that would otherwise have made us extremely nervous. Disability and sex, substance abuse, and physical abuse are not issues easily brought into the open. Even openly talking about the stigma and discomfort that can distance people with disabilities in the minds of others can itself bring on jitters. Sarah reassured us all.
As a personal example, Sarah�s ability and drive to do more than most people I�ve ever encountered motivates me tremendously. My own limited experience with mobility equipment makes me further appreciate the strength Sarah uses in her everyday life to navigate her wheelchair. But she goes far beyond this. A competitive swimmer in college, she continues her athletic interests as an extraordinary handcyclist, sailor, skier, and swimmer, with an absolute unwillingness to say �I can�t�. She always finds a way, making a cross-country cycle trip several years ago to raise funds for rehabilitation programs and to promote the positive face of disability.
As with all aspects of her life, Sarah shares the strength she finds in athletics by showing other people with disabilities how to draw similar power. After finding inspiration from participating in a sports program at Shake-A-Leg, a non-profit rehabilitation center, she went on to become the center�s program director, coordinating therapy programs and developing new ones, writing grant proposals, hiring staff, and heading the marketing and fundraising efforts. She still volunteers there and also teaches adaptive skiing techniques.
Sarah further amazes me through everyday achievements that perhaps I should not find astounding. She is married to a man she met well after her injury. She is expecting a child and will doubtless be an incredible mom. She carries grace and style through daily life. All of these are things I would have found quite unremarkable in someone without a disability. But I don�t think it�s patronizing to admire her �ordinary� achievements because I had absorbed the all-too-common belief that such parts of life were out of reach for those with a disability (like me) and Sarah showed this to be entirely wrong.
It may sound like an exaggeration to say that Sarah changed my life for the better. But both through what I learned in her class and from her personal case, my thinking has shifted completely. My disability is far from a dead end; life goes on. If others can�t see beyond our disabilities to people�s far-from-piteous lives, it�s their loss. If Sarah has the courage to flourish and shine as she does, I should be able to do so as well. Sarah has undeniably been a role model for me. It is my hope that she will be a �roll model� for everyone.
� 2005 Geoff Gladstone
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