To the Editor:
Max Starkloff and President Laurence Biondi, S.J., will be speaking about disability rights and social justice issues in a combined Disability Awareness Week and OneWorld meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 7:00-8:15 p.m., in the Busch Student Center Multi-purpose Room 172. Starkloff is a disability-rights activist and the founder of Paraquad and The Starkloff Disability Institute.
The Saint Louis University Student Occupational Therapy Association (SLU SOTA) is putting on SLU’s first annual Disability Awareness Week in hopes of raising awareness among the general student population about disability rights issues. The planned events for SLU’s Disability Awareness Week will commence on Feb. 6 at Starkloff and Biondi’s speech, and will end on Friday, Feb. 9. Starkloff and his wife, Colleen, will return to SLU the following evening, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m., to facilitate a seminar about disability awareness. Please see the following page for a schedule of all events taking place during Disability Awareness Week.
With improvements in medical technology, as well as the aging of the baby boomers, the population of those with disabilities will continue to increase. People with disabilities in the United States experience severe discrimination, which is demonstrated by a lack of access in transportation, as well as the fact that, according to the 2004 N.O.D./Harris Survey, only 35 percent of people with disabilities were employed full or part time, compared to 78 percent of their able-bodied peers. The same study also found that “three times as many people with disabilities live in poverty, with annual household incomes below $15,000.” To complicate matters further, the global status of people with disabilities poses even more alarming statistics. As a whole, people with disabilities are the poorest of the poor. According to the United Nations, the World Bank estimates that 20 percent of the world’s poorest are those with disabilities and, in their communities, they are often considered the most disadvantaged.
Disability-rights activists such as Max and Colleen Starkloff have fought hard to improve the lives of those with disabilities. Some of the gains of the disability-rights movement are improved transportation and access into buildings for people with disabilities. In addition, the Starkloff’s have been life-long advocates of “independent living,” the idea that people with disabilities can live and participate fully in mainstream society. Starkloff is quoted by Harry Levins of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, saying, “‘The obvious role of the disabled is that of the victim. It would be preferable if we stayed at home, out of sight.’ His retort to society is: ‘I refuse to become a victim.'” SLU SOTA hopes that having Biondi and Starkloff speak will expose students to issues pertaining to the rights of those with disabilities and inspire them to do their part, to make a difference.
Disability Awareness Week
Tuesday: OneWorld/Disability Awareness Kickoff Meeting – Max Starkloff & Lawrence Biondi, S.J.
Wednesday: Max and Colleen Starkloff will be giving a Disability Awareness seminar/presentation in Rooms B and C of the BSC at 7 p.m.
Thursday: Murderball, a movie about wheelchair rugby, will be shown in Tegler Hall at 7 p.m.
Friday: Adaptive equipment and technology will be brought to the BSC lobby in order to raise awareness about disabilities. There will be a coin collection the proceeds of which will be donated to The Starkloff Disability Institute.
If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with anyone mentioned above, please call Teddie Bullock at (479) 970-7005 or e-mail Teddie at [email protected].
Teddie Bullock
Senior, Doisy College of Health Sciences
