The Beginning

After I graduated from high school, I headed off to study journalism at college. My career goal was to become a restaurant critic. It seemed a logical choice: I love to write, and I love to eat!

In my elementary and high school years, I had experienced some challenges in gaining access to events and places and being included in activities. But during my college years, I was much more exposed to the bigger world. I became increasingly aware that society is not as accessible to or inclusive of people who have a disability as I had been led to believe. Although there had been great advances for equality, stereotypes and discrimination still existed to a far greater extent than I had imagined.

Accessibility was also proving to be a challenge as I became more independent. An unfortunate trip down a set of stairs in my wheelchair one day convinced me that we needed better solutions.

At the same time, research that I was conducting for various journalism class assignments at college revealed that people who have a disability are not always portrayed positively in the media. My world seemed very unsettled. I needed to take action to bring about some positive change.

One of my professors suggested that I do a research paper on disability and media, and give a class presentation. In my presentation, I integrated research findings, practical examples, my own life experiences and a touch of humour to get my message across.

The response to the presentation was very positive. There seemed to be a great deal of interest in building accessible and inclusive communities. And so one presentation led to another, which led to another.

At the conclusion of one of my presentations, a fellow student approached me to thank me for sharing my thoughts. “Hey man,” he said. “You rock!” He shared with me some of the things he was going to do differently in response to my message to promote an accessible and inclusive community. I was so impressed with his ideas, I said, “Together, we rock!”

It was clear I was no longer going to become a restaurant critic...