9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You'll see in the corner the record button

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So you should see that it's recording now,

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and I'm going to mute myself now, and

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you'll go ahead and do your intro. Thank

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you Marcie. Hi there, I'm Marcie Roth, and

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I have been workign in disability rights

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for my whole adult life, since I was a

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freshman in high school. I am currently

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the executive director and CEO of the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
World Institute on Disability and I have

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been working over the years and services

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for people living in residential programs

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
early in my career with people in with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
children in school settings, people in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
vocational rehabilitation, and then people

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in community living environments, then

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
along the way, I became very involved in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
disability rights and very involved in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the early days of advocacy before

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the ADA was introduced. And then I worked

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for disability advocacy organizations

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
almost ever since. In addition to my own

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
disability, I'm also the parent of two now

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
adults with disabilities. My husband also

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
has a disability and much of my family

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
also happen to be people with disabilities

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so disability rights is just part of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
everything I am and most everything I do.

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I did spend from 2001 and onward focusing

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
very much on what happens to people

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with disabilities before, during, and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
after disasters. And that's been a real

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
particular laser focus of mine ever since

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and in fact, I've had the opportunity

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as an appointee in the Obama

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
administration to spend just about 8 years

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
at FEMA, establishing FEMA's Office of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Disability Integration Coordination and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
building a cadre of disability experts of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the same pond, supporting governors and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
emergency managers and most particularly

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
engaging people with disabilities and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
disability organizations in emergency

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preparedness and throughout disaster

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
response recovery and mitigation. So one

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last piece since I've been with the World

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Institute on Disability since last

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
September, my ongoing focus on global

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disability rights has really been

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something that I've had much more

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
opportunity to been actively involved in

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and I have spent the time since joining

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
WID building a strategic planning process

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and supporting the organization to

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
establish new priorities, taking a look at

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the organization's mission, and very

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
recently establishing for particular areas

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of focus for the organization as we move

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
forward. Thank you Marcie. Excellent, okay

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I apologize that my neighbor is chipping a

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lot of brush today, so it's making a lot

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of extra sound whenever I unmute, but

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
don't worry, it won't interfere with your

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
recording. Okay, so the first question is

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about the past. So tell of your first

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
memory realizing that there were

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
accessibility issues, discrimination, or

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lack of inclusion. What is your personal

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
story or connection with the American with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Disabilities Act? What do you remember

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about the day that it was signed, if

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
applicable? And what was the impact on

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you and on others? Remember to tap

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
something so that the camera shifts to you

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
before you start.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I first became aware of disability at a

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very young age. I had a best friend in

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first grade. His name was Gregory, and he

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I were just wonderful friends. We

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
spent a lot of time together, and then all

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of a sudden, one day Gregory was gone

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and I didn't know what happened to him or

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where he went and it wasn't until many

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
years later that I found out that Gregory

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
had Down Syndrome, and he had been removed

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from my kindergarten class and first

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
grade I think it was at that point. And

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
apparently he had been sent to some other

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
school, somewhere. And the loss of his

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
friendship was pretty surprising and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I didn't understand you know where he went

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Looking back on it, it was kind of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
peculiar that we didn't just get to still

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
be friends 'cause he didn't move away, he

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
just stopped going to my school. But I

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
remember just being confused and then just

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
over the next number of years, I lived in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a town that was also the home of Save the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Children, and I was always very interested

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the work that Save the Children was

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
doing and I am embarrassed to admit that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
my earliest involvement in humanitarian

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
work was from a very charity-model

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
approach, and I spent a lot of my

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
childhood raising money for Save the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Children and getting involved in other

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
activities that were very much following

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the charity-pity model and certainly not a

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
model that uh making space for and lifting

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
up other people with disabilities. The

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
onset of my disability wasn't until many

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
years later, but when I was in high school

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I had the, I had a requirement to do