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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

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you Marcie. Hi there, I'm Marcie Roth, and

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I have been workign in disability rights

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for my whole adult life, since I was a

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freshman in high school. I am currently

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the executive director and CEO of the

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World Institute on Disability and I have

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been working over the years and services

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for people living in residential programs

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early in my career with people in with

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children in school settings, people in

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vocational rehabilitation, and then people

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in community living environments, then

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along the way, I became very involved in

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disability rights and very involved in

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the early days of advocacy before

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the ADA was introduced. And then I worked

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for disability advocacy organizations

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almost ever since. In addition to my own

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disability, I'm also the parent of two now

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adults with disabilities. My husband also

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has a disability and much of my family

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also happen to be people with disabilities

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so disability rights is just part of

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everything I am and most everything I do.

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I did spend from 2001 and onward focusing

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very much on what happens to people

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with disabilities before, during, and

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after disasters. And that's been a real

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particular laser focus of mine ever since

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and in fact, I've had the opportunity

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as an appointee in the Obama

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administration to spend just about 8 years

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at FEMA, establishing FEMA's Office of

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Disability Integration Coordination and

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building a cadre of disability experts of

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the same pond, supporting governors and

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emergency managers and most particularly

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engaging people with disabilities and

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disability organizations in emergency

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preparedness and throughout disaster

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response recovery and mitigation. So one

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last piece since I've been with the World

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Institute on Disability since last

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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

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opportunity to been actively involved in

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and I have spent the time since joining

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WID building a strategic planning process

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and supporting the organization to

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establish new priorities, taking a look at

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the organization's mission, and very

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recently establishing for particular areas

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of focus for the organization as we move

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forward. Thank you Marcie. Excellent, okay

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I apologize that my neighbor is chipping a

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lot of brush today, so it's making a lot

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of extra sound whenever I unmute, but

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don't worry, it won't interfere with your

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recording. Okay, so the first question is

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about the past. So tell of your first

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memory realizing that there were

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accessibility issues, discrimination, or

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lack of inclusion. What is your personal

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story or connection with the American with

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Disabilities Act? What do you remember

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about the day that it was signed, if

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applicable? And what was the impact on

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you and on others? Remember to tap

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something so that the camera shifts to you

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before you start.

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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

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and I were just wonderful friends. We

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spent a lot of time together, and then all

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of a sudden, one day Gregory was gone

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and I didn't know what happened to him or

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where he went and it wasn't until many

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years later that I found out that Gregory

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had Down Syndrome, and he had been removed

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from my kindergarten class and first

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grade I think it was at that point. And

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apparently he had been sent to some other

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school, somewhere. And the loss of his

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friendship was pretty surprising and

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I didn't understand you know where he went

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Looking back on it, it was kind of

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peculiar that we didn't just get to still

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be friends 'cause he didn't move away, he

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just stopped going to my school. But I

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remember just being confused and then just

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over the next number of years, I lived in

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a town that was also the home of Save the

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Children, and I was always very interested

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in the work that Save the Children was

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doing and I am embarrassed to admit that

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my earliest involvement in humanitarian

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work was from a very charity-model

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approach, and I spent a lot of my

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childhood raising money for Save the

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Children and getting involved in other

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activities that were very much following

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the charity-pity model and certainly not a

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model that uh making space for and lifting

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up other people with disabilities. The

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onset of my disability wasn't until many

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years later, but when I was in high school

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I had the, I had a requirement to do