[ Music ]
Anita: Hi guys.
Group: Hey!
Anita: How's it going?
Group: Good!
Anita: Hi, my name's Anita.
I'm a college student and a full-time wheelchair-user
and today I'm at the UW campus interviewing people with disabilities.
[ Music ]
Anita: Carl, what is it like to be a wheelchair user?
Carl: I don't really see it as much different than walking,
although I have to make sure things are accessible
before going to them
and some people on the street might look at me like I'm different,
but I don't see myself as different.
Katelyn: I have Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy.
Anita: And how does that affect you in your day to day life?
Katelyn: I just can't walk far as a "normal" person can
or I can't lift up heavy things
or I can't talk as "normal".
Eric: I have Stargardt's Disease, which is macular degeneration,
which affects my central vision.
So I have a blind spot in the middle of my vision,
so I use the outside of my eyes to see.
Anita: Calleese, what is it like to have a learning disability?
Calleese: I mean, it's not really "like" anything.
I know I struggle a lot in school,
and I can get extra help on things.
But it's more of-I don't really tell people about it,
and so when I do, they're just like, "but you seem so normal!"
And I'm like, "well, what is 'normal?'"
in their sense.
Because I like to believe that no one is normal.
Everyone is, like, special in their own way.
Anita: Carl, what are some assumptions that people
may make about you?
Carl: Some people may think that because I'm in a wheelchair,
I have a mental disability as well as a physical disability.
But that's not true.
Anita: When you tell people about your disability,
what are some common reactions you get,
or faces and looks you get
as you're interacting in your day-to-day life?
Katelyn: They don't really ask.
They usually try to avoid me in some ways, and give a weird look,
like "oh, she's weird" or "she's not normal".
Anita: What are some common reactions
you get from people when you tell them about your disability?
Eric: I get, "oh, you're so brave, you're so inspirational" a lot.
Just because I can't see as well as other people,
they think that me doing things on my own,
walking across the street by myself,
they think that's inspirational,
whereas if anyone else were to do it,
it would just be a normal everyday occurrence.
Calleese: I just have a challenge and I don't...
it's just something I have to face every day
which isn't bad for me actually because I can work my way around it,
and it made me the person I am today.
Anita: How does this disability affect your interactions
in day-to-day life?
Eric: I don't think, personally-for me,
it doesn't make my interactions toward other people different,
because I treat everyone the same as if I had normal vision
and I try to be as approachable and normal as possible.
I'm pretty open about my disability because I think if people know,
then they're more likely to understand
why I do things the way I do.
Narrator: The students featured in this video
are participants in the DO-IT Scholars program,
where youth with disabilities prepare for college and careers.
For more information, consult the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology
website at www.uw.edu/doit
Copyright 2016 University of Washington.
Permission is granted to copy these materials
for educational, non-commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged.