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From: Helene, Joe, Adam, Kristal, Cindy, Cobert, Eddie, Marc.
Apprentice Artist Advisory Committee VSA Arts NM.
Date: 21 Jun 2000
Time: 17:24:15
Remote Name: dialup455.nmia.com
(Group agreed again that there is a culture of disability.) Especially for those people who are more disabled in a way that impacts their lives, Not those for whom it is just a minor inconvenience. People with disabilities all have different belief systems but there are lots of similar feelings in this area. (Most people did not like or agree with the idea of separatism.)
We are like the civil rights marches of the 60's. Struggling for a place and for acceptance. We need an identity. Society needs to look at us again.
(Will this movement get more militant, more angry, more confrontational?) Yes, it already has, it's time. (Group member left suddenly due to the early arrival of transportation.) See? You can't run to your own schedule, you have to fit in with other people.
(Is there a difference between the culture and experience of those with physical disabilities and those with developmental disabilities?) Yes!! (Whole group agreed.) People are more unfamiliar with people that have developmental disabilities. I have a lot going through my brain but sometimes I don't know how to write it all down. If you cannot speak then they see you as 'slow' or 'stupid'. There are two separate cultures, physical and developmental disability. Some disabilities are 'acceptable' like blindness, deafness and wheelchairs. You don't see people hit themselves on TV. You don't see people with developmental disabilities on TV. If you don't speak in words then people don't listen. (Group members who are non-verbal nodded sharply at this statement, one member signed that that this happened all the time. That people thought she was stupid because she didn't speak, they just got louder.
(How can we make change and help people see us more realistically?) Through our art, through our poetry. Look at our skills. We should write an article for the paper.