00:00:00:08 - 00:00:01:02 All right. 00:00:01:02 - 00:00:03:05 Let's do this. 00:00:04:07 - 00:00:09:06 I've begun my first class of every semester 00:00:10:02 - 00:00:14:06 for the past 18 years by telling a roomful of students 00:00:14:06 - 00:00:18:09 a somewhat awkward story about myself, which I will now 00:00:18:09 - 00:00:20:12 share with you for illustration purposes. 00:00:22:10 - 00:00:24:00 The image on the current slide 00:00:24:00 - 00:00:28:16 shows a young female presenting professor who is not me 00:00:29:02 - 00:00:32:16 lecturing to a socially distanced lecture hall 00:00:34:15 - 00:00:35:18 On day one, 00:00:35:18 - 00:00:39:09 after I make sure students are in the right place, 00:00:40:04 - 00:00:44:01 I tell them that I cannot recognize people 00:00:44:05 - 00:00:46:10 by face. 00:00:47:03 - 00:00:49:12 I cannot recognize people by face. 00:00:52:04 - 00:00:53:03 It's true. 00:00:53:03 - 00:00:55:06 I can't tell who's who by looking at them. 00:00:55:17 - 00:00:58:12 And I mean anyone, including my wife, 00:00:59:02 - 00:01:01:06 my close friends, including myself. 00:01:01:15 - 00:01:04:09 I have a bonus awkward story I could tell you 00:01:04:09 - 00:01:07:14 all if we do have time at the end, involving 00:01:08:16 - 00:01:11:02 a meeting at a certain corporate headquarters 00:01:11:02 - 00:01:15:00 where I was a chaplain, and where there is a large mirror 00:01:15:08 - 00:01:18:16 in a place where I was not expecting a mirror. 00:01:19:17 - 00:01:23:00 But anyway, I tell my students that I have this disability 00:01:23:10 - 00:01:26:08 that I cannot recognize people by face. 00:01:27:10 - 00:01:29:10 It is called prosopagnosia. 00:01:29:10 - 00:01:30:18 That word is not important. 00:01:30:18 - 00:01:36:01 It involves a small part of the parietal lobe called the fusiform gyrus. 00:01:36:15 - 00:01:39:02 And that little part of the brain has one job: 00:01:39:18 - 00:01:42:04 to recognize human faces. 00:01:42:04 - 00:01:44:07 And mine is broken completely. 00:01:46:00 - 00:01:47:18 And I tell students this because I need them 00:01:47:18 - 00:01:52:00 to tell me who they are every time they approach me. 00:01:52:09 - 00:01:56:10 So that's how I begin every class of every semester, 00:01:56:18 - 00:02:00:07 by disclosing the nature of one of my disabilities. 00:02:04:14 - 00:02:07:02 When I was working 00:02:07:02 - 00:02:09:18 as what they call a corporate float chaplain, 00:02:10:06 - 00:02:15:07 I used to do the new employee orientation at the various senior living communities. 00:02:16:01 - 00:02:21:02 And I kind of had to include the same personal disclosure there as well. 00:02:22:05 - 00:02:23:11 You know, so I'd say 00:02:23:11 - 00:02:28:04 if you could just say something like, "Hey, Erika, it's Marcus." or whatever 00:02:28:04 - 00:02:32:01 your name is, every time you approach me, that'll help me out. 00:02:32:13 - 00:02:33:18 And thank you. 00:02:34:18 - 00:02:37:18 And I'd ask them to please do this 00:02:37:18 - 00:02:41:01 every time they approach me because... 00:02:41:17 - 00:02:44:02 Can you imagine, 00:02:44:05 - 00:02:49:02 you know, we have this deep, meaningful conversation one day, you and I, 00:02:49:02 - 00:02:51:01 heart to heart, face to face. 00:02:51:01 - 00:02:55:05 And then let's say you see me after work, maybe an hour later 00:02:56:09 - 00:02:59:05 at the grocery store. 00:03:00:16 - 00:03:02:04 Look... 00:03:02:04 - 00:03:05:12 I'm going to walk right by you like I don't know you 00:03:06:14 - 00:03:09:02 because I cannot tell who's who. 00:03:10:13 - 00:03:13:09 But can you imagine that? 00:03:13:12 - 00:03:16:10 If we had had this intimate, meaningful 00:03:17:05 - 00:03:19:10 conversation, then 00:03:20:14 - 00:03:24:18 like, an hour later, I just walk right by you, like I don't even know you? 00:03:27:09 - 00:03:29:11 To avoid that? 00:03:29:12 - 00:03:32:12 If everyone could just tell me who they are every time you see me, 00:03:33:04 - 00:03:34:09 that would be amazing. 00:03:34:09 - 00:03:36:08 And I thank you 00:03:37:00 - 00:03:38:06 So, whatever. 00:03:38:06 - 00:03:41:04 That's pretty much how I have met 00:03:41:16 - 00:03:44:09 everyone in my life, 00:03:44:09 - 00:03:46:12 because one little part of my brain doesn't 00:03:46:12 - 00:03:48:16 do its one job, OK? 00:03:51:00 - 00:03:54:00 And I've always kind of 00:03:54:18 - 00:03:57:17 had this dream that I wished 00:03:58:02 - 00:04:02:12 that everyone could just somehow be, like, labeled with who they are, 00:04:03:10 - 00:04:05:12 so that I could just know 00:04:05:16 - 00:04:09:07 who they are by looking at them. 00:04:09:07 - 00:04:11:09 It's like a dream. 00:04:12:04 - 00:04:13:13 Now, check this out. 00:04:18:12 - 00:04:20:09 I've got a lot of disabilities. 00:04:20:09 - 00:04:24:12 I chose this one so that I could make a specific 00:04:24:12 - 00:04:28:13 and central point, which I will reveal on the next slide. 00:04:29:06 - 00:04:31:00 And I'm going to pave the way for it right now. 00:04:33:11 - 00:04:36:11 From March 2020 through today 00:04:38:10 - 00:04:39:17 all my professional work 00:04:39:17 - 00:04:43:00 has been conducted through video conferencing. 00:04:43:00 - 00:04:44:07 I'm very fortunate for this. 00:04:44:07 - 00:04:46:03 I'm very grateful. 00:04:46:15 - 00:04:50:06 But you know, I wished 00:04:50:11 - 00:04:53:11 everybody would just be labeled with their names 00:04:54:04 - 00:04:56:13 so I could know who's who just 00:04:56:13 - 00:04:58:14 by looking at them? 00:05:01:08 - 00:05:04:05 Well, if you've ever been in a Zoom meeting before 00:05:04:05 - 00:05:08:14 and if you are sight privileged enough to see the screen clearly, you know 00:05:10:03 - 00:05:12:15 that below everyone's face, 00:05:12:15 - 00:05:15:06 which tells me nothing, 00:05:15:12 - 00:05:18:02 is their name, which tells me who they are. 00:05:19:18 - 00:05:23:02 The image on the current slide shows 00:05:24:05 - 00:05:26:10 someone standing in front of a desk 00:05:26:10 - 00:05:29:01 and a computer monitor displaying a five by five 00:05:30:05 - 00:05:32:15 grid of people in a gallery view 00:05:33:08 - 00:05:36:11 video conference call showing faces and names. 00:05:39:15 - 00:05:42:10 So for more than two years, 00:05:42:18 - 00:05:46:02 I have not had to even disclose 00:05:46:06 - 00:05:49:07 this particular issue to anyone. 00:05:51:00 - 00:05:53:12 I have needed no accommodations for it. 00:05:54:10 - 00:05:58:03 I literally started a new job last year with a small research 00:05:58:03 - 00:06:01:07 team of folks I'd never met before, 00:06:02:16 - 00:06:04:09 and I realized that 00:06:04:09 - 00:06:07:03 with all of us working fully remote... 00:06:08:11 - 00:06:09:04 You know what? 00:06:09:04 - 00:06:11:00 I can be a little less awkward 00:06:11:00 - 00:06:14:11 with my introduction because for the first time in my life, 00:06:14:18 - 00:06:19:01 I didn't have to ask for accommodations pertaining to that aspect of my life. 00:06:20:11 - 00:06:23:01 And so for the time being, 00:06:23:09 - 00:06:26:14 I now always know who everybody is 00:06:26:14 - 00:06:30:00 in all of my professional interactions just by looking at them. 00:06:31:02 - 00:06:35:15 And please hear this because it's the reason I shared this opening story. 00:06:35:16 - 00:06:37:04 Here is the punch line. 00:06:37:04 - 00:06:38:06 Are you ready? 00:06:43:07 - 00:06:45:17 For the past two years and counting, 00:06:45:17 - 00:06:49:14 I have not been disabled by my brain impairment, 00:06:50:03 - 00:06:53:14 even though my brain has not changed a bit. 00:06:58:16 - 00:07:02:01 Please take a moment to appreciate that... 00:07:04:07 - 00:07:08:04 because it's probably a paradigm shift for 00:07:09:11 - 00:07:10:18 many of you. 00:07:12:04 - 00:07:14:00 Like I said, I have a lot of disabilities. 00:07:14:00 - 00:07:16:06 But if this were my only one? 00:07:16:08 - 00:07:19:01 I went from having to disclose it to everyone 00:07:19:09 - 00:07:22:17 and seeking accommodations everywhere, 00:07:22:17 - 00:07:25:07 to not having to mention it ever again. 00:07:26:04 - 00:07:28:14 So I went from being disabled 00:07:28:14 - 00:07:31:05 to being not disabled, 00:07:31:05 - 00:07:33:06 and I didn't change a bit. 00:07:34:17 - 00:07:38:01 Amazing, right? 00:07:40:04 - 00:07:42:10 So now we've got a few terms 00:07:42:10 - 00:07:43:07 to link up. 00:07:43:07 - 00:07:46:09 What does it even mean to be disabled? 00:07:49:02 - 00:07:51:05 Disability is a result 00:07:51:05 - 00:07:53:18 of a person's interaction with the social world. 00:07:55:05 - 00:07:59:16 Disability is a result of a person's interaction with the social world. 00:08:00:09 - 00:08:02:11 I didn't make that up. 00:08:02:13 - 00:08:04:13 It grew out of the 00:08:04:13 - 00:08:07:15 Black Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in the US. 00:08:07:15 - 00:08:08:09 And it's 00:08:09:13 - 00:08:13:14 really important because how you frame 00:08:14:12 - 00:08:17:11 what disability is 00:08:17:11 - 00:08:20:18 will kind of determine how or whether 00:08:20:18 - 00:08:24:10 your assessments work, 00:08:24:13 - 00:08:27:18 and what you might identify as goals, 00:08:28:07 - 00:08:31:04 and how you might plan to address them. 00:08:35:06 - 00:08:36:05 Disability results 00:08:36:05 - 00:08:39:10 from a person's interaction with the social world. 00:08:40:18 - 00:08:44:08 This is also how the United Nations defines disability 00:08:44:08 - 00:08:49:07 in terms of measuring the health of populations and nations. 00:08:50:10 - 00:08:54:17 And so me not being able to know who somebody is by looking at them? 00:08:55:10 - 00:08:58:04 That is disability. 00:09:01:11 - 00:09:03:07 And I assume you're wondering 00:09:03:07 - 00:09:06:03 what's the word for the fact that 00:09:07:12 - 00:09:09:16 a little part of my parietal lobe 00:09:10:03 - 00:09:13:03 doesn't do its one job, right? 00:09:13:18 - 00:09:15:16 That's impairment. 00:09:15:18 - 00:09:18:16 Impairment is a specific 00:09:18:16 - 00:09:22:15 illness, injury, or functional limitation of one's body or mind. 00:09:22:18 - 00:09:25:18 00:09:25:18 - 00:09:28:15 People can have all kinds of impairments, but the disability 00:09:29:02 - 00:09:32:05 results from their interaction, impairments and all, 00:09:33:05 - 00:09:35:08 with the social world. 00:09:37:01 - 00:09:38:10 A very common expression 00:09:38:10 - 00:09:42:04 used to make this distinction is to say 00:09:42:04 - 00:09:46:05 that in a world full of ramps, someone who uses 00:09:46:05 - 00:09:48:14 a wheelchair is not disabled. 00:09:50:06 - 00:09:52:15 As a teacher, I like to add that 00:09:52:15 - 00:09:56:08 in an educational setting, you know, students get individual 00:09:56:09 - 00:09:59:10 accommodations and plans, and if the setting 00:10:00:06 - 00:10:02:15 had universal access, 00:10:02:15 - 00:10:05:01 nobody would need any individual plans. 00:10:05:01 - 00:10:08:13 We'd just be making things universally accessible, 00:10:09:13 - 00:10:13:02 which we already know improves the quality of education for everybody 00:10:13:02 - 00:10:15:06 anyway, including non-disabled students. 00:10:18:00 - 00:10:21:07 So this is the social model of disability. 00:10:21:08 - 00:10:22:08 Welcome. 00:10:22:18 - 00:10:24:12 Impairments are not the problem. 00:10:24:12 - 00:10:27:11 Impairments are just describing, 00:10:27:11 - 00:10:30:04 you know, the reality that people need 00:10:30:04 - 00:10:33:06 things, different things, in order to 00:10:33:06 - 00:10:35:18 access and participate in systems. 00:10:37:14 - 00:10:40:03 Disability is what we can try to address, 00:10:40:13 - 00:10:43:15 and we do that by removing barriers and increasing access. 00:10:46:15 - 00:10:49:08 And I really want to get you thinking about 00:10:49:08 - 00:10:52:13 how the social model of disability applies 00:10:52:13 - 00:10:55:09 to you and your current setting. 00:10:55:16 - 00:10:59:00 So how about if you think of 00:10:59:00 - 00:11:03:03 someone specific, if you can, a particular disabled person. 00:11:03:03 - 00:11:04:04 If you are disabled, 00:11:04:04 - 00:11:08:02 you can do this thinking of yourself in the context of your workplace. 00:11:08:02 - 00:11:10:18 This is a reflective exercise 00:11:12:17 - 00:11:14:14 given our 00:11:15:05 - 00:11:17:09 socialization 00:11:17:16 - 00:11:20:05 in a medicalized, 00:11:20:16 - 00:11:24:11 modern US context 00:11:24:11 - 00:11:25:12 that, 00:11:26:07 - 00:11:27:05 you know, 00:11:27:17 - 00:11:29:14 abundantly 00:11:30:03 - 00:11:32:07 privileges certain 00:11:34:01 - 00:11:37:18 kinds of bodyminds or people who seem 00:11:39:03 - 00:11:41:14 quote-unquote "normal". 00:11:41:14 - 00:11:43:16 Most of us are 00:11:44:06 - 00:11:47:06 probably more familiar with 00:11:47:06 - 00:11:49:09 pointing to someone's impairments 00:11:50:11 - 00:11:53:10 and considering those things to be the problem, 00:11:55:05 - 00:11:58:03 when really the problem is the lack of access 00:11:58:07 - 00:12:02:00 which disables people. 00:12:02:00 - 00:12:03:09 The current slide asks: 00:12:03:09 - 00:12:07:15 How can you apply the social model of disability in your present setting? 00:12:09:04 - 00:12:11:16 And the short answer is that you prioritize access. 00:12:12:06 - 00:12:15:08 Stop seeing disability as something that originates within people's 00:12:15:08 - 00:12:19:11 bodies and minds, and begin to recognize 00:12:19:11 - 00:12:24:06 that our social world has a hierarchy, in which certain bodyminds 00:12:24:06 - 00:12:27:04 are prioritized and protected and others are not. 00:12:30:13 - 00:12:37:04 Once you yourself, once you stop seeing disability 00:12:37:04 - 00:12:41:09 as something that originates within people's bodies and minds, 00:12:43:01 - 00:12:45:09 you might find that you understand 00:12:45:09 - 00:12:47:18 pretty much everything about your role differently. 00:12:49:07 - 00:12:53:05 Because you have been socialized up to this point to privilege 00:12:54:03 - 00:12:56:08 nondisabled experiences and needs. 00:12:58:06 - 00:13:00:13 This is an invitation 00:13:00:13 - 00:13:03:11 to really do some transformative 00:13:04:00 - 00:13:05:15 spiritual care. 00:13:07:14 - 00:13:11:05 And on that note, I think I'll share one last thought before 00:13:11:05 - 00:13:13:16 opening up for your questions for Part 1. 00:13:17:15 - 00:13:20:12 In a theistic view, 00:13:20:12 - 00:13:22:16 the Divine recognizes 00:13:22:16 - 00:13:26:12 wholeness where the world may focus on brokenness. 00:13:27:13 - 00:13:28:14 In a broader spiritual 00:13:28:14 - 00:13:31:00 sense, human beings are innately whole, 00:13:32:00 - 00:13:35:12 regardless of what the world may perceive as broken or incomplete, 00:13:36:11 - 00:13:39:13 and chaplains are in a unique position to reflect 00:13:39:13 - 00:13:42:09 that kind of love in their provision of care. 00:13:44:06 - 00:13:46:04 The current slide has that quote written out on it 00:13:46:04 - 00:13:48:13 and a cartoon portrait of me next to the quote. 00:13:50:02 - 00:13:54:03 And I think the social model of disability may be especially vital 00:13:54:09 - 00:13:57:14 in settings where the medical model prevails and brokenness 00:13:58:01 - 00:13:59:14 is emphasized. 00:14:01:08 - 00:14:02:08 Thoughts? 00:14:02:08 - 00:14:04:18 Reactions? Comments? Questions?