James H. Rimmer, Ph.D., Director

A few weeks ago, I attended an international conference for physicians and rehabilitation professionals working with individuals with neuromuscular disabilities. I was invited to make a presentation on NCPAD’s role in bridging the gap between rehabilitation and community-based physical activity. I was flattered by the invitation and gratefully accepted. Everything seemed to be going fine until the last evening, when the conference planners scheduled a gala event on a boat that required a short trip across town in luxury touring buses. Hundreds of registrants and a few dozen invited speakers lined the horseshoe driveway in front of the conference center waiting to board the buses that would transport them to a delightful dinner cruise. As I was entering one of the buses, I was stunned to see a woman being lifted out of her wheelchair and carried onto the bus by two sturdy but rather clumsy gentlemen! I’m sure that for her the experience was both humiliating and frightening; for me, it was utter shock and disgust.

I would have considered this unacceptable under any circumstances, but what made it even more repugnant was that it occurred at a meeting where one might expect greater sensitivity to accessibility issues: an assembly of 1,400 researchers and rehabilitation professionals whose work is devoted to improving the health and function of people with disabilities. None of the other conference attendees seemed to notice the irony of this situation. The popular boat is one of the major attractions in this country, but even in a place where disability rights and activism are years (if not decades) away, the conference organizers should have made accessibility the centerpiece of planning. What good is it to rehabilitate someone only to have her return to a society that does not facilitate her full participation?

The "Nothing About Us Without Us" mantra of the disability community must be adopted by rehabilitation professionals around the world. People with disabilities must be involved in all conference planning activities so that their input and expertise will ensure a fully accessible meeting. In the future, before accepting any conference invitations, I will make sure that all events, including the social ones, are fully accessible. Dan Wilkins, poet, graphic designer, and motivational speaker, said it best: A community that excludes even one of its members is no community at all. Rehabilitation professionals, scientists, researchers, and practitioners who earn their living from working with people with disabilities must make people with disabilities their first priority. This begins with accessibility.