Centering 
the 
Movement 
Around 
Self-Advocates 
July 
17, 
2018 
2:00 
p.m. 
EDT 


>> 
LENI 
DWORKIS: 
Good 
afternoon, 
everyone! 
Thank 
you 
for 
joining 
our 
webinar 
today. 
I'm 
Leni Dworkis 
with 
the 
Center for Victimization 
and 
Safety 
at 
the 
Vera 
Institute 
of 
Justice. 
I 
would 
like 
to 
welcome 
you 
to 
today's 
webinar 
where 
we 
have 
a 
great 
panel 
discussion 
with 
self-advocates 
about 
the 
importance 
of 
their 
participation 
in 
the 
movement. 
We 
are 
pleased 
to 
bring 
you 
this 
as 
part 
of 
our 
2018 
End 
Abuse 
of 
People 
with 
Disabilities 
webinar 
series. 


We 
have 
just 
a 
few 
quick 
logistical 
items 
to 
go 
over 
before 
we 
begin 
today. 


We'd 
like 
your 
assistance 
in 
testing 
the 
captioning 
pod. 
The 
captioning 
pod 
is 
located 
in 
the 
bottom 
left hand 
corner of your screen 
directly below 
the 
Presentation. 
The 
words 
I 
am 
speaking 
should 
appear 
in 
the 
captioning 
pod. 


If 
you 
can 
see 
the 
captioning, please 
go 
ahead 
and 
raise 
your virtual hand 
using 
the 
virtual 
person 
at 
the 
top 
of 
your 
screen. 


Okay, 
great. 
If 
there 
is 
anyone 
that 
cannot 
see 
the 
captioning, 
please 
send 
us 
a 
message 
in 
the 
Q&A 
pod. 


Next, 
in 
the 
pod 
to 
the 
right 
of 
the 
presentation 
you 
should 
see 
our 
American 
Sign 
Language 
interpreter. 


How 
is 
the 
light? 


Can 
you 
clearly 
see 
the 
interpreters? 


If 
you 
can 
clearly 
see 
the 
interpreters 
and 
the 
lighting 
is 
good, please 
raise 



your 
virtual 
hand. 


If 
you 
can't 
clearly 
see 
them 
or the 
lighting 
is 
too 
dim 
to 
see, please 
use 
the 
Q&A 
pod 
to 
contact 
us. 


I will now 
pause 
for 
a 
moment 
to 
see 
if 
anyone 
needs 
assistance 
and 
to 
allow 
time 
for 
our 
interpreters 
to 
make 
those 
adjustments. 
A 
friendly 
reminder, 
if 
you 
are 
calling 
in, 
please 
put 
your 
phone 
in 
mute. 


Participants 
are 
in 
"listen-only" 
mode, 
which 
means 
we 
are 
not 
able 
to 
hear 
you, 
but 
you 
should 
be 
able 
to 
hear 
us. 
If 
you 
cannot 
hear 
the 
presenters 
speaking, 
if 
you 
are 
having 
any 
difficulties 
with 
the 
captioning, 
or 
any 
other 
technical 
difficulties 
during 
the 
presentation, 
please 
enter 
a 
message 
in 
the 
Question 
pod, 
to 
the 
right 
of 
the 
PowerPoint. 
This 
is 
the 
best 
way 
to 
communicate 
with 
me 
or 
my 
Vera 
colleagues 
who 
are 
providing 
technical 
support 
throughout 
the 
webinar 
today. 


We 
plan 
to 
have 
time 
after 
the 
presentation 
for 
questions 
and 
comments. 
If 
you 
don't 
want 
to 
lose 
a 
question 
or 
comment 
during 
the 
presentation, 
please 
feel 
free 
to 
go 
ahead 
and 
enter 
it 
in 
the 
Q&A 
pod 
and 
we 
will 
hold 
onto 
your 
questions 
until 
the 
end. 


If 
you 
would 
like 
to 
download 
a 
copy 
of 
today's 
presentation, you 
can 
do 
so 
by 
going 
to 
the 
pod 
in 
the 
lower 
right 
hand 
corner 
next 
to 
the 
Power 
Point. 
Select 
the 
document 
and 
click 
the 
"Download 
File" 
button. 


We 
will 
be 
recording 
today's 
webinar. 
A 
link 
to 
the 
recording, 
as 
well 
as 
the 
PowerPoint, 
will 
be 
emailed 
to 
all 
participants 
following 
the 
webinar. 


Let's 
begin. 
Today's 
panel 
presentation 
will 
be 
facilitated 
by 
Leslie 
Myers, 
a 
Senior 
Program 
Associate 
at 
the 
Vera 
Institute 
of 
Justice. 


Thank 
you 
for 
being 
with 
us 
today 
and 
I 
will 
now 
turn 
the 
presentation 
over 
to 
you 
to 
provide 
some 
brief 
background 
and 
introduce 
our 
panelists. 


>> 
Thank 
you, 
Leni. 
Good 
afternoon, 
everyone. 
I 
hope 
everybody 
is 
having 
a 
good 
Tuesday 
afternoon. 
I 
want 
to 
just 
do 
a 
very 
short 
presentation 
here 
on 
the 
--I'm 
really 
--on 
really 
about 
self-advocacy 
and 
engaging 
self-advocates. 
Bear 
with 
me, 
and 
then 
I 
will 
turn 
it 
over 
to 
our 
guest 
speakers. 


People 
with 
disabilities 
have 
historically 
had 
people 
around 
them 
that 
make 
their 
decisions, 
make 
decisions 
that 
impact 
their 
lives, 
people 
have 
decided 
what 
they 
can 
do, 
what 
they 
need 
to 
do, 
what 
they 
can 
have. 
This 
has 
really 
been 
a 
historical 
piece 
of 
people 
with 
disabilities. 
In 
the 
1960s, 
the 
self-advocacy 
movement 
began 
in 
Sweden. 
The 
idea 
then 
began 
to 
spread 
to 
Great 
Britain, 
Canada 
and 
the 
United 
States 
in 
1972. 
In 
Oregon 
a 
group 
called 
People 
First 
was 
formed 
because 
they 
felt 
that 
their 
disabilities 
were 
secondary 
to 
their 
being 
a 



person 
first 
and 
foremost. 
From 
there 
the 
idea 
of 
self-advocacy 
really 
spread 
across 
North 
America. 


So 
what 
do 
we 
mean 
by 
self-advocate? 
A 
self-advocate 
is 
someone 
who 
has 
learned 
to 
speak 
for 
themselves 
and 
ask 
for 
what 
they 
need 
and 
what's 
important to 
them 
and 
what they want. They've 
learned 
to 
advocate 
for 
themselves. 


Self-advocates 
are 
aware 
of 
their 
rights 
and 
their 
responsibilities. They 
make 
their 
own 
choices 
and 
decisions 
that 
affect 
their 
lives. 


When 
we 
talk 
about 
involving 
self-advocates, 
we 
talk 
about 
it 
being 
an 
authentic 
involvement. 
That 
requires 
you 
as 
a 
person 
without 
a 
disability 
or 
agency 
that 
primarily 
is 
people 
without disabilities 
to 
involve 
them 
in 
meaningful 
ways, 
help 
allow 
them 
to 
make 
decisions, 
have 
the 
opportunity 
to 
learn 
skills, 
learn 
leadership 
skills, 
that they can 
see 
change 
and 
progress 
as 
a 
result of their 
contributions, 
that 
they 
have 
ownership 
and 
control 
in 
the 
decision-making 
process, 
that 
they're 
respected, 
valued 
and 
trusted, 
and 
that 
their 
voices 
are 
heard 
and 
valued. 
It's 
common 
to 
maybe 
add 
someone, 
a 
self-advocate, 
to 
a 
collaboration, 
and 
if 
you're 
not 
really 
involving 
them, 
it 
just turns 
out to 
be 
--it's 
not 
really 
a 
good 
thing 
that 
you're 
just 
using 
someone 
so 
that 
you 
can 
say 
that 
there 
is 
involvement 
if 
you're 
not 
really 
involving 
them. 


So 
today 
we 
have 
a 
panel 
of 
self-advocates. 
Unfortunately, 
one 
of 
our 
self-advocates 
could 
not 
make 
it 
today, 
so 
Kelly 
Smith, 
her 
picture 
is 
up 
here, 
she 
was 
not 
able 
to 
attend. 
Kelly 
is 
with 
a 
group 
out 
of 
Kansas 
called 
the 
self-advocates 
of 
Kansas, 
I 
believe, 
and 
they 
have 
a 
grant 
through 
the 
office 
of 
violence 
against 
women 
to 
--and 
their partner in 
that grant is 
the 
sexual assault 
and 
domestic 
violence 
coalition. 
So 
they 
are 
--they're 
working 
on 
--through 
the 
grant, 
the 
Disability 
Grant 
Program 
through 
OVW. 


So 
I 
am 
going 
to 
go 
ahead 
and 
quit 
talking, 
since 
I 
seem 
to 
be 
stuttering 
here 
a 
lot 
with 
my 
words, 
and 
go 
ahead 
and 
ask 
our 
presenters 
to 
introduce 
themselves 
and 
give 
some 
information 
about 
what 
they're 
doing 
and 
where 
they're 
located. 
Julie, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
start 
us 
off? 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Yes. 
Thanks 
to 
Vera 
for 
having 
me 
on 
today 
as 
a 
self-advocate. 
I 
am 
from 
Arkansas. 
I 
work 
at 
the 
university 
in 
inclusive 
communities. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Thank 
you. 
If 
everybody 
who 
has 
called 
in, 
if 
you 
could 
make 
sure 
your 
phones 
are 
muted 
so 
that 
we're 
not 
getting 
so 
much 
feedback 
coming 
in. 
There's 
a 
lot 
of 
people 
who 
look 
like 
they 
have 
called 
in. 
So 
could 
you 
please 
make 
sure 
your 
phones 
are 
muted? 



Alice, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
go 
ahead 
and 
let 
us 
know? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Sure. 
My 
name 
is. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
And 
I 
am 
with 
the 
Illinois 
imagines 
group, 
the 
state 
team 
in 
Illinois, and 
I also 
want 
to 
thank 
Vera 
for inviting 
me 
to 
join 
this 
seminar today. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 
Renee, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
give 
us 
a 
short 
introduction? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Hi, 
my 
name 
is 
Renee 
Lopez. 
I'm 
here. 
I 
forgot to 
unmute 
myself. 
I'm 
in 
Austin, 
Texas, 
and 
I 
am 
a 
self-advocate 
in 
the 
community, 
and 
I 
currently 
am 
working 
with 
SAFE, 
Stop 
Abuse 
for 
Everyone 
in 
Austin, 
Texas 
and 
also 
an 
advocate 
with 
ADAPT, 
and 
I'm 
also 
with 
other 
disability 
groups 
around 
Austin 
working 
on 
various 
issues 
involving 
people 
with 
disabilities. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Great! 
All 
right, 
now 
the 
way 
we 
have 
set 
this 
webinar 
up 
is 
I'm 
going 
to 
ask 
each 
of 
our 
participants 
-


>> 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
I'm 
sorry? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
This 
is 
Kelly 
Smith. 
I'm 
finally 
here. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Hi, 
welcome. 
Do 
you 
want 
to 
tell 
us 
a 
little 
bit 
about 
yourself? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
My 
name 
is 
Kelly 
Smith. 
I 
work 
for 
the 
self-advocate 
coalition 
of 
Kansas, 
and 
I 
help 
anybody 
that 
needs 
help 
being 
a 
self-advocate. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Thank 
you. 
I'm 
glad 
you're 
here, 
Kelly. 


So 
for 
today's 
webinar 
we're 
going 
--I am 
going 
to 
be 
asking 
some 
questions 
that 
each 
of 
our 
panelists 
who 
will 
answer 
those. 
If 
you 
have 
questions 
for 
our 
panelists 
as 
we 
go 
through, 
please 
go 
ahead 
and 
put 
those 
in 
the 
Q&A 
pod 
and 
we 
will 
allow 
our 
self-advocates 
to 
answer 
those 
as 
we 
go 
along. 


So 
our 
first 
question 
for 
each 
of 
you 
is 
that 
we 
know 
that 
each 
of 
you 
is 
really 
doing 
work 
around 
violence 
and 
abuse. Can 
you 
tell our webinar 
participants 
what 
kinds 
of 
things 
you're 
actually 
doing 
around 
this? 
Julie, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
go 
ahead? 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Yes. 
At 
the 
university, 
I 
work 
on 
many 
different 
projects. 
One 
of 
them 
is 
called 
safety 
and 
sexual 
violence, 
and 
the 
other 
one 
is 
called 
-what 
I 
do 
is 
I 
support 
crime 
victims 
with 
disabilities. 
I 
give 
them 
peer 
support. 
I 
also 
go 
all 
over 
the 
state 
and 
teach 
healthy 
relationships 
classes 
called 
"Give 
Respect 
-Get 
Respect." 
I 
do 
a 
little 
bit 
of 
everything. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
All 
right. 


Alice, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
talk 
about 
what 
you 
are 
doing? 



>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Sure. 
I 
actually 
am 
on 
the 
state 
team 
for 
Illinois 
Imagines, 
and 
we 
work 
basically with 
women 
--we 
work 
for 
women 
who 
have 
been 
sexually 
abused, 
and 
we 
have 
developed 
toolkits 
and 
--for 
counselors, 
for 
first 
responders, 
for women 
with 
disabilities 
who 
have 
been 
sexually 
assaulted 
so 
that 
they 
can 
deal 
with 
that. 
Along 
with 
that 
we 
have 
created 
picture 
guides, 
rape 
kits 
for 
tools 
that 
happens 
after 
that. 
We 
have 
created 
pairing 
guides, 
rape 
counselor 
guides, 
first 
responder 
guides, 
police 
guides 
and 
have 
put 
some 
of 
this 
in 
Spanish, 
some 
of 
it 
in 
large 
print 
and 
some 
of 
it 
in 
Braille. 
We've 
fought 
for 
victims 
in 
courts 
and 
we've 
actually 
got 
some 
of 
the 
laws 
changed. 
For 
instance, 
one 
that 
required 
a 
personal assistant to 
get assistance 
for a 
rape 
kit and 
counseling 
is 
no 
longer the 
case. The 
person 
who 
experienced 
rape 
now 
gives 
permission 
for 
both 
and 
the 
P.A. 
does 
not 
need 
to 
be 
involved 
at 
all. 
So 
we're 
very 
active. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 
Alice, 
could 
you 
just 
expand 
a 
little 
bit 
on 
that? 
And 
how 
much, 
as 
a 
self-advocate, 
there's 
a 
number 
of 
self-advocates 
that 
are 
on 
Illinois 
Imagine, 
could 
you 
talk a 
little 
bit about your team, 
the 
other folks 
on 
the 
team 
and 
what 
they're 
doing 
on 
the 
team? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
We 
are 
a 
collaborative 
of 
about 
eight 
different 
agencies 
from 
the 
department 
of 
human 
resources 
in 
Illinois 
to 
ICASA, 
and 
we 
have 
somebody 
from 
mental 
health 
in 
Illinois, 
we 
have 
somebody 
from 
the 
disability 
part 
in 
Illinois, 
we 
have 
DD 
people. 
We 
have 
all 
kinds 
of 
representation 
there. 
And 
because 
we 
have 
that 
kind 
of 
representation, 
we've 
got 
input 
from 
everybody. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
And 
just 
out 
of 
--just wondering, 
do 
you 
feel like 
Illinois 
Imagines, you 
know, we 
had 
talked 
about 
authentic 
involvement, are 
you 
authentically 
involved 
in 
Illinois 
Imagines, 
do 
you 
think? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
I 
am 
a 
full 
team 
member. 
If 
we're 
doing 
a 
seminar 
somewhere, 
a 
regional 
seminar, 
or 
even 
a 
national 
seminar 
it 
happened 
once, 
and 
somebody 
cannot 
show 
up, 
they 
missed 
a 
flight 
or 
they're 
ill 
or 
whatever, 
somebody 
else 
from 
the 
team 
steps 
in, 
and 
I 
have 
been 
--actually 
been 
one 
of 
the 
people 
that 
stepped 
in. 
So 
it's 
really 
a 
full 
involvement 
from 
my 
point 
of 
view. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Great! 


Kelly, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
answer 
the 
original 
question? 
I 
know 
I 
kind 
of 
got 
off 
track 
there 
a 
little 
bit. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Please 
restate 
the 
original 
question. 
I 
got 
confused. 
I 
got 
confused. 
Sorry. 
Can 
you 
repeat 
it? 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
That's 
okay. 
I 
said 
that 
each 
of 
you 
are 
doing 
work 
around 
violence 
and 
abuse. 
Can 
you 
just 
talk 
to 
the 
participants, 
webinar 



participants, 
about 
some 
of 
the 
things 
that 
you 
are 
doing 
in 
that 
area. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Well, 
I'm 
involved 
with 
--I'm 
involved 
with 
Kansas 
Bully. 
We 
have 
a 
five-year 
grant. 
We're 
currently 
making 
toolkits, 
and 
we've 
done 
some 
focus 
--we're 
also 
doing 
focus 
groups, 
and 
we're 
trying 
to 
get 
a 
better 
handle 
on 
the 
police 
here 
in 
Lawrence 
to 
treat 
people 
disabilities. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Good! 


Renee, 
what 
about 
you? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Can 
you 
hear 
me? 
Okay. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Now 
we 
can 
hear 
you. 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Okay. 
Actually 
all 
this 
began 
for 
me 
when 
I 
was 
on 
a 
focus 
group 
at 
[indiscernible] 
which 
is 
now 
SAFE, 
and 
I 
got 
involved 
in 
their 
disability 
services 
and 
became 
aware 
of 
the 
--how 
bad 
the 
victimization 
and 
abuse 
is 
of 
people 
with 
disabilities, 
which 
I 
always 
knew 
but 
never really 
knew 
what to 
do 
about 
it, 
and 
so 
from 
there 
I 
became 
part 
of 
the 
advisory 
committee 
for 
disability 
services 
on 
their 
projects, 
and 
I 
also 
started 
going 
to, 
like, 
the 
national 
sexual 
assault 
conference 
and 
other 
conferences 
that 
I 
can't 
think 
of 
right 
now, 
but 
I 
went. 
Either 
I 
assisted 
with 
their 
workshops 
that 
deal 
with 
sexual 
abuse 
and 
violence 
against 
people 
with 
disabilities, 
and 
I 
also 
went 
because 
I 
wanted 
people 
with 
disabilities 
to 
have 
visibility 
in 
these 
conferences, 
and 
I 
think 
it's 
sorely 
lacking. And 
so 
I tried 
to 
be 
a 
presence 
in 
that area, 
and 
I currently am 
working 
with 
SAFE 
disability 
services 
on 
their 
curriculum 
on 
self-advocacy 
for 
people 
with 
disabilities 
and 
I.D. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
And 
you 
recently 
began 
working 
with 
the 
national 
coalition 
as 
well, 
didn't 
you, 
after 
a 
long 
time 
advocating 
in 
the 
local 
community? 
What 
differences 
have 
you 
been 
able 
to 
see 
between 
local 
advocacy 
and 
the 
national 
advocacy? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Well, 
the 
national 
advocacy, 
I 
think, 
is 
a 
way 
of 
expanding 
what's 
been 
going 
on 
locally, 
and 
it 
feels 
daunting 
at 
times 
but 
on 
the 
other 
hand 
I think 
it 
needs 
to 
spread 
out 
to 
a 
bigger population 
so 
we 
can 
hopefully 
get 
a 
movement 
going 
to 
end 
the 
abuse 
of 
people 
with 
disabilities, 
because 
it's 
so 
commonplace 
and 
so 
underrepresented 
that 
I'm 
glad 
that 
it's 
gone 
from 
local 
to 
national. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 
Great. 


Kelly, 
you 
know, 
you're 
part 
of 
a 
collaboration 
similar 
to 
what 
Alice 
is 
doing. 
What 
do 
you 
feel 
like 
your 
role 
in 
the 
team 
is 
as 
a 
collaboration 
member? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Well, 
you 
know, 
I 
feel 
respected 
and 
not 
treated 
differently, 
just 
like 
a 
regular 
person. 



>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
You 
feel 
like 
they 
authentically 
involve 
you? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yes, 
they 
do. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Since 
I 
know 
these 
answers 
because 
I 
actually 
work 
with 
Kansas 
Belief 
-


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
I 
know. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Was 
it 
a 
little 
bit 
of 
a 
struggle 
to 
get 
them 
there? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yes, 
it 
was. 
The 
first 
year 
when 
we 
had 
all 
the 
slides, 
we 
were 
having 
to 
stop 
every 
hour, 
every 
word. 
But 
once 
we 
got 
--once 
they 
got 
the 
hang 
of 
it 
and 
what 
plain 
language 
was, 
it 
went 
a 
little 
smoother. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Good. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yeah, 
it 
was 
a 
rough 
start 
the 
first 
year, 
and 
with 
all 
the 
slides 
and 
having 
to 
stop 
every 
word 
because 
Hal and 
I didn't understand 
them, 
but 
after 
we 
got 
that 
through, 
it 
went 
a 
lot 
quicker 
and 
people 
understood 
that 
we 
needed 
to 
change 
words. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
And 
now 
they're 
doing 
pretty 
good, 
aren't 
they? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yes, 
we 
are. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yep. 
Somebody 
actually 
would 
like 
to 
hear 
a 
little 
more 
from 
you 
about 
the 
toolkits 
that 
you 
guys 
are 
developing 
at 
Kansas 
Believe. 
I 
know 
you 
guys 
are 
still 
writing 
them, 
but 
maybe 
-


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
We're 
still 
writing 
them. 
I'm 
doing 
the 
accommodation 
one 
with 
Shirley 
from 
the 
coalition, 
and 
we're 
in 
the 
process 
of 
kind 
of 
finishing 
it. 
The 
last 
couple 
meetings 
we 
have 
different 
pictures. 
You 
know, 
we've 
changed 
a 
lot of the 
wordings 
in 
it so 
people 
with 
disabilities 
can 
understand 
them. I don't 
know 
what 
the 
guardian 
--we're 
making 
a 
guardianship 
one, 
but 
I 
don't 
know 
what 
that's 
like 
because 
I'm 
not 
on 
that 
committee. 
Then 
we're 
going 
to 
make 
two 
for 
providers. 
So 
we're 
going 
to 
make 
four 
toolkits 
all 
together. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yes. 
Great. 


Nicole, 
I 
hope 
that 
answered 
your 
question 
the 
best 
that 
we 
could 
here. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
I 
hope 
it 
did, 
too. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Julie, 
outside 
your 
work 
with 
the 
university, 
you're 
also 
a 
national 
speaker. 
Can 
you 
tell 
us 
a 
little 
bit 
about 
that? 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
I, 
too, 
am 
a 
part 
of 
the 
local 
collaborative, 
and 
in 
the 
beginning 
it 
was 
really 
hard 
because 
I 
believed 
that 
like 
I 
didn't 
have 
a 
voice, 
and 
people 
didn't 
want 
to 
hear 
what 
I 
had 
to 
say, 
but 
that 
was 
a 
long 
time 
ago, 
and 
now 
I 
feel 
more 
respected. 
But 
on 
the 
national 
level 
I 
talk 
--I've 
taught 
different 
classes 
for 
Vera. 
In 
June, 
about 
a 
month 
ago, 
we 
just 
had 
our 
national 



self-advocacy 
conference 
for 
he 
will 
self-advocates 
becoming 
empowered. 
Last 
year, 
around 
this 
time, 
me 
and 
my 
ally, 
Roberta, 
were 
able 
to 
go 
to 
the 
national 
of 
state 
directors 
for 
developmental 
disability 
services 
and 
talk 
about 
violence 
and 
abuse 
and 
disabilities 
and 
how 
to 
help 
them 
heal. 
So 
I've 
been 
all 
over 
the 
place. 
I've 
been 
to 
Kansas 
where 
Kelly 
is. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
You 
sure 
have. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Julie, 
can 
you 
tell 
a 
little 
bit 
about 
--you 
mentioned 
Roberta 
being 
an 
ally. 
Can 
you 
talk 
to 
people 
about 
the 
importance 
of 
allies 
and 
the 
role 
of 
allies? 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Roberta 
actually 
helped 
get 
me 
involved 
in 
this 
work. 
The 
reason 
it's 
important for her to 
be 
involved 
and 
self-advocates 
because 
I 
feel 
-people 
feel 
more 
comfortable 
talking 
to 
their 
peers. 
The 
importance 
of 
that 
--I 
mean, 
allies 
who 
stand 
beside 
--stand 
beside 
us 
and 
not 
stand 
in 
front of us 
or 
trying 
to 
tell 
us 
what 
to 
do, 
but 
to 
help 
us 
learn 
and 
to 
help 
us 
be 
better 
peer 
advocates, 
I 
think, 
is 
very 
important. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
And 
what's 
their 
role? 
I 
mean, 
you 
said 
that 
they 
are 
not 
there 
--they're 
there 
to 
stand 
beside 
you 
but 
not 
in 
front 
of 
you. 
What 
is 
their 
role? 
What's 
the 
role 
of 
allies? 
Especially 
in 
this 
work. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
In 
my 
opinion, 
an 
ally 
is 
there 
to 
be 
a 
co-advocate 
and 
to 
try 
to 
answer 
questions. 
I 
can 
call 
Roberta, 
and 
if 
she 
doesn't 
know 
what 
to 
do, 
she'll 
call 
me. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 


>> 
Hello, 
everyone. 
Can 
you 
hear 
me? 
Hello? 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yes? 


>> 
This 
is 
Kathy 
Saunders. 
I'm 
trying 
to 
dial 
in 
by 
phone. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Hi, 
Kathy. 


>> 
I 
can 
hear 
you, 
but 
I 
wasn't 
sure 
if 
you 
guys 
could 
hear me. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yeah, 
yeah. 
Kathy. 
Welcome. 
I 
don't 
have 
your 
picture 
up 
here, 
but 
we'd 
love 
to 
have 
you 
join 
us. 


>> 
I 
would 
have 
been 
on 
time 
but 
I 
had 
another 
meeting 
right 
before 
this 
and 
it 
took 
me 
a 
little 
while 
to 
get 
the 
Adobe 
Connect. 
So 
I 
apologize 
for 
being 
late, 
but I have 
been 
listening 
and 
it sounds 
very interesting. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay, 
Kathy. 
Why 
don't 
you 
tell 
us 
about 
what 
you're 
doing. 


>> 
Oh, 
I 
am 
working 
with 
Vera 
Institute 
of 
Justice. 
I'm 
a 
self-advocate 
for 
them, 
and 
we're 
working 
on 
a 
national 
movement 
for 
minorities 
with 
disabilities 
trying 
to 
write 
down 
about 
integration 
and 
working 
with 
our 
allies, 
our 
Caucasian 



counterparts 
who 
are 
our 
allies, 
and 
we're 
trying 
to 
record 
all 
of 
this 
in 
a 
booklet. 
So 
I'm 
very, 
very 
busy 
with 
that, 
plus 
I 
finished 
my 
training, 
so 
now 
I'm 
officially 
a 
self-advocate 
through 
the 
University 
of 
Illinois 
LIN 
program. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
congratulations. 


>> 
Thank 
you. 
Then 
I 
also 
work 
with 
Illinois 
Imagines 
to 
prevent 
sexual 
assault 
--sexual 
assault 
and 
violence 
against 
people 
with 
disabilities 
and 
I 
just 
joined 
--University 
of 
Illinois 
put 
me 
in 
CAC, 
the 
Center 
for 
--I have 
forgotten 
--I 
just joined 
it. I have 
forgotten 
the 
acronym. We 
are 
the 
people 
that make 
sure 
the 
university knows 
what pulse 
--what 
issues 
are 
on 
the 
pulse 
of 
the 
disability 
community 
and 
we 
make 
sure 
that 
they 
are 
taking 
care 
of 
those 
issues. 
So 
that's 
a 
very, 
very 
--very 
good 
and 
diverse 
group 
to 
be 
on 
because 
you 
get 
to 
see 
the 
people 
who 
are 
in 
leadership 
over 
state-run 
programs 
and 
programs 
that very 
much 
affect 
you, 
like 
Medicare, 
Medicaid. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yeah. 
Great. 
I'm 
glad 
you 
could 
join 
us. 
I 
actually, 
because 
I 
got 
two 
Illinois 
imagines 
folks 
on, 
here 
I'm 
going 
to 
pose 
these 
two 
questions 
to 
you 
and 
both 
of 
you, 
or 
any 
of 
you, 
either 
one 
of 
you 
can 
answer. 
You 
had 
mentioned 
the 
picture 
guides 
and 
some 
items 
in 
Spanish 
and 
large 
print. 
Are 
those 
resources 
for 
sexual 
assault 
survivors? 
And 
can 
they 
be 
used 
by 
other 
nonprofits 
who 
are 
working 
with 
people 
with 
disabilities. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Kathy, 
if 
it's 
okay 
with 
you, 
it's 
Alice 
and 
I 
would 
like 
to 
take 
that. 
And 
it's 
good 
to 
talk 
to 
you. 
Everything 
that 
we 
have 
is 
online. 
If 
you 
go 
to 
IllinoisImagines.org, you 
do 
not 
need 
to 
reinvent 
the 
wheel. 
It's 
all 
there. 
It's 
all 
printable. 
If 
you 
need 
help 
with 
it, 
we'll 
be 
happy 
to 
help 
you 
access 
it, 
if 
you're 
having 
an 
issue. 
But 
it's 
all 
there. 
We 
decided 
a 
long 
time 
ago 
that 
whatever 
information 
we 
got and 
that we 
could 
put together needed 
to 
be 
accessible 
to 
everybody 
who 
could 
--who 
had 
a 
computer. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Kathy, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
add 
to 
that? 


>> 
I 
think 
you 
--I mean, you 
said 
it 
so 
eloquently, I don't 
really 
have 
anything 
to 
add 
to 
it. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Thank 
you. 


>> 
You're 
very 
much 
on 
point 
with 
everything. 
We 
are 
just 
--a 
role 
that 
I 
see 
is 
just 
to 
make 
sure 
that 
whatever 
the 
resource 
that 
you 
need 
is 
accessible 
to 
everyone, 
as 
long 
as 
you 
can 
get 
people 
online, 
you 
should 
be 
able 
to 
download 
any 
kind 
of 
information, 
and 
please 
do 
use 
Illinois 
Imagines 
as 
a 
resource. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
They 
have 
some 
wonderful 
things 
online. 
And 
it's 



Illinoisimagines.org, correct? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Yes. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Since 
I've 
still 
got 
you 
two 
like 
hanging 
out 
here, 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] to 
Alice. 
But 
maybe, Kathy, maybe 
you 
can 
help 
a 
little 
bit 
about 
-do 
you 
feel 
like 
the 
Illinois 
Imagines 
group 
really 
involves 
you, 
that 
they 
really 
authentically 
involve 
you? 


>> 
Yes, 
they 
do. 
Actually, I've 
been 
everywhere 
as 
well, and 
I joined 
Illinois 
Imagines 
as 
part 
of 
my 
community 
work 
with 
Illinois 
Lend 
where 
I did 
300 
hours 
to 
be 
a 
professional 
advocate 
through 
the 
University 
of 
Illinois, 
and 
Illinois 
Imagines 
has 
helped 
me 
fulfill my 
community 
service 
at 
that 
time 
before 
I 
got 
my 
professional 
certification, 
but 
I 
stuck 
with 
it 
because 
I 
really 
want 
to 
see 
no 
sexual 
assault 
or 
violence 
committed 
amongst 
anyone 
else 
with 
a 
disability, 
and 
I 
feel 
like 
the 
only way we 
can 
stop 
that problem 
is 
to 
make 
sure 
that 
people 
get 
the 
information, 
that they have 
access 
to 
it, 
and 
that it's 
in 
an 
accessible 
form 
for you 
to 
understand 
no 
matter 
what 
your 
disability. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
I 
totally 
agree 
with 
that, 
Kathy. 
And 
the 
other 
part 
of 
that 
is 
that 
we 
need 
to 
involve 
the 
people 
who 
run 
the 
system. 
So, 
police 
and 
judges 
and, 
you 
know, 
whoever 
else, 
and 
the 
medical 
system 
as 
well. 
We're 
getting 
more 
and 
more 
involvement 
with 
those 
kinds 
of 
systems. 
So 
that's 
exciting 
to 
me. 


>> 
Yes, 
myself 
as 
well. 
And 
I 
agree 
with 
you 
totally 
that 
we 
do 
need 
to 
get 
more 
of 
the 
systematic 
entities 
involved 
in 
what 
we're 
doing, 
but 
that 
also 
involves 
breaking 
down 
the 
barriers 
that we 
are 
--there 
are 
still 
unfortunately 
the 
barrier 
that 
we 
are 
not 
credible 
witnesses, 
that 
we 
are 
not 
able 
to 
understand 
and 
all 
the 
myths 
involved 
towards 
people 
with 
disabilities. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Right. 
I 
agree. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
The 
information 
that 
you 
guys 
have 
developed 
for 
Illinois 
Imagines, was 
it 
just 
developed 
by 
the 
professionals? 
Or 
was 
that 
something 
that 
you 
guys 
were 
involved 
in 
developing? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Oh, 
no 
--go 
ahead, 
Kathy. 


>> 
I 
was 
directly 
involved 
with 
the 
planning 
committee 
on 
a 
lot 
of 
our 
videos, 
as 
far 
as 
helping 
people 
with 
developmental 
disabilities 
understand 
about 
sexual 
assault 
and 
violence. 
I 
was 
directly 
involved 
in 
the 
planning 
committee. 
I 
set 
up 
flyers, 
I 
helped 
with 
the 
video, 
and 
I 
also 
went 
with 
Ben 
[indiscernible] 
who 
was 
then 
the 
clinical 
Director 
of 
the 
University 
of 
Illinois 
family clinics. I directly 
worked 
with 
her 
and 
spoke 
to 
a 
lot 
of 
the 
higher-ups 
that 
run 
the 
institutions 



where 
people 
with 
disabilities 
live 
or 
have 
guardianship, 
and 
one 
of 
the 
major 
things 
that 
really 
struck 
me 
is 
that 
still 
in 
the 
year 
2018 
they're 
still 
not 
telling 
everything 
about 
sexuality 
and 
disability. 
They're 
still 
not 
looking 
at 
people 
with 
disabilities 
as 
sexual 
beings. 
So 
when 
you 
don't 
have 
a 
vital 
part 
of 
what 
is 
your 
self-identity, 
I think it makes 
you 
more 
vulnerable 
to 
violence 
or sexual 
assault, 
and 
I 
am 
committed 
to 
making 
sure 
that 
no 
matter 
what 
the 
developmental 
disability, 
no 
matter 
what 
the 
understanding 
level, 
there 
is 
a 
way 
to 
teach 
anyone 
and 
everyone 
about 
the 
sexuality, 
that 
it 
is 
not 
something 
to 
be 
ashamed 
with, 
that 
we 
are 
sexual 
beings, 
we 
have 
a 
right 
to 
have 
information 
and 
knowledge 
on 
sexuality, 
and 
a 
right 
to 
know 
and 
participate 
in 
hem 
--in 
healthy relationships. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Kathy, 
I 
totally 
agree 
with 
that. 
I 
also 
want 
to 
mention 
a 
lot 
of 
those 
guides 
are 
on 
the 
IllinoisImagines.org 
and 
we 
have 
picture 
guides 
as 
well 
as 
other 
kinds 
of 
guides 
so 
that 
everybody 
should 
be 
able 
to 
understand 
what 
is 
actually 
happening, 
and 
as 
part 
of 
our 
toolkit 
we 
do 
have 
healthy 
relationships. 
I 
am 
so 
thrilled, 
Julie, 
that 
you 
are 
also 
involved 
in 
that. 


>> 
Yeah, 
what 
Alice 
said 
is 
totally 
correct. 
We 
have 
gotten 
involved 
in 
all 
of 
those 
--all 
of 
those 
assets 
of 
providing 
that 
information. 
So 
it's 
all 
there 
that 
you 
just go 
online 
you 
can 
find 
it. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Yes. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
And 
I 
just 
added 
the 
website 
address 
from 
using 
the 
ICASA 
link. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
You 
can 
get 
it 
from 
either. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yes, 
so 
I 
added 
that 
one 
for 
everybody 
to 
use 
as 
well. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Thank 
you. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Leslie, 
I 
heard 
Kathy 
say 
the 
words 
vulnerable 
and 
I 
wish 
we 
could 
maybe 
move 
away 
from 
that 
word 
"vulnerable," 
because 
how 
we 
see 
people, 
how 
we 
look 
at 
people 
with 
disabilities 
is 
how 
we 
see 
them. 
So 
if 
you 
feel 
that 
we 
are 
vulnerable, 
people 
are 
going 
to 
try 
to 
take 
advantage. 
We 
are 
at 
a 
higher 
risk 
for 
violence 
and 
abuse, 
but 
that 
is 
why 
self-advocacy 
is 
the 
key, 
the 
momentum 
of 
being 
self-advocates. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
I 
also 
-


>> 
I'm 
sorry 
if 
that 
was 
offensive 
to 
you, 
but 
word 
would 
you 
have 
me 
to 
use? 
Because 
I 
was 
speaking 
--people 
who 
have 
guardianship 
and 
who 
are 
in 
institutions, 
that's 
the 
population 
I was 
speaking 
about. They're 
not being 
taught 
sexuality 
and 
about 
their 
rights 
to 
relationships. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
We 
had 
that 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] here. 
The 
term 
would 
be 
at 
risk 
or 
higher 
risk. 



>> 
So 
if 
I'm 
understanding 
you 
correctly, 
so 
they 
were 
at 
higher 
risk 
but 
not 
that 
we're 
vulnerable. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
That's 
how 
I 
feel. 


>> 
Thank 
you 
so 
much 
for 
letting 
me 
know 
that, 
because 
that 
was 
also 
my 
final 
project 
in 
the 
LEN. 
I 
did 
a 
final 
project 
on 
people 
with 
disabilities 
having 
83% 
rate 
of 
--still 
to 
this 
day 
83% 
rate 
of 
sexual 
assault 
and 
violence 
but 
the 
project 
was 
not 
just 
that. 
The 
project 
was 
that 
the 
medical 
community 
could 
help 
to 
alleviate 
that 
by 
being 
more 
disability 
friendly 
--disability 
friendly 
to 
their 
population 
and 
that 
was 
the 
gist 
of 
my 
project, 
was 
to 
teach 
disability 
--to 
the 
medical 
professionals. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
The 
other 
thing 
that 
I 
would 
like 
to 
add, 
this 
is 
Alice, 
I'm 
sorry, 
but 
the 
other 
thing 
that 
I 
would 
like 
to 
add 
is 
it's 
not 
only 
people 
who 
--it's 
also 
people 
who 
have 
mental 
disabilities 
as 
well, 
and 
I 
think 
that 
we're 
left 
out 
of 
it a 
lot, 
because 
people 
see 
us 
as, 
quote, 
normal, 
whatever the 
heck that is, 
and 
they 
don't 
assume 
that 
we 
have 
any 
kind 
of 
a 
disability 
at 
all. 
But 
if 
I'm 
--I 
sometimes 
get 
depressed, 
I'm 
bipolar, 
and 
that 
used 
to 
be 
a 
terrible 
word 
to 
use, 
and 
I'm 
trying 
to 
--and 
I 
think 
that 
a 
lot 
of 
us 
are 
trying 
to 
make 
the 
labels 
go 
away, 
and 
that 
label 
is 
a 
terrible 
label to 
carry 
because 
my 
mother absolutely 
would 
not 
let 
me 
tell 
anyone 
until 
she 
passed 
away 
I 
kept 
quiet 
because 
she 
was 
ashamed 
that 
I 
was 
bipolar. 
So 
it's 
a 
--it's 
not only people 
with 
physical 
disabilities, 
but 
it's 
also 
people 
with 
mental 
disabilities 
is 
what 
I'm 
trying 
to 
say. 


>> 
I 
agree 
with 
you, 
Alice. 
Thank 
you 
for 
sharing 
that 
and 
reminding 
us 
of 
that 
because 
we 
don't 
want 
anybody 
to 
feel 
--any 
particular 
group 
to 
feel 
left 
out. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Right. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
I 
am 
going 
to 
go 
on 
to 
our 
next 
question, 
and 
then 
I've 
got 
some 
really 
good 
questions 
that 
are 
up 
here 
as 
well. 
So 
all 
of 
us 
on 
this 
call, 
and 
probably 
the 
participants 
as 
well, 
fall 
into 
this 
work 
for 
different 
reasons. Can 
you 
share 
with 
participants 
in 
any 
way 
you 
want 
to 
why 
you 
became 
involved 
in 
this 
work? 
You 
don't have 
to 
go 
into 
any personal stories 
or anything 
if you 
don't want to, 
but I just wanted 
to 
see 
if there's 
reasons 
why you 
might 
have 
come 
into 
this 
work. 
Julie, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
answer 
first. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Sure. 
About 
15 
years 
ago 
I 
was 
the 
state 
coordinator 
for 
Arkansas 
People 
First, 
and 
my 
peers 
started 
telling 
me 
about 
the 
abuse 
and 
the 
violence 
that 
was 
happening 
to 
them, 
and 
I 
didn't 
know 
--I knew 
Roberta 
at 
the 
time, 
but 
I 
really 
didn't know 
how 
to 
help 
them. I would 
call Roberta, 
who 
was 
already 
doing 
the 
work. 
So 
that's 
how 
I 
got 
involved. 
I'm 
really 
passionate 
to 
end 



the 
abuse. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Alice? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
I 
actually 
got 
involved 
--I was 
referred 
to 
a 
local 
collaborative 
in 
Moline, 
Illinois 
by 
my 
DHS 
counselor, 
and 
then 
I 
went 
to 
a 
seminar 
that 
was 
run 
by 
the 
state 
team 
and 
I 
was, 
shall 
we 
say, 
a 
bit 
vocal, 
and 
the 
state 
team 
noticed 
me 
and 
I 
was 
invited 
to 
join, 
and 
I 
joined 
because 
I 
was 
bipolar 
and 
I 
was 
disabled 
and 
I thought it was 
a 
great thing, 
and 
I didn't like 
that 
we 
knew 
that 
people 
with 
disability 
has 
a 
higher 
sexual 
abuse 
rate 
than 
others, 
but 
it 
took 
me 
six 
years 
on 
the 
team 
to 
actually 
realize 
that 
I 
had 
been 
sexually 
abused 
25 
years 
before. 
I 
had 
been 
--I had 
told 
a 
friend 
that 
I had 
been 
raped, 
and 
she 
told 
me 
it 
was 
impossible 
because 
I 
was 
fat, 
and 
fat 
people 
didn't 
get 
raped, 
and 
I kept quiet after that, 
and 
I didn't tell anyone 
for 25 
years, 
and 
then 
I 
wrote 
a 
poem 
about 
it 
and 
brought 
it 
to 
a 
meeting 
and 
read 
it 
at 
the 
meeting 
and 
got 
the 
support 
that 
I 
needed, 
and 
I 
real 
eyed 
at 
that 
point 
that 
was 
the 
reason 
I 
was 
there. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Thank 
you 
for 
sharing. 
Kelly? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
I 
got 
involved 
with 
it 
because 
I 
was 
sexually 
assaulted. 
I 
was 
touched 
by 
my 
neighbor, 
and 
then 
come 
to 
find 
out 
three 
other 
ladies 
in 
my 
apartment 
complex 
were 
touched 
by 
this, 
and 
they 
didn't 
--I was 
--I was 
the 
only 
one 
that 
was 
strong 
enough 
to 
go 
to 
court 
and 
press 
charges 
against 
him. 
The 
other 
ladies 
didn't 
want 
to 
go. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Wow. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yeah, 
they 
were 
scared 
that 
he 
was 
going 
to 
hit 
them 
or 
something, 
and 
I 
told 
them 
I 
would 
go 
to 
the 
police 
with 
them, 
and 
they 
just 
refused 
because 
they 
didn't think 
anybody 
was 
going 
to 
listen 
to 
them. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Thank 
you. 
Renee, 
what 
about 
you? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Well, 
I've 
told 
this 
story 
before 
where 
I 
knew 
a 
young 
woman 
in 
an 
apartment 
complex 
that 
I 
lived 
in 
when 
I 
was 
in 
college, 
and 
she 
was 
sexually 
abused 
by 
her 
father 
and 
ended 
up 
pregnant 
and 
had 
a 
child 
and 
the 
child 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] got 
involved 
and 
had 
cerebral palsy 
to 
the 
point 
where 
she 
could 
not 
--couldn't 
even 
speak 
and 
had 
no 
control 
over 
her 
body, 
and 
when 
she 
was 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] took 
the 
child 
from 
her. 
In 
the 
complex 
when 
all 
this 
was 
going 
on, 
and 
realized 
how 
horrible 
this 
was, 
and 
there 
was 
no 
one 
to 
tell. 
There 
was 
no 
one 
to 
get 
help. 
Even 
though 
everybody 
knew 
it 
was 
going 
on, 
who 
do 
you 
tell? 
Also, 
other 
people 
with 
disabilities 
had 
been 
abused 
and 
either 
weren't 
believed 
or 
that 
we 
didn't 
have 
any 
allies, 
as 
you 
were 
saying 
earlier, 
and 
there 
were 
no 
--there 
weren't 
even 
repercussions 
back 
then 
because 
all 
the 
men 
would 



deny 
they 
did 
anything 
and 
they 
were 
believed 
over 
the 
victim. 
So 
I 
found 
this 
to 
be 
very 
unsettling 
and 
very 
disturbing 
but 
didn't 
nope 
what 
to 
do 
about 
it, 
I 
didn't 
think 
there 
was 
anything 
I 
could 
do 
about 
it, 
and 
so 
I 
found 
my 
way 
to 
SAFE 
and 
became 
one 
of 
their 
advisory 
members 
and 
found 
out 
there 
really 
is 
something 
-there 
are 
statistics 
about 
people 
with 
disabilities, 
and 
that's 
good 
and 
all, 
and 
we 
started 
showing 
those, 
that 
these 
are 
the 
numbers, 
these 
are 
how 
many 
people 
are 
abused, 
these 
are 
how 
many 
are 
reported. 
So 
the 
data 
obviously 
is 
there, 
but 
what 
do 
we 
do 
after 
that? 
How 
do 
we 
get 
self-advocates 
to 
come 
out 
and 
discuss 
it so 
they can 
find 
a 
solution 
and 
put an 
end 
to 
this 
so 
it's 
not just statistics 
where 
people 
are 
sitting 
around 
shrugging 
not 
knowing 
what 
to 
do. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Thank 
you. 
It's 
a 
little 
hard 
to 
hear 
you. 
I 
don't 
know 
if 
you 
want 
to 
put 
your 
mic 
a 
little 
closer 
to 
your 
mouth, 
but 
the 
other 
thing 
I wanted 
to 
just 
remind 
folks, that 
if 
you 
have 
called 
in, to 
make 
sure 
that 
your 
phone 
is 
on 
mute 
so 
that 
we 
don't 
have 
any 
distractions 
coming. 
We 
are 
getting 
a 
lot of feedback through 
the 
--through 
the 
system 
here. 
All 
right. 
Thank 
you. 


Kathy, 
did 
you 
want 
to 
share 
why 
you 
went 
into 
this 
work? 


>> 
Leslie? 
For 
some 
reason 
--I'm 
sorry, I got 
disconnected 
and 
had 
to 
call 
back 
in. 
Now 
I 
have 
an 
echo 
going 
on. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Let 
me 
--I'm 
going 
to 
let 
one 
of 
our staff 
members 
help 
try 
and 
get 
that 
connected. 
Can 
you 
--put 
your 
phone 
number 
in 
the 
presenter 
chat 
so 
they 
know 
who 
you 
are, 
so 
they 
know 
which 
number 
it 
is 
and 
they 
can 
hook 
you 
up. 


Kathy, 
did 
you 
have 
any 
--I know 
that 
you 
did 
some 
of 
this 
work 
through 
school. 
Is 
there 
any 
other 
reason 
you 
had 
joined 
us 
--joined 
and 
wanted 
to 
do 
this 
work? 


[no 
response] 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Did 
we 
lose 
you 
again? 


>> 
Can 
you 
hear 
me? 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Now 
we 
can 
hear 
you. 


>> 
Okay. 
Because 
I 
thought 
I 
heard 
you 
say 
put 
the 
phone 
on 
mute 
so 
you 
didn't 
hear 
the 
background 
noise. 
[no 
audio] 


>> 
It 
looks 
like 
our 
captioner 
is 
down. 
Might 
be 
reconnecting. 
I'm 
not 
getting 
any 
captioning. 
I 
wanted 
to 
make 
sure 
that 
we 
figure 
out 
--it looks 
like 
they're 
back. 
[sorry, 
I 
was 
disconnected] 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Looks 
like 
we 
are 
good. 
What 
was 
I 
saying? 
I 
felt 
like 
I 
was 
hitting 
my 
head 
against 
the 
wall 
trying 
to 
work 
across 
disciplines. 
What 
has 
been 
the 
hardest 
thing 
for 
you 
guys 
working 
with 
domestic 
violence 
and 
sexual 



assault 
programs. 
Julie, 
do 
you 
want 
to 
answer 
that 
first? 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Sure. 
I 
think 
it 
was 
a 
little 
difficult 
because 
people, 
first 
of 
all, 
you 
have 
to 
start 
from 
the 
beginning, 
and 
you 
have 
to 
get 
rid 
of 
the 
stereotypes 
and 
the 
stigmas 
that 
people 
have 
around 
disabilities, 
that 
society 
has 
these 
sexual 
norms 
about 
how 
they 
think 
about 
disabilities. 
So 
we've 
done 
a 
lot 
of 
work 
with 
educating 
domestic 
violence 
collaborators 
in 
sexual 
assault, 
and 
I 
think 
now 
they 
--they 
get 
it, 
you 
know. 
When 
we 
tell 
them, 
don't 
forget 
what 
you 
have 
always 
known. 
Treat 
people 
like 
People 
First. 
Don't 
look 
the 
disabilities. 
A 
lot 
of 
our 
domestic 
violence 
and 
sexual 
assault 
centers 
around 
the 
stay 
I 
feel 
during 
a 
really 
good 
job 
and 
the 
collaborations 
that 
we 
have 
really 
made 
the 
difference. 
It 
was 
hard 
in 
the 
beginning. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 
Alice, 
what 
about 
you? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Oh, 
boy, 
this 
is 
a 
big 
one 
for 
me 
because 
I 
feel 
that 
there 
are 
several 
things 
involved. 
First 
of 
all, 
politics 
are 
involved 
because 
the 
money 
is 
shrinking, 
and 
without 
the 
money 
it's 
hard 
to 
go 
out 
and 
talk 
to 
people 
about 
the 
different 
kinds 
of 
things 
that 
need 
to 
be 
changed. 
It's 
hard 
to 
have 
local 
seminars 
or 
--it's 
hard 
to 
even 
have 
a 
national 
seminar. 
Vera 
hasn't 
had 
one 
in 
a 
couple 
of 
years. 
And 
I 
think 
that 
it's 
really, 
really 
important 
that 
we 
have 
these, 
and 
I 
think 
that 
they 
have 
shrunk 
because 
of 
the 
money 
situation. 
I 
think 
the 
other 
part 
of 
it 
is 
that 
the 
people 
who 
run 
the 
services 
do 
not 
have 
contact 
with 
their 
local 
representatives 
to 
get the 
support that they 
need 
to 
run 
these 
services. So 
I think 
that 
things 
have 
to 
be 
worked 
out 
along 
those 
directors 
in 
order 
for 
us 
to 
get 
what 
we 
need 
in 
order 
to 
be 
able 
to 
produce 
what 
we 
want 
to 
produce. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Thank 
you. 
Kelly, 
what 
about 
you? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
I 
agree 
that 
politics 
is 
a 
part 
of 
it, 
but 
when 
I 
tried 
reporting 
it to 
the 
police, 
they 
told 
me 
I had 
to 
get a 
video 
camera 
and 
get 
him 
on 
tape, 
and 
I 
was 
--I didn't 
feel believed 
at 
all. 
Yeah, they 
told 
me 
I had 
to 
get 
a 
smartphone, 
get 
him 
on 
camera, 
and 
they 
didn't 
believe 
me. 


>> 
Wow. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yeah. 


>> 
I'm 
sorry, 
Kelly. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Yeah, 
if 
I 
wouldn't 
have 
had 
Stephanie 
there, 
I 
don't 
think 
I 
could 
have 
got 
through 
it. 
Police 
in 
Lawrence 
are 
really 
bad 
right 
now, 
and 
I'm 
trying 
to 
work 
with 
them 
to 
do 
some 
training. 
I 
don't 
know 
what 
yet, 
but, 
yeah. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Thanks, 
Kelly. 
What 
about 
you, 
Renee? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Can 
you 
hear 
me? 
I 
agree 
that 
I 
think 
there's 
just 
no 
real 
recourse 
out there 
where 
anybody 
did 
believe 
you. You 
can 
report it, 
but, 
you 



know, 
many 
times 
I 
think 
the 
police 
for 
whatever 
reason 
have 
difficulty 
believing 
that 
anything 
is 
actually 
going 
on, 
especially 
when 
it 
comes 
to 
caregivers. 
I 
think 
that's 
one 
of 
the 
most 
difficult 
and 
--I think 
the 
other one 
is 
getting 
--can 
you 
all 
hear 
me? 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yeah, 
you're 
getting 
a 
lot 
of 
feedback, 
but 
go 
ahead. 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
I 
don't 
know 
where 
the 
feedback 
is 
-


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
I 
don't 
know 
where 
the 
feedback 
is 
coming 
from. I think 
another 
problem 
is 
really 
getting 
people 
who 
have 
been 
abused 
to 
speak 
up 
for 
themselves, 
to 
get 
people 
to 
become 
self-advocates, 
because 
as 
I 
said, 
we 
need 
people 
to 
come 
out 
and 
advocate 
for 
themselves 
when 
things 
like 
this 
happen, 
like 
what Kathy did, 
and 
just keep 
fighting 
the 
system 
because 
I think systemically 
we 
have 
to 
change 
our 
idea 
that 
people 
with 
disabilities 
are 
asexual 
or 
that 
they 
-that 
nobody 
would 
want to 
do 
something 
like 
that, 
a 
sexual assault or anything, 
to 
someone 
who 
is 
I.D. 
or 
in 
a 
wheelchair, 
just 
seems 
unbelievable 
to 
so 
many 
people, 
and 
they 
think 
it 
just 
doesn't 
happen. 
So 
that 
needs 
to 
be 
changed 
because 
I 
think 
that's 
part 
of 
the 
problem, 
is 
--systemically. 


>> 
Right. 


>> 
I 
think 
--this 
is 
Alice. 
I 
think 
that 
is 
part 
of 
the 
problem. 
I 
also 
think 
the 
additional 
problem 
is 
that 
because 
of 
that 
we 
are 
not 
given 
any 
kind 
of 
funding 
in 
order 
to 
be 
able 
to 
get 
out 
there 
and 
change 
those 
minds. 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
I 
think 
why 
I'm 
happy 
to 
be 
part 
of 
the 
Vera. 
Because 
they 
are 
providing 
with 
us 
resources 
to 
get 
the 
word 
out. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Exactly. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Exactly. 
Even 
Vera 
is 
feeling 
the 
crunch 
at 
this 
point, 
I 
think. 
I don't 
know 
if 
that's 
true, 
Leslie. 
Only 
you 
can 
answer 
that. 
But 
I 
know 
that 
other 
systems 
have 
been 
cut 
back 
on 
their 
funding, 
and 
I 
don't 
know 
if 
Vera 
has 
or 
not. 
I 
know 
that 
it's 
an 
issue. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
I 
didn't 
hear 
you, 
Leslie. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
I'm 
asking 
Kathy 
to 
talk 
about 
hardest 
thing 
-


>> 
Can 
you 
hear 
me 
now? 
I 
basically 
agree 
with 
everything 
that 
each 
participant 
has 
said, 
but 
I 
also 
feel 
that 
it 
is 
--it's 
money, 
it's 
politics, 
it's 
lack of 
looking 
at this 
population 
as 
a 
credible 
witness, 
and 
-


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Can 
you 
--just a 
second. 


>> 
And 
the 
people 
that 
are 
-


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Hang 
on 
one 
second 
opinion 
our 
captioner 
fell 
off. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
I 
don't 
know 
which 
one 
is 
the 
old 
one, 
which 
one 
is 
the 
new 
one. 



>> 
Captioner: 
We're 
reconnected. 
You 
should 
be 
seeing 
captions 
now. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
There 
we 
go. 
Now 
she's 
connected. 
We're 
good 
to 
go. 


So, 
go 
ahead. 
Sorry, 
Kathy. 
Sorry 
to 
interrupt 
you. 


>> 
That's 
okay. 
Technical 
things 
happen. 
But 
basically 
I 
was 
saying 
I 
agree 
with 
what 
each 
participant 
has 
said. 
It's 
a 
plethora 
of 
things, 
including 
politics, 
lack of funding, 
and 
lack of looking 
at people 
with 
disabilities 
as 
credible 
witnesses, 
lack 
of 
looking 
at 
people 
with 
disabilities 
as 
sexual 
beings 
who 
have 
a 
right to 
healthy 
relationships, 
and 
I 
also 
think 
that 
systemically 
that 
the 
police 
brutality 
--the 
police, 
although 
they 
are 
supposed 
to 
be 
our 
allies, 
have 
been 
taught 
to 
protect 
people 
with 
disabilities, 
but 
they 
have 
not 
been 
taught 
to 
teach 
us 
what 
to 
do 
if 
we 
are 
victimized, 
and 
I 
have 
found 
out 
that 
with 
me 
growing 
up 
in 
special ed 
for the 
first 17 
years 
of our life 
--of 
my 
life, 
rather 
--sexuality 
and 
prevention 
of 
sexual 
assault 
is 
supposed 
to 
be 
in 
your 
sex 
education 
class, 
but 
if 
you 
grow 
up 
in 
special 
ed, 
at 
least 
50 
years 
ago, 
they 
didn't 
teach 
people 
with 
disabilities 
anything 
about 
that. 
They 
didn't 
teach 
you, 
like, 
prevention 
of 
violence 
and 
sexual 
assault 
was 
not 
part 
of 
our 
curriculum. 
So 
we 
grew 
up 
without 
a 
vital 
part 
of 
our 
knowledge 
and 
what 
everybody 
else 
knew 
we 
didn't 
know 
and 
they 
weren't 
trying 
to 
make 
sure 
that 
we 
knew 
because 
they 
felt 
like 
this 
population 
back 
then 
could 
not 
understand 
--it would 
be 
too 
upsetting, 
and 
they 
didn't 
really 
--I didn't 
really 
learn 
the 
term, like, saying 
nurses 
and 
all 
those 
medical 
terms 
until 
I 
was 
well 
into 
the 
40s, 
and 
that's 
when 
I 
learned 
all 
of 
this 
knowledge, 
and 
I 
found 
out 
that 
my 
able-bodied 
counterparts 
got 
this 
information 
in 
high 
school. The 
only thing 
I remember getting 
in 
school as 
far as 
safety 
was 
the 
Officer 
Friendly 
that 
you 
got 
in 
grammar 
school 
if 
you 
were 
in 
trouble 
or 
somebody 
touched 
you 
the 
wrong 
way, 
just 
go 
to 
the 
police, 
and 
the 
police 
have 
been 
designed 
to 
protect, 
but 
they 
have 
not 
been 
designed 
to 
teach 
you 
how 
to 
take 
care 
of 
yourself, 
and 
I 
can 
say 
this 
from 
personal 
experience 
because 
I'm 
also 
a 
policeman's 
daughter, 
and 
I 
still 
got 
victimized, 
and 
my 
own 
father 
said, 
"If 
you 
ever 
have 
a 
problem, 
just 
go 
to 
policeman." 
He 
did 
not 
teach 
me 
how 
to 
understand 
grooming, 
how 
to 
understand 
if 
you 
were 
in 
trouble, 
how 
to 
understand 
the 
language 
of 
a 
sex 
offender, 
what 
they're 
actually 
asking 
you 
for 
and 
the 
fact 
that 
they 
have 
you 
in 
a 
setting 
where 
they're 
trying 
to 
get 
your 
trust 
so 
they 
can 
violate 
you, 
and 
it's 
not 
anything 
to 
do 
with 
sex 
but 
a 
form 
of 
control. 
None 
of 
that 
was 
taught 
to 
me, 
and 
so 
I 
actually 
got 
educated 
in 
the 
system 
of 
learning 
about sexual assault prevention 
and 
disability, 
and 
I was 
over 40 
when 
it 
happened. 
So 
I 
got 
it 
very 
late 
in 
life. 


>> 
Can 
I 
interject here? 
I just want to 
interject something 
here. This 
is 



Renee 
Lopez. 
I 
agree 
with 
what 
Kathy 
is 
saying, 
is 
we 
are 
giving 
the 
tools 
to 
be 
empowered, 
and 
I 
think 
that's 
one 
of 
the 
reasons 
I'd 
--I like 
working 
with 
SAFE, is 
because 
we 
did 
a 
project 
called 
Meaningful 
Relationships 
where 
people 
are 
given 
the 
tools 
they 
need 
in 
order 
to 
know 
what 
is 
appropriate 
and 
what 
isn't 
appropriate 
in 
relationships, 
and 
I 
think 
once 
you 
start 
to 
understand 
the 
differences 
and 
feel 
empowered, 
then 
at 
that 
point 
I think 
you 
can 
move 
into 
self-advocacy, 
and 
that's 
what 
I'm 
hoping 
that 
comes 
out 
with 
these 
projects 
that 
we 
do. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Great. 
Thank 
you. 
I 
have 
one 
more 
question 
for 
all 
of 
you, 
and 
we've 
kind 
of 
touched 
on 
it 
along 
the 
way, 
but 
what 
--if 
you 
had 
all 
these 
--all 
these 
people 
that 
are 
on 
this 
call 
o 
this 
webinar 
are 
probably 
service 
providers, 
and 
what 
do 
you 
think 
is 
important 
for 
those 
folks 
to 
really 
know 
about 
including 
self-advocates 
in 
the 
work? 
Julie, 
we'll 
go 
ahead 
and 
start 
with 
you. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
That's 
a 
hard 
one. 
First 
of 
all, 
I 
just 
want 
to 
say 
you 
got 
to 
believe 
people 
when 
they 
come 
to 
you. 
I 
think 
with 
self-advocates 
--I think 
you 
need 
to 
start 
with 
the 
die 
log 
and 
bring 
self-advocates 
to 
the 
table. 
This 
is 
a 
very 
hard 
top 
tyke 
talk 
about 
and 
when 
I 
--topic 
to 
talk 
about, 
and 
when 
I 
first 
started, 
I had 
to 
learn 
myself. 
I remember that. 
This 
is 
a 
hard 
topic, and 
to 
include 
self-advocates, 
I 
would 
say 
you 
can 
find 
others 
who 
are 
already 
doing 
the 
work, 
like 
--training 
that 
you 
are 
developing, 
Leslie. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Alice, 
what 
do 
you 
have 
to 
say 
to 
--about 
-


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
I'm 
not 
sure 
you 
are 
going 
to 
want 
to 
hear 
this, 
Leslie, 
but 
what 
I 
have 
to 
say 
is 
self-advocates 
really 
need 
to 
be 
the 
basis 
of 
the 
teams 
that 
are 
being 
built. 
It's 
like 
going 
to 
the 
doctor. 
You 
know 
your 
body 
better 
than 
the 
doctor 
does. 
If 
the 
doctor 
tells 
you 
that 
you 
have 
to 
take 
a 
pill 
and 
the 
pill 
makes 
you 
throw 
up 
for 
three 
months 
in 
a 
row 
you 
tell 
him 
know. 
And 
if 
he 
tells 
you 
need 
to 
continue 
it, 
you 
tell 
him 
no. 
The 
other 
thing 
is 
that 
in 
life 
there 
is 
always 
somebody 
who 
can 
say 
yes. 
So 
if 
you 
need 
for 
something 
to 
happen 
and 
you're 
being 
told 
no, 
go 
to 
the 
next 
person 
higher. 
If 
they 
tell 
you 
no, 
go 
to 
the 
next 
person 
higher. There 
is 
always, 
always 
someone 
who 
can 
say 
yes, 
and 
you 
just 
need 
to 
keep 
plugging 
until 
you 
find 
that 
person. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Kelly, 
how 
about 
you? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
A 
big 
part 
of 
it 
for 
me 
is 
people 
believing 
me, 
and 
I 
think 
we 
need 
to 
change 
some 
of 
the 
language 
because 
when 
I 
got 
a 
subpoena 
in 
the 
mail 
it 
said 
I 
was 
commanded 
to 
be 
there, 
and 
I 
started 
hyperventilating, 
and 
it 
took 
Stephanie 
a 
good 
45 
minutes 
to 
calm 
me 
down. 
I 
mean, 
the 
language, 
I 
don't 
know 
if 
we 
need 
to 
talk 
to 
the 
courts 
or 
what, 
but 
that 
language 
is 
really 



intimidating 
to 
me. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Renee? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Yeah, 
I 
think 
what's 
important 
to 
know 
is 
that 
--you 
know 
--I think 
the 
title 
of 
this 
was 
nothing 
about 
us 
without 
us, and 
I think 
that's 
the 
perfect 
way 
to 
stay 
state 
it. 
I 
love 
that. 
Because 
I 
think 
--I think 
we 
need 
to 
break 
away 
from 
the 
medical 
model 
where 
someone 
else 
makes 
all 
the 
decisions, 
the 
caretakers, 
the 
doctors, 
the 
school 
--you 
know, 
it 
goes 
on 
and 
on. 
And 
the 
disabilities, 
myself 
included, 
when 
I 
was 
growing 
up, 
I 
was 
not 
given 
this 
decisions 
or 
made 
choices 
or 
anything. 
I 
had 
no 
choice 
whatsoever. 
Everybody 
else 
talked 
on 
my 
behalf. 
Except 
one 
day 
when 
I 
had 
a 
doctor 
who 
told 
my 
mother 
to 
stop 
talking 
and 
said, 
let 
her 
talk, 
she 
knows 
what 
it's 
like 
to 
wear 
braces. 
I 
want 
to 
hear 
from 
her. 
It 
was 
the 
first 
time 
anybody 
ever 
in 
my 
life 
had 
ever 
said 
I 
want 
to 
hear 
from 
you. 
And 
I'll 
never 
forget 
that, 
because 
once 
I 
was 
able 
to 
--and 
actually 
it 
took 
me 
a 
minute 
to 
figure 
out 
what 
I 
was 
going 
to 
say 
because 
I 
was 
just not used 
to 
it, 
you 
know. So 
I just spoke 
--it's 
not that I just spoke 
up 
immediately and 
say it was 
this, 
and 
this. It took me 
a 
moment to 
let that sink in 
that 
somebody 
was 
going 
to 
listen 
to 
me. 
And 
I 
think 
it's 
important 
to 
be 
a 
good 
listener and 
to 
help 
people 
find 
the 
words 
that they need 
in 
order to 
express 
themselves, 
and 
it's 
also 
important, 
like 
I 
said, 
to 
break 
out 
of 
the 
medical 
model 
where 
you 
know 
better 
and 
to 
actually 
get 
people 
with 
disabilities 
involved 
in 
whatever 
issue 
you're 
working 
on. 
We 
do 
know 
better. 
The 
second 
thing 
is 
to 
let 
them 
know 
they 
have 
a 
right 
to 
speak 
up, 
that 
you're 
listening 
and 
you 
can 
speak 
up 
and 
we're 
listening, 
you 
can 
say 
what's 
going 
on, 
we 
will 
help 
you 
determine 
the 
best 
possible 
way 
to 
take 
care 
of 
the 
problem, 
you 
know, 
with 
you. 
We're 
allies. 
And 
we're 
not 
going 
to 
move 
forward 
without 
you 
being 
part 
of 
the 
solution. 
That's 
really 
what 
it's 
about, 
is 
just 
we 
are 
part 
of 
the 
solution, 
period. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Kathy. 


>> 
Can 
you 
hear 
me? 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Yep. 


>> 
Okay. 
I 
feel 
that 
one 
of 
the 
main 
problems 
that 
we 
have, 
although 
agree 
with 
each 
one 
on 
the 
panel 
has 
said 
today, 
one 
of 
the 
main 
problems 
that 
we 
have 
is 
that 
we 
are 
--and 
I 
think I said 
this 
already 
--we're 
not 
looked 
at 
as 
people. 
Our 
acronym 
is 
PWD 
and 
our 
correct 
way 
of 
peaking 
should 
be 
People 
First 
language, 
but 
we 
are 
inundated 
with 
experts 
who 
don't 
look 
at 
us 
as 
people. 
We're 
either 
the 
client 
or 
the 
patient 
or 
the 
victim 
or the 
one 
-


>> 
The 
problem. 


>> 
Or 
the 
problem. 
Oftentimes 
we're 
not 
a 
problem. 
We're 
just 
trying 
to 



get 
our 
needs 
met, 
and 
we're 
not 
going 
along 
with 
the 
program. 


>> 
Right. 


>> 
So, 
I 
found 
out 
the 
best 
advocate 
is 
the 
person 
who 
always 
is 
considered 
the 
problem 
person 
because 
that's 
the 
person 
that 
doesn't 
take 
no 
for 
an 
answer, 
that 
just 
doesn't 
accept 
what 
everybody 
else 
is 
saying, 
and 
I 
have 
to 
say 
one 
thing, 
one 
of 
the 
biggest 
issues 
that 
we 
have, 
one 
of 
our 
--because 
maybe 
of 
smaller 
body 
size 
or 
different 
aspects 
of 
disability, 
people 
still 
think 
of 
us 
as 
children, 
but 
in 
we 
are 
over 
21, 
we 
are 
not 
children, 
and 
we 
have 
to 
start 
allowing 
our 
adult 
mind 
to 
come 
forth. 
We 
have 
to 
find 
our 
voice 
and 
be 
able 
to 
speak 
and 
let those 
in 
power know 
that 
we 
have 
a 
right 
not 
to 
accept 
what 
they're 
saying 
but 
to 
decide 
for 
ourselves 
what 
we 
want 
or 
what 
we 
don't 
want, 
and 
oftentimes 
when 
I 
do 
that, 
the 
main 
thing 
that 
I 
get 
is, 
oh, 
you're 
not 
like 
the 
other 
disabled 
people, 
but 
look 
how 
ludicrous 
that 
sounds. 
It's 
like 
you're 
putting 
people 
all 
in 
one 
category. 
That's 
like 
saying, 
oh, 
you're 
not 
like 
all 
the 
other 
blacks, 
you're 
not 
like 
all the 
other women. Since 
when 
were 
we 
supposed 
to 
be 
all just alike. 
We're 
human 
beings 
and 
we're 
all 
different 
and 
our 
diversity 
is 
what 
makes 
us 
special. 
And 
when 
I 
say 
special, 
I 
don't 
mean 
in 
terms 
of 
special 
ed 
or 
the 
negative 
meaning 
of 
special. 
I 
mean 
that 
is 
what 
makes 
us 
who 
we 
are, 
that 
is 
what 
makes 
us 
unique. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Thank 
you. 
Thank 
you 
very 
much. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
To 
quote 
Maya 
Angelou, 
we 
are 
all 
phenomenal 
women. 


>> 
Thank 
you. 


>> 
And 
also 
to 
quote 
Maya 
Angelou, 
she 
says 
we 
are 
more 
alike 
than 
unalike 
but 
when 
she 
said 
that 
she 
was 
speaking 
of 
the 
human 
condition, 
that 
we're 
all human, 
not that we're 
all the 
same 
based 
upon 
a 
shared 
set of 
experiences 
or 
cultures. 


>> 
Right. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
I 
have 
a 
question 
from 
an 
audience 
member 
here. 
I'm 
going 
to 
go 
ahead 
and 
open 
it 
up 
for questions 
from 
the 
audience. 
So 
if 
you 
have 
a 
question, 
please 
go 
ahead 
and 
put 
it 
in 
the 
Q&A 
box 
and 
we'll 
try 
and 
get 
to 
it. 
I 
have 
a 
number 
of 
questions 
here 
that 
I 
have 
to 
go 
through. 
This 
one 
is 
from 
Nicole. 
She 
says 
that 
she's 
part 
of 
a 
collaboration 
that 
is 
grant 
funded 
to 
work 
on 
the 
intersection 
of folks 
with 
IDD 
and 
sexual violence. As 
a 
group 
primarily 
made 
up 
of 
folks 
without 
disability 
I 
often 
worry 
that 
our 
collaboration 
tokenizes 
our 
self-advocates 
and 
does 
not 
involve 
them 
in 
leadership 
roles 
outside 
of 
public 
speaking. 
Would 
anyone 
be 
willing 
to 
speak 
to 
how 
I 
as 
an 
ALI 
in 
the 
self-advocate 
community 
might 
advocate 
to 
create 
more 
space 
for 



self-advocates 
to 
be 
more 
involved 
and 
engaged 
in 
more 
meaningful 
ways? 
Would 
anybody 
E 
anyone 
-


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
One 
way 
I 
can 
think 
of 
immediately 
is 
when 
you 
are 
having 
a 
meeting 
and 
the 
self-advocate 
is 
not 
speaking, 
ask 
the 
self-advocate 
what 
they 
think 
about 
whatever 
topic 
you 
are 
talking 
about. 


>> 
What 
I 
was 
just 
going 
to 
say. 
Ask 
the 
self-advocate 
if 
you're 
not 
sure. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
This 
is 
Renee. 


>> 
Go 
ahead. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Go 
ahead, 
Julie. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Sorry, 
Renee. 
I 
would 
get 
the 
self-advocates 
101 
and 
ask 
them 
what 
do 
you 
see 
could 
be 
more 
involved. 
I'm 
uncomfortable 
arguing 
in 
front 
of 
everybody. 


>> 
I 
was 
going 
-


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
This 
is 
Renee. 
I 
was 
going 
to 
say, 
I 
guess 
I'm 
wondering 
why 
you 
said 
it 
was 
mostly 
a 
group 
of 
people 
with 
non-disabilities. 
I 
think 
that 
-is 
it because 
you 
haven't found 
enough 
self-advocates 
to 
be 
part 
of 
the 
group? 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
I 
don't 
know 
if 
you're 
there 
to 
answer 
the 
question. 
It's 
also 
sort 
of 
rhetorical. 
I 
just 
wonder 
if 
maybe 
there 
would 
be 
a 
way 
to 
get 
more 
self-advocates 
so 
it's 
more 
even 
instead 
of 
just 
a 
handful 
so 
it 
doesn't 
appear 
to 
be 
tokenism. 
But 
also 
I 
agree 
with 
the 
others, 
so 
it's 
really 
just 
a 
matter 
of 
sitting 
down, 
maybe 
on 
a 
one-to-one 
position, 
and 
then 
engage 
them 
in 
conversation 
with 
the 
whole 
group. 


>> 
If 
I 
may 
interject, 
this 
is 
Kathy, 
one 
thing 
you 
may 
have 
to 
do 
is 
allow 
the 
other 
self-advocates 
their 
value. 
We've 
been 
devalued 
by 
society 
that 
we 
might 
feel 
like 
our 
voices 
don't 
count 
or 
we 
might 
feel 
that 
we're 
not 
used 
to, 
as 
Renee 
said 
earlier, 
you're 
not 
just 
used 
to 
being 
asked 
your 
opinion. 
So 
it's 
your role 
as 
a 
self-advocate, 
if 
you 
want 
other 
self-advocates 
to 
become 
involved 
with 
the 
work 
you 
are 
doing, 
you 
have 
--you 
may 
have 
to 
first 
teach 
them 
their 
value 
as 
a 
person 
and 
the 
fact 
that 
they 
have 
a 
voice 
and 
the 
fact 
that 
their 
voice 
is 
valued 
and 
here 
is 
an 
opportunity 
for 
them 
to 
speak, 
opportunity 
for 
them 
to 
show 
their 
skills 
and 
talents, 
and 
to 
say 
what 
they 
have 
not 
said 
in 
the 
past 
simply 
because 
of 
oppression 
that 
they 
have 
not 
felt 
strong 
enough 
to 
speak. 
So, 
in 
other 
words 
it's 
up 
to 
you 
to 
open 
that 
up 
and 
allow 
them 
to 
have 
their 
voice, 
and 
as 
they 
get 
their 
voice, 
allow 
them 
to 
create 
stronger 
and 
stronger 
voices 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] as 
they 
get 
used 
to 
doing 
so. 



>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 
Looks 
like 
--I'm 
not 
seeing 
any 
other questions, 
though 
we 
do 
have 
a 
comment 
in 
Illinois, 
representative 
will 
Davis 
is 
seeking 
legislation 
to 
require 
sex 
education 
for persons 
with 
disabilities 
in 
residential 
settings, 
meeting 
--meeting 
some 
resistance 
from 
residential 
settings 
and 
private 
guardians, 
but 
self-advocates 
have 
been 
key 
to 
moving 
the 
bill 
forward 
and 
spoke 
at 
a 
stakeholder 
meeting 
on 
this 
bill 
yesterday. 
So 
thank 
you, 
Teresa, 
for 
letting 
us 
know 
that. 


>> 
Yay, 
Teresa. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
So, 
this 
is 
another 
question. 
Somebody 
from 
Washington 
state, 
the 
long-term 
care 
ombudsman, 
is 
asking 
a 
question 
-


>> 
[ 
INAUDIBLE 
] what's 
the 
ombudsman 
-


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
What? 


>> 
What's 
an 
ombudsman. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Well, 
they 
are 
--trying 
to 
think 
of 
how 
best 
to 
explain 
it. 
They 
answer 
--they 
--they 
work 
--they 
go 
into 
long-term 
care 
facilities 
like 
nursing 
homes 
and 
stuff 
like 
that 
-


>> 
Are 
they 
like 
advocates? 
[feedback] 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
--violence, 
abuse 
and 
--yeah, 
they're 
advocates. 


>> 
Okay. 
Thank 
you. 
I 
just 
wanted 
to 
make 
sure 
I 
understood. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
So 
what 
--he's 
asking 
what 
should 
long-term 
care 
ombudsmen 
provide 
adequacy 
for 
victims 
of 
crime? 
What 
should 
they 
--what 
should 
they 
do 
to 
provide 
advocacy 
for 
victims 
of 
crime? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
First 
of 
all, 
believe 
them. 
Believe 
them 
when 
they 
say 
-then, 
secondly, 
advocate 
to 
get 
the 
crime 
actually 
into 
the 
courts. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 


>> 
Second 
of 
all, 
try 
not 
to 
revictimize 
them. 
Maybe 
they 
have 
a 
condition 
like 
Alzheimer's. They still know 
if something 
hurts 
--they 
feel 
they 
have 
been 
abused. 
So 
don't 
revictimize 
them. 


>> 
Good 
point. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 


>> 
So 
many 
people 
forget 
to 
listen 
and 
they 
talk 
first. 
That's 
been 
my 
opinion. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
I 
think 
that 
that 
was 
a 
strong 
statement 
that 
came 
out 
of 
your 
collaboration, 
about 
listening 
and 
believing. 


>> 
Those 
were 
the 
big 
ones. 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
I 
think 
along 
with 
what 
Kelly 
has 
to 
say 
is 
to 
ask 
them 
what 
they 
want. 
Ask 
them 
what 
they 
want 
to 
happen. 



>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Right. 
Yep. 


So, 
we're 
just 
about 
out 
of 
time. 
So 
I 
just 
wanted 
to 
give 
everybody 
a 
last 
chance 
if 
they 
wanted 
to 
say 
something 
--something, 
kind 
of 
a 
final 
thought 
that 
you 
might 
want 
to 
tell 
participants 
on 
this 
call. 
So, 
Julie, 
do 
you 
have 
any 
final 
thoughts 
for people? 


>> 
JULIE 
PETTY: 
Final 
thoughts... 
I've 
heard 
a 
lot 
of 
information 
on 
the 
call 
today, 
mostly 
that 
we 
could 
actually 
--the 
conversation 
to 
go 
on 
and 
continue, 
and 
I 
just 
think 
it's 
really 
important 
to 
listen 
to 
self-advocates 
and 
be 
inclusive. 
So 
thank 
you. 
That's 
all. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Alice, 
any 
final 
thoughts 
for 
our 
folks? 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
Well, 
I 
agree 
with 
her, 
and 
I 
also 
want 
to 
add 
that 
I 
believe 
that 
self-advocates 
need 
to 
be 
the 
basis 
of 
any 
teams. 
So 
if 
you 
don't 
have 
a 
self-advocate 
on 
your 
team, 
please 
find 
one, 
and 
they're 
easier 
to 
find 
than 
you 
think 
they 
are. 
So 
go 
ahead 
to 
ARC, 
go 
to 
CIL, 
go 
to 
somebody 
that 
can 
provide 
you, 
go 
to 
DHS, 
somebody 
that 
can 
provide 
you 
with 
a 
self-advocate 
or 
two 
or 
three 
or 
four. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay. 
Kelly? 


>> 
KELLY 
SMITH: 
Well, 
here 
at 
SAG 
we 
don't 
--we 
don't 
present 
without 
an 
advocate. 
There 
is 
always 
an 
advocate 
at 
the 
table. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Uh-huh. 
Good. 
Renee? 


>> 
RENEE 
LOPEZ: 
Yes. 
You 
know, 
I 
would 
say 
that 
the 
first 
thing 
you 
have 
to 
do 
is 
to 
get 
self-advocates 
is 
to 
be 
a 
good 
listener 
and 
let 
those 
individuals 
who 
have 
had 
the 
experience, 
who 
have 
the 
disability 
or 
whatever 
the 
issue 
may 
be, 
that 
there's 
someone 
who 
cares 
and 
respects 
and 
listens 
to 
them. 
I 
think 
when 
you 
have 
that 
safety 
net, 
that 
person 
is 
going 
to 
be 
willing 
to 
speak 
up 
and 
become 
the 
advocate 
that 
you 
are 
looking 
for. 
So 
I 
think 
that's 
where 
I 
would 
get 
started. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
Okay, 
great. 
Kathy? 


>> 
Always 
make 
the 
person 
with 
the 
disability 
feel 
like 
they're 
empowered 
because 
you're 
there 
to 
assist 
them, 
you 
are 
three 
to 
help 
them, 
but 
it 
ultimately 
is 
their life, 
their decision. So 
don't leave 
them 
out of the 
decision-making 
process. 
And 
even 
if 
you 
perceive 
that 
they 
may 
have 
intellectual 
disability, 
understand 
that 
everyone 
can 
learn. 
Do 
not 
be 
prejudicial 
by 
utilizing 
labels 
or 
looking 
at labels. They might have 
a 
psychological disability or physical disability, 
whatever, 
but 
everyone 
can 
learn 
and 
the 
question 
we 
ask 
is, 
can 
you 
teach? 
Can 
you 
the 
advocate 
teach. 
And 
also 
take 
the 
time 
to 
understand 
the 
person's 
learning 
style 
or learning 
process, 
because 
everyone 
does 
not learn 
in 
the 
same 



way, 
everybody 
does 
not 
process 
in 
the 
same 
way, 
everyone 
does 
not 
communicate 
in 
the 
same 
way. 
And 
it's 
valuing 
to 
the 
person 
when 
you 
take 
the 
time 
to 
ask 
them 
what 
are 
your 
communication 
devices? 
How 
is 
it 
you 
communicate 
on 
a 
daily 
basis? 
And 
then 
really 
take 
the 
time 
to 
learn 
to 
communicate 
with 
them, 
learn 
their 
language, 
whether 
it 
be 
a 
communication 
board 
or 
whether 
it 
be, 
you 
know, 
voc. 
cull 
synthesizer 
--vocal 
synthesizer 
that 
speaks 
for 
those 
that 
don't 
have 
an 
audible 
voice. 
It 
might 
take 
longer, 
but 
put 
the 
time 
into 
the 
process 
so 
that 
they 
can 
feel 
valued 
and 
they 
can 
feel 
like 
someone 
is 
actually caring 
about my life 
and 
letting 
me 
make 
the 
decisions 
that is 
going 
to 
affect 
me. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
All 
right. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
And, 
Kathy 
--can 
I 
add 
one 
more 
thing? 
It's 
Alice. 
Everyone 
has 
something 
to 
contribute 
and 
you 
need 
to 
be 
aware 
of 
that. 


>> 
Right. 
That's 
--I think 
that's 
what 
I was 
trying 
to 
say. 
I hope 
I said 
it 
in 
the 
correct 
way. 


>> 
ALICE 
KIEFT: 
You 
did 
fine. 


>> 
And 
nothing 
about 
us 
without 
us. 
That's 
what 
I 
have 
to 
say. 


>> 
LESLIE 
MYERS: 
There 
you 
go. 
All 
right. 
So 
on 
that 
--I want 
to 
thank 
everybody 
for 
joining 
this 
webinar. 
I'm 
going 
to 
turn 
it 
over 
to 
Ashley 
or 
Leni, 
I 
don't 
know 
which 
one 
is 
going 
to 
take 
on 
this, 
but 
I 
really 
want 
to, 
from 
Vera, 
express 
our 
gratitude 
to 
Julie, 
Alice, 
Kelly, 
Renee 
and 
Kathy, 
and 
for taking 
time 
out 
of 
their 
day 
to 
teach 
us 
all 
about 
working 
with 
self-advocates. 
So, 
Ashley, 
I'm 
going 
to 
turn 
it 
over 
to 
you. 
It 
looks 
like 
some 
people 
are 
looking 
for 
some 
contact 
information 
for 
our 
self-advocates. 
We 
will 
make 
sure 
that 
everybody 
is 
okay 
with 
that, 
and 
then 
we'll 
pass 
that 
on 
to 
you. 
All 
right. 
So, 
Ashley, 
take 
it 
away. 


>> 
Thank 
you, 
everyone, 
so 
much 
for 
taking 
the 
time 
to 
participate 
today. 
We 
hope 
that 
you 
-


[crosstalk] 


--from 
our 
panelists 
as 
much 
as 
we 
did. 
If 
you 
wouldn't 
mind 
completing 
a 
brief 
evaluation, 
which 
you 
can 
do 
by 
clicking 
the 
link 
on 
the 
pod 
on 
your 
screen 
that 
said 
please 
take 
our 
survey. 
You 
just 
click 
on 
the 
link 
that 
says 
survey 
web 
link, 
and 
then 
you 
will be 
able 
to 
be 
connected 
to 
the 
survey. We'd 
really 
appreciate 
it 
if 
you 
could 
take 
a 
few 
minutes, 
share 
your 
thoughts 
with 
us, 
so 
we 
can 
continue 
to 
meet 
your 
needs. 
We 
appreciate, 
again, 
you 
taking 
the 
time 
to 
participate 
today 
and 
working 
through 
our 
technical 
difficulties 
with 
us. 
For 
those 
of 
you 
who 
are 
interested 
in 
downloading 
a 
transcript 
of 
the 
webinar 
today, 
you 



can 
do 
so 
by 
going 
to 
the 
captioning 
pod 
at 
the 
bottom 
of 
the 
screen 
and 
clicking 
on 
the 
button 
that 
says 
"save." 
We 
will 
leave 
the 
webinar 
open 
for 
a 
few 
minutes 
to 
give 
you 
time 
to 
do 
so 
or 
to 
download 
any 
of 
the 
materials. 
If 
you 
have 
any 
further 
questions 
or 
concerns, 
please 
contact 
me 
at 
ABROMPTON@vera.org, 
and 
we'll 
be 
following 
up 
with 
a 
thank 
you 
email 
that 
should 
also 
have 
copies 
of 
the 
transcript 
if 
this 
transcript 
is 
not 
complete. 
Thank 
you 
again 
and 
have 
a 
great 
day.