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- My name is Laura Rauscher
and I am adjunct faculty here

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and teach a course in disability policy

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and I'm teaching course in
Intro to Racism this term.

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I'm also the Disability Services Director

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for Smith College and really thrilled to

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see so many people here tonight.

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I'm really looking forward
to this special opportunity

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to have a time to focus on
issues of disability and ableism,

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something that many people have asked

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for more opportunities to consider.

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More spaces where we can
think about those issues,

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and think about the intersectionalities.

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So many issues that we're all
dealing with and sometimes

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this is a slice of it that
doesn't have enough focus.

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And so, we're very thrilled
to have this opportunity

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with our special guest tonight.

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So I'm going to introduce
our guest speaker

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and we will have a presentation and then,

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if we have a few minutes
for questions afterward.

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Do we do that?

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OK.

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So, our topic tonight is
a Clinically Meaningful

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Understanding of People with Disabilities

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and the Impact of Ableism.

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Our guest speaker AndreA
Neumann-Mascis, PhD

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is a clinical psychologist
with area of specialty

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that includes gender variance, trauma

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and physical and psychiatric disability.

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Dr. Neumann-Mascis has
been working as a provider,

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educator and an activist since 1992,

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and has had access to working with people

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in a wide range of setting,
including in-patient

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hospital units, community
mental health settings

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and street-level outreach
and shelter programs.

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Dr. Neumann-Mascis founded and developed

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The Meeting Point, a
multidimensional center

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for healing and growth in
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

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The Meeting Point serves
the LGBTQ community,

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survivors and the disability community,

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and is growing to meet the
unique strengths and needs

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of queer people and their alies
through community activity

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and personalized approaches to wellness.

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Really want to welcome you here tonight

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and thank you for coming.

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Go ahead.

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(applause)

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- I'm incredibly excited to be here.

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I'm a huge fan of Smith and I'm a huge fan

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of the work that happens here
and I want to acknowledge

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that this is happening at
probably the worst possible time

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for a lot of you.

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So I appreciate the
extra effort that it took

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to want to be here tonight
when there's so much pressure

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on you right now.

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I also want to thank the
disability awareness group

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that had a great deal with
my being here tonight.

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I want to thank Samuel and Talia.

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(applause)

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And also Laura.

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And I know that making
space for this topic

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is itself kind of parallel process, right?

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Like the struggle involved in
making space for this topic

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reflects where we are in
our relationship to ableism

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and our understanding of ableism.

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And so we are all
manifesting that struggle

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right now together.

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What we're going to do
tonight is we're going to talk

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about disability and our understanding

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about disability across time.

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I'm going to talk about that
in a couple different contexts.

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We're definitely going to
talk about intersectionality

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and for those of you who are

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doing social justice
work of your very own,

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you have transferable
skills for the conversation

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that we're about to have.

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And then we'll also talk about sort of

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the meaning of all of that clinically

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and what the clinical
implications of that are.

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So that's what we're going to do.

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Where we're going to
start is this is actually

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a really exciting time to

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come into an understanding of disability

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because we've traveled
kind of an incredible arc,

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and it's an arc you may or may
not have direct awareness of.

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But where disability starts,

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where our understanding
of disability starts,

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is really in the medical
model of disability.

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So the medical model of
disability is all about location.

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The medical model of disability locates

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disability in the body,
it says that if you are

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having a disability it's because
you have a medical problem

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that needs to be fixed or cured.

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And fixed or cured means
that you are aspiring to be

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more like the category
of able-bodied persons.

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You are aspiring to a
standard of abilities that

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we have defined as the
abilities required to be human.

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That's where the medical model

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starts with disability, right?

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Where we go from medical
model of disability

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is something called the social
justice model of disability.

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And the social justice model of disability

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is a model that says,
actually, we - all of us -

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are part of the human community.

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And if, as part of the human community,

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we are all not able to participate
in the human community,

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the problem is actually
not with our bodies,

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but in fact at the structures

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that prevent us from
being active and involved

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in being part of the human community.

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So it's a conceptual shift that's simple

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and yet really profound.

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The conceptual shift says very simply,

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if I come up to a flight of steps

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and I can't get up that flight of steps,

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the medical model would say

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it has to do with my motor skills.

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The social justice
model of disability says

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that is has to do with
the presence of the steps.

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Right?

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So that's an enormous shift in
how we begin to conceptualize

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differently what it means to be

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part of the human community in that way.

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From the social justice
model of disability

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with move to what some people call the

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human variability model of disability.

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And human variability
actually came out of a lot of

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research being done about the differences

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in people's relationships to machines.

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But what that research discovered

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is that human beings are variable.

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(laughter)

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And in fact they demonstrate a scope

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of abilities that are worth understanding

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and the differences in
those abilities not only

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are worth understanding, but
are themselves beneficial.

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So human variability model
says, well the way that we're

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conceptualizing this all
together is problematic

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because we are conceptualizing

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sort of a mythological category

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that not only does not
include all human beings,

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but actually actively excludes the ability

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of a lot of human beings.

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Again, kind of a profound
conceptual shift.

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For those of you who are big fans of

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disability studies research,

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this is the time that you

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might be channeling Garland Thomas.

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For those of you who are
big fans of queer theory,

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this is the time that you
might be channeling Foucault.

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But the concept here is basically that

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if we have a categorization
of human beings,

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we have inherently a dichotomy
of that categorization.

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If we divide the world into
able-bodied and disabled.

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If we divide the world
in straight and gay.

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If we divide the world
into people of color

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and not people of color.

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Then the function of that division is

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really about creating a stratification.

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It's really about how
creating a categorization

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of human beings that defines
what people have access to

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what resources in the world.

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So human variability says
we want to obliterate that.

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We want to say that we are all
part of the human community.

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We want to say that we are
all people who have resources.

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That's a really, really exciting idea,

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except that we also live in this world.

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(laughter)

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So, while I and some of you
would want to join people

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in sort of obliterating categorization,

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and we are all actively in
a system of categorization,

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and we are all actively in
a system of categorization

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that is inherently oppressive.

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And not acknowledging that
actually serves no one.

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Enter the disability justice movement.

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The disability justice movement
is phenomenally exciting

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because the disability justice movement

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now sort of conceptually
re-embodies disability

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It says in fact we are more
than the sum of our parts,

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and all of our parts count.

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Disability justice says
that the experience

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of being a person with a disability

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is radically different
and radically impacted

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by complicating
identities, including race,

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including class, including
gender, including heterosexism.

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That all of these factors
that define membership

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in various communities
have an enormous impact

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on the ways in which being
a person with a disability

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is experienced and expressed.

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Is that making sense?

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So, by way of illustration, I am a person

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who is visibly queer.

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I'm also a person with
a visible disability.

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I'm also white.

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I was also raised in
a middle-class family.

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Part of what that meant
was that I was mainstreamed

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before it was legal or cool.

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I was maintained in
regular education settings.

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Beyond that, because I was
conditioned to believe that

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these systems were meant to work for me,

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I knew how to advocate for
myself in those systems.

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So that every time we
moved that I was then

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relocated into special education,
I could advocate my way

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out of special education

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and into advanced placement classes.

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The trajectory of my life experience

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and my experience
specifically with disability,

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and the fact that I am
sitting here in front of you,

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is entirely defined by those factors.

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It is entirely defined
by those identities.

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And it is entirely defined by my location

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within that larger system.

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So, I could sit here and sort of say,

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isn't that amazing that I
did all those amazing things?

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Except that in doing that I would have

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to divorce myself from
a system of privileging

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that has, in and of
itself, profoundly informed

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my relationship to disability

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and my experience with disability.

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What disability justice says is not only

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do we have to have that
level of consciousness,

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but, in fact, our ability
to respond to disability

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has everything to do with
a conceptual shift on a

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social and emotional
level to collaboration.

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That it is in collaboration
and in an understanding of

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ability exchange that is the
answer to allowing everyone

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to be a part of the human
community in that way.

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And I'll say more about that in a minute

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and it will make more sense.

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But first I'm going to drink.

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Pardon me.

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How's all this going?

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Am I going to fast?

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Everybody OK?

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You coming with?

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(laughter)

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Excellent.

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So from that trajectory and from that

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location that I mentioned earlier,

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what we now think I understand together is

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that there is no way to

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meaningfully understand the clinic...

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Meaningfully respond to the

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clinical needs of people with disabilities

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without having that social
justice framework in place.

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That you have to have an
understanding of someone's location

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and an understanding
of someone's experience

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of oppression in order to meaningfully

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understand their experience

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of being a person with a disability

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and living a disability identity.

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So, from here I'm going to
talk a lot about social justice

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and the way that we're going
to define social justice,

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it means a lot of things
to a lot of people.

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But the way that we're going
to define social justice

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for the purposes of our conversation today

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is in two parts:

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The first part of social justice,

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as we're going to define it today,

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is that we believe that
all people have the right

260
00:12:15,786 --> 00:12:17,169
to have access to the resources

261
00:12:17,169 --> 00:12:20,137
that they need to make a life.

262
00:12:20,137 --> 00:12:21,285
We believe that all people have the right

263
00:12:21,285 --> 00:12:22,573
to have access to the resources

264
00:12:22,573 --> 00:12:24,281
that they need to make a life.

265
00:12:24,281 --> 00:12:25,275
What do I mean when I say that?

266
00:12:25,275 --> 00:12:29,072
I mean housing, I mean
healthcare, I mean education,

267
00:12:29,072 --> 00:12:31,740
I mean access to a spiritual community,

268
00:12:31,740 --> 00:12:33,790
I mean all of the things
if you think about

269
00:12:33,790 --> 00:12:37,306
the fundamental components that construct

270
00:12:37,306 --> 00:12:39,722
the life that you have, all of us

271
00:12:39,722 --> 00:12:42,365
need access to those resources.

272
00:12:42,365 --> 00:12:43,907
The second part of social justice is

273
00:12:43,907 --> 00:12:48,289
that we recognize that
access to those resources

274
00:12:48,289 --> 00:12:52,057
is stratified based on
identity membership.

275
00:12:52,057 --> 00:12:53,623
In this culture, which is the culture

276
00:12:53,623 --> 00:12:56,708
I'm going to speak from,
in this culture we know

277
00:12:56,708 --> 00:12:58,606
that people's access to housing,

278
00:12:58,606 --> 00:13:00,289
that their access to healthcare,

279
00:13:00,289 --> 00:13:02,339
that their access to transportation

280
00:13:02,339 --> 00:13:05,739
and that all of that access is stratified

281
00:13:05,739 --> 00:13:08,256
based on identity membership.

282
00:13:08,256 --> 00:13:09,739
That's a big deal.

283
00:13:09,739 --> 00:13:13,128
And it changes fundamentally
the access that people have

284
00:13:13,128 --> 00:13:15,368
to create a life.

285
00:13:16,685 --> 00:13:17,601
We all have that, right?

286
00:13:17,601 --> 00:13:19,200
This is Smith.

287
00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:20,896
(laughter)

288
00:13:21,450 --> 00:13:23,319
But what does that have to do with kind of

289
00:13:23,319 --> 00:13:27,020
the intrapsychic experience
of people with disabilities?

290
00:13:27,020 --> 00:13:31,134
Where I want us to shift together

291
00:13:31,134 --> 00:13:36,134
is really into an
understanding of the self.

292
00:13:37,335 --> 00:13:40,519
So we have this social justice framework,

293
00:13:40,519 --> 00:13:44,317
we understand there are
systems of oppression in play,

294
00:13:44,317 --> 00:13:46,983
we understand that those
systems of oppression

295
00:13:46,983 --> 00:13:50,701
are defined based on identity membership

296
00:13:50,701 --> 00:13:52,970
and now what we're going to do is

297
00:13:52,970 --> 00:13:53,850
we're going to look at that

298
00:13:53,850 --> 00:13:57,116
from an intrapsychic perspective.

299
00:13:57,116 --> 00:13:58,277
Fun, huh?

300
00:13:58,277 --> 00:14:00,059
(laughter)

301
00:14:00,059 --> 00:14:01,727
The way that we're going
to look at that from

302
00:14:01,727 --> 00:14:04,959
an intrapsychic perspective
is through self psychology.

303
00:14:04,959 --> 00:14:07,204
If you are not currently
lovers of self psychology,

304
00:14:07,204 --> 00:14:10,310
please read a little Kohut,
it will make you feel better.

305
00:14:10,310 --> 00:14:15,078
(laughter)

306
00:14:15,078 --> 00:14:17,060
Self psychology basically says that we,

307
00:14:17,060 --> 00:14:19,342
all of us, have a self.

308
00:14:19,342 --> 00:14:22,027
And that that self is
constructed and reconstructed

309
00:14:22,027 --> 00:14:26,926
and reconstructed based on
our significant relationships

310
00:14:26,926 --> 00:14:30,559
and based on the experiences
that we have in lives.

311
00:14:30,559 --> 00:14:33,228
So we have a self, that self needs food,

312
00:14:33,228 --> 00:14:35,702
that food is relationship.

313
00:14:38,036 --> 00:14:41,169
Self psychology also talks
about the way in which

314
00:14:41,169 --> 00:14:45,655
those relationships impact
how we then perpetuate

315
00:14:45,655 --> 00:14:48,076
ourselves in the world.

316
00:14:54,139 --> 00:14:55,997
See, I have these two
paths going in my brain

317
00:14:55,997 --> 00:14:57,534
and I can't decide which one to go on.

318
00:14:57,534 --> 00:14:58,371
(laughter)

319
00:14:58,371 --> 00:15:00,986
I'm going to go on this one.

320
00:15:00,986 --> 00:15:03,440
So Self psychology says we have a self,

321
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,661
that self is constructed by relationships,

322
00:15:05,661 --> 00:15:08,300
those are relationships are meaningful

323
00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:10,365
in moving us through the world.

324
00:15:10,365 --> 00:15:12,882
The way that self psychology
talks about those relationships

325
00:15:12,882 --> 00:15:16,000
is that we, all of us,
need three things in life.

326
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,542
The first thing that self
psychology says that we all need

327
00:15:18,542 --> 00:15:21,604
is something called mirroring,
which is what it sounds like,

328
00:15:21,604 --> 00:15:24,394
mother smiles, baby smiles,
mother smiles, baby smiles.

329
00:15:24,394 --> 00:15:27,854
We need to have an accurate reflection

330
00:15:27,854 --> 00:15:31,213
of our emotional experience in the world.

331
00:15:31,213 --> 00:15:33,946
Oh, you look really anxious,
oh you look really sad,

332
00:15:33,946 --> 00:15:37,394
you look really, really
like you have a lot to do.

333
00:15:37,394 --> 00:15:38,330
(laughter)

334
00:15:38,330 --> 00:15:39,213
Thank you for being here.

335
00:15:39,213 --> 00:15:44,213
(laughter)

336
00:15:44,229 --> 00:15:46,255
That is the reflection of mirroring

337
00:15:46,255 --> 00:15:47,504
and what happens in mirroring

338
00:15:47,504 --> 00:15:49,788
is an experience of validation.

339
00:15:49,788 --> 00:15:53,538
And in validation we have an accurate and

340
00:15:53,538 --> 00:15:55,588
meaningful sense of ourselves.

341
00:15:55,588 --> 00:15:57,723
So that's the first thing
self psychology says we need.

342
00:15:57,723 --> 00:16:00,509
The second thing that self
psychology says that we need,

343
00:16:00,509 --> 00:16:02,438
and this one is my favorite,

344
00:16:02,438 --> 00:16:04,473
it's called idealization.

345
00:16:04,473 --> 00:16:06,604
And idealization has two parts.

346
00:16:06,604 --> 00:16:08,922
The first part of idealization is that

347
00:16:08,922 --> 00:16:12,223
we all need someone to
look up to and aspire to.

348
00:16:12,223 --> 00:16:13,522
I want to be just like you when I grow up,

349
00:16:13,522 --> 00:16:15,354
you're amazing.

350
00:16:15,354 --> 00:16:17,038
We all need that experience.

351
00:16:17,038 --> 00:16:20,473
We also all need someone
who makes safe for us.

352
00:16:20,473 --> 00:16:21,454
Someone who has our back.

353
00:16:21,454 --> 00:16:24,137
Someone that we turn to
in a moment of anxiety,

354
00:16:24,137 --> 00:16:28,262
who is able to give us what we need.

355
00:16:28,262 --> 00:16:30,126
And the third thing that
self psychology says

356
00:16:30,126 --> 00:16:32,709
that we all need to survive and thrive

357
00:16:32,709 --> 00:16:36,640
is something called twinship.

358
00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,036
You're a Smitthy, twinship.

359
00:16:40,036 --> 00:16:42,784
It is the experience of
a likeness and belonging.

360
00:16:42,784 --> 00:16:45,417
That experience of, I identify with you,

361
00:16:45,417 --> 00:16:48,434
you and I are the same,
we have that experience

362
00:16:48,434 --> 00:16:50,985
of a likeness and belonging.

363
00:16:50,985 --> 00:16:53,635
What happens when we have a
rich relational environment

364
00:16:53,635 --> 00:16:55,570
in which we get all of those things,

365
00:16:55,570 --> 00:16:57,553
and if you think about it,
and it's not that hard,

366
00:16:57,553 --> 00:16:59,439
I bet you could think of the last

367
00:16:59,439 --> 00:17:01,771
interaction you had today in which

368
00:17:01,771 --> 00:17:03,732
you felt adequately mirrored.

369
00:17:03,732 --> 00:17:06,347
The last interaction you
had this week in which you

370
00:17:06,347 --> 00:17:09,486
felt adequately a sense of
identification and belonging.

371
00:17:09,486 --> 00:17:11,867
Like these things are fundamental

372
00:17:11,867 --> 00:17:13,654
to the core of ourselves.

373
00:17:13,654 --> 00:17:18,057
And they are fed to us in our
relationships all the time.

374
00:17:18,057 --> 00:17:19,501
The good news about that is that even if

375
00:17:19,501 --> 00:17:20,987
we didn't get it to begin with,

376
00:17:20,987 --> 00:17:23,384
we can get it now.

377
00:17:23,384 --> 00:17:27,375
And that is where healing occurs.

378
00:17:27,375 --> 00:17:30,042
So what happens is all of us need

379
00:17:30,042 --> 00:17:32,142
these things to survive and thrive.

380
00:17:32,142 --> 00:17:34,327
These things become internalized

381
00:17:34,327 --> 00:17:37,029
through a process of
transmuting internalization,

382
00:17:37,029 --> 00:17:38,342
(laughter)

383
00:17:38,342 --> 00:17:41,326
and become fundamentally a
construction of the self.

384
00:17:41,326 --> 00:17:42,459
So that's self psychology.

385
00:17:42,459 --> 00:17:44,027
We're going to put that right here.

386
00:17:44,027 --> 00:17:47,792
Alongside self psychology,
we're going to look at,

387
00:17:47,792 --> 00:17:50,859
just for a second, the
exciting things that are

388
00:17:50,859 --> 00:17:52,942
happening about the brain.

389
00:17:52,942 --> 00:17:55,143
For those of you who
are not, at this moment,

390
00:17:55,143 --> 00:17:57,400
looking at everything that
is happening with the brain,

391
00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:58,809
please do.

392
00:17:58,809 --> 00:18:00,910
(laughter)

393
00:18:00,910 --> 00:18:02,909
We have the technology,
ladies and gentlemen,

394
00:18:02,909 --> 00:18:04,820
and to see things actually happening

395
00:18:04,820 --> 00:18:07,243
in the structure of the
brain in some really

396
00:18:07,243 --> 00:18:09,008
profound and meaningful ways.

397
00:18:09,008 --> 00:18:12,755
And what's vital about that
and what's exciting about that

398
00:18:12,755 --> 00:18:15,921
is that the brain also, not shockingly,

399
00:18:15,921 --> 00:18:17,937
constructs and reconstructs
and reconstructs

400
00:18:17,937 --> 00:18:19,968
and reconstructs itself

401
00:18:19,968 --> 00:18:22,853
based on its experiences and based on

402
00:18:22,853 --> 00:18:25,152
specifically its relational experiences.

403
00:18:25,152 --> 00:18:27,737
The neuroconnections
that we make in our brain

404
00:18:27,737 --> 00:18:29,153
are an active reflection of what

405
00:18:29,153 --> 00:18:32,021
we are feeding our brain.

406
00:18:32,021 --> 00:18:34,604
So the self health is impacted.

407
00:18:34,604 --> 00:18:36,893
We can articulate that
through self psychology,

408
00:18:36,893 --> 00:18:39,669
we can articulate that through
the self-object functions

409
00:18:39,669 --> 00:18:42,282
that we talked about, we can
also articulate that through

410
00:18:42,282 --> 00:18:43,712
what we know in neuroscience -

411
00:18:43,712 --> 00:18:44,817
the brain is shaping and reshaping

412
00:18:44,817 --> 00:18:47,162
and reshaping itself.

413
00:18:47,162 --> 00:18:49,695
But what we have together
in that body of knowledge

414
00:18:49,695 --> 00:18:51,768
is something that's pretty profound,

415
00:18:51,768 --> 00:18:54,712
which is that who we are as human beings,

416
00:18:54,712 --> 00:18:56,744
the construction of ourselves,

417
00:18:56,744 --> 00:18:58,569
is getting fed and re-fed

418
00:18:58,569 --> 00:19:02,430
and re-fed all the time.

419
00:19:02,430 --> 00:19:05,719
If we go back now to the earlier
part of our conversation,

420
00:19:05,719 --> 00:19:10,670
and talk about the social
justice piece of that,

421
00:19:10,670 --> 00:19:11,910
it changes a little bit how

422
00:19:11,910 --> 00:19:14,018
we think about micro-aggressions.

423
00:19:14,018 --> 00:19:17,285
It changes a little bit how
we think about the impact

424
00:19:17,285 --> 00:19:21,460
of being a part of an identity membership

425
00:19:21,460 --> 00:19:24,419
in which you're access
to the human community

426
00:19:24,419 --> 00:19:28,477
is made different from
everyone around you.

427
00:19:28,477 --> 00:19:30,617
It impacts the structure of the self.

428
00:19:30,617 --> 00:19:31,537
Well, what does that mean,

429
00:19:31,537 --> 00:19:33,324
it impacts the structure of the self?

430
00:19:33,324 --> 00:19:34,944
What we're talking
about when we're talking

431
00:19:34,944 --> 00:19:36,925
about the construction of
the self is things like

432
00:19:36,925 --> 00:19:40,734
resiliency and affect management and

433
00:19:40,734 --> 00:19:43,484
the ability to attach and the ability to

434
00:19:43,484 --> 00:19:46,082
form relationships and
the ability to connect.

435
00:19:46,082 --> 00:19:48,807
All of those things, if you think about

436
00:19:48,807 --> 00:19:50,435
all the things that you've been learning,

437
00:19:50,435 --> 00:19:52,553
that's where personality
disorders come from,

438
00:19:52,553 --> 00:19:57,203
all of those things are
fed and re-fed and re-fed

439
00:19:57,203 --> 00:20:01,319
based on relationships.

440
00:20:01,319 --> 00:20:06,319
So now, if we're talking
about having an identity,

441
00:20:06,425 --> 00:20:08,285
that removes you systematically

442
00:20:08,285 --> 00:20:13,285
from the experiences of
being in the human community.

443
00:20:13,957 --> 00:20:16,378
When we're talking about resources,

444
00:20:16,378 --> 00:20:18,839
when we're talking about
access to resources,

445
00:20:18,839 --> 00:20:20,441
we're no longer just talking about

446
00:20:20,441 --> 00:20:23,742
whether or not someone get
can get up a flight of steps.

447
00:20:23,742 --> 00:20:26,157
We're actually talking
about what it means,

448
00:20:26,157 --> 00:20:28,889
on a structural level, to have access

449
00:20:28,889 --> 00:20:30,774
to participation in the human community.

450
00:20:30,774 --> 00:20:32,324
What it means to have access to

451
00:20:32,324 --> 00:20:33,955
a rich-relational environment.

452
00:20:33,955 --> 00:20:37,007
What it means to feel seen and understood

453
00:20:37,007 --> 00:20:39,090
and have a sense of
belonging and a likeness.

454
00:20:39,090 --> 00:20:42,005
What it means to have someone
and something to aspire to.

455
00:20:42,005 --> 00:20:44,180
That's actually what we're talking about

456
00:20:44,180 --> 00:20:46,565
when we're talking about an identity

457
00:20:46,565 --> 00:20:49,283
that disenfranchises you
from full participation

458
00:20:49,283 --> 00:20:51,395
in the human community.

459
00:20:51,395 --> 00:20:53,271
Is that making sense?

460
00:20:53,271 --> 00:20:55,834
That's kind of profound, right?

461
00:20:55,834 --> 00:20:59,154
Because now the question
that we have to ask ourselves

462
00:20:59,154 --> 00:21:02,189
is well, if I'm sitting
with someone and they're

463
00:21:02,189 --> 00:21:06,470
experiencing anxiety, how am
I going to pathologize that?

464
00:21:06,470 --> 00:21:07,671
How am I going to understand that?

465
00:21:07,671 --> 00:21:09,306
How am I going to conceptualize that?

466
00:21:09,306 --> 00:21:11,420
Am I going to conceptualize
that as something that is

467
00:21:11,420 --> 00:21:14,499
fundamental to how they
function in the world?

468
00:21:14,499 --> 00:21:16,852
Or am I going to conceptualize
that as something

469
00:21:16,852 --> 00:21:18,303
that is fundamental to how

470
00:21:18,303 --> 00:21:22,403
the world is functioning for them?

471
00:21:22,403 --> 00:21:23,758
But there's another piece of this

472
00:21:23,758 --> 00:21:26,706
that's even a little more insidious.

473
00:21:26,706 --> 00:21:29,908
The piece of this that's
even a little more insidious

474
00:21:29,908 --> 00:21:33,734
is if you think about
everything that you have learned

475
00:21:33,734 --> 00:21:37,901
in your classes about
healing and about psychology

476
00:21:37,901 --> 00:21:40,568
and about an understanding
and assessing people

477
00:21:40,568 --> 00:21:43,617
who come in and sit across from you,

478
00:21:43,617 --> 00:21:46,568
it's all fundamentally based on autonomy.

479
00:21:46,568 --> 00:21:49,184
We have an entire system
that is fundamentally,

480
00:21:49,184 --> 00:21:54,184
that defines health based on
autonomy and differentiation.

481
00:21:55,634 --> 00:21:57,985
So think about what you
ask for in an intake.

482
00:21:57,985 --> 00:22:00,951
When you ask someone what's
happening for them in an intake,

483
00:22:00,951 --> 00:22:03,617
you want to know something
about their living situation,

484
00:22:03,617 --> 00:22:04,984
you want them to be living independently,

485
00:22:04,984 --> 00:22:07,801
you want them to have a
close, but not too close,

486
00:22:07,801 --> 00:22:09,985
relationship with their
families of origin,

487
00:22:09,985 --> 00:22:12,301
and you want them to have
some kind of romantic

488
00:22:12,301 --> 00:22:16,800
relationship and you
want them to have a job.

489
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,467
Sixty-five percent of
people with disabilities

490
00:22:18,467 --> 00:22:19,164
are unemployed.

491
00:22:19,164 --> 00:22:21,684
The No. 1 reason for that unemployment

492
00:22:21,684 --> 00:22:25,205
is lack of transportation.

493
00:22:25,205 --> 00:22:27,121
Is that a mental health issue?

494
00:22:27,121 --> 00:22:30,491
So think about the ways in which

495
00:22:30,491 --> 00:22:35,092
we create the social context
that says your health,

496
00:22:35,092 --> 00:22:38,267
your emotional health, your wellbeing,

497
00:22:38,267 --> 00:22:42,936
your autonomy defines your self,

498
00:22:42,936 --> 00:22:45,253
and defines the way that we value

499
00:22:45,253 --> 00:22:46,838
what is happening for you.

500
00:22:46,838 --> 00:22:50,787
Defines how we decide that
you're healthy or not.

501
00:22:50,787 --> 00:22:52,288
That's a big deal.

502
00:22:52,288 --> 00:22:54,411
That's a really big deal.

503
00:22:56,942 --> 00:23:00,144
There's something else that
is also a big deal in that,

504
00:23:00,144 --> 00:23:03,154
and that is that we know that people with

505
00:23:03,154 --> 00:23:06,303
disabilities are profoundly
disproportionally

506
00:23:06,303 --> 00:23:07,870
impacted by trauma.

507
00:23:07,870 --> 00:23:10,284
We know that people with
disabilities are about

508
00:23:10,284 --> 00:23:13,451
twice as likely to be
victims of violent crime.

509
00:23:13,451 --> 00:23:15,316
We know that people with disabilities

510
00:23:15,316 --> 00:23:18,217
are profoundly
disproportionately impacted by

511
00:23:18,217 --> 00:23:21,067
sexual and physical abuse in families.

512
00:23:21,067 --> 00:23:26,067
One of the reasons that
we could extrapolate,

513
00:23:26,454 --> 00:23:29,717
that that is likely to be true,

514
00:23:29,717 --> 00:23:32,127
has to do with the ways in which

515
00:23:32,127 --> 00:23:35,281
someone's personhood can
be distanced from them.

516
00:23:35,281 --> 00:23:37,633
What we know about people
who perpetrate violence

517
00:23:37,633 --> 00:23:39,883
against other people is that
they perpetrate violence

518
00:23:39,883 --> 00:23:43,884
against other people who are
not likely to be believed.

519
00:23:43,884 --> 00:23:47,315
People are picked if they are
not likely to be believed,

520
00:23:47,315 --> 00:23:49,182
they are picked if they are perceived

521
00:23:49,182 --> 00:23:50,467
as disenfranchised.

522
00:23:50,467 --> 00:23:53,519
If they are perceived as removed
from the human community,

523
00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:56,394
they are substantially
more likely to be picked

524
00:23:56,394 --> 00:24:00,662
as someone to be victimized.

525
00:24:00,662 --> 00:24:05,662
So that's how some of these
things begin to them play out.

526
00:24:06,195 --> 00:24:10,727
So, I think, where I
want to go from here is

527
00:24:10,727 --> 00:24:12,760
kinda into the clinical
relationships specifically.

528
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,803
Are we ready for that?

529
00:24:15,803 --> 00:24:16,894
Excellent.

530
00:24:16,894 --> 00:24:18,555
(laughter)

531
00:24:19,816 --> 00:24:21,904
So what does it mean to function

532
00:24:21,904 --> 00:24:24,567
from a clinically-informed position?

533
00:24:24,567 --> 00:24:27,867
Now that you have this mantle behind you,

534
00:24:27,867 --> 00:24:30,734
now that you have an understanding that

535
00:24:30,734 --> 00:24:32,534
having a clinically-meaningful perspective

536
00:24:32,534 --> 00:24:36,067
on disability requires a
social justice position.

537
00:24:36,067 --> 00:24:37,666
Now that you understand
that that impacts the

538
00:24:37,666 --> 00:24:41,757
construction of the self
and impacts the brain.

539
00:24:41,757 --> 00:24:43,922
What does that mean in real life?

540
00:24:43,922 --> 00:24:45,284
Part of what it means in real life

541
00:24:45,284 --> 00:24:48,284
is a recognition that
ablelism is in the room.

542
00:24:48,284 --> 00:24:50,348
Whether or not you are a good person

543
00:24:50,348 --> 00:24:51,354
is not at stake.

544
00:24:51,354 --> 00:24:53,476
You are absolutely a good person, I swear.

545
00:24:53,476 --> 00:24:55,823
(laughter)

546
00:24:56,973 --> 00:24:57,870
That's not at stake.

547
00:24:57,870 --> 00:24:59,926
You are, however, a
person who is a product

548
00:24:59,926 --> 00:25:01,791
of a really ablelist culture.

549
00:25:01,791 --> 00:25:04,855
And so, you do have within you,

550
00:25:04,855 --> 00:25:08,690
all of the bigotry and biases

551
00:25:08,690 --> 00:25:13,108
that being a product of a
ablelist culture also embuse.

552
00:25:13,108 --> 00:25:15,103
So, ablism is in the room when you

553
00:25:15,103 --> 00:25:18,580
are in a therapy
relationship with someone.

554
00:25:18,580 --> 00:25:20,641
Now the way that that manifests

555
00:25:20,641 --> 00:25:25,339
is going to depend a lot
on the context of safety

556
00:25:25,339 --> 00:25:26,775
that's created in the room.

557
00:25:26,775 --> 00:25:30,614
So some of what that means
in sort of real life,

558
00:25:30,614 --> 00:25:33,754
is being willing to
dimensionally understand

559
00:25:33,754 --> 00:25:36,294
the life experiences of your clients.

560
00:25:36,294 --> 00:25:39,275
And that means oftentimes
when people are trying

561
00:25:39,275 --> 00:25:41,076
really hard to be good people,

562
00:25:41,076 --> 00:25:46,076
and not sort of respond
badly to difference,

563
00:25:46,126 --> 00:25:47,392
the way that they go about doing that

564
00:25:47,392 --> 00:25:49,139
is by ignoring difference

565
00:25:49,139 --> 00:25:50,815
or distancing themselves from difference

566
00:25:50,815 --> 00:25:52,585
or being overinclusive in the way

567
00:25:52,585 --> 00:25:54,910
that they think about difference.

568
00:25:54,910 --> 00:25:58,886
That's going to quell your
anxiety as a provider,

569
00:25:58,886 --> 00:26:00,625
it's not necessarily going to be the thing

570
00:26:00,625 --> 00:26:03,851
that is most helpful to your client.

571
00:26:03,851 --> 00:26:07,363
So, where that starts then,
is having a really dimensional

572
00:26:07,363 --> 00:26:09,162
and meaningful understanding of

573
00:26:09,162 --> 00:26:11,765
what you client's experience is.

574
00:26:11,765 --> 00:26:13,712
And what I can tell you for sure

575
00:26:13,712 --> 00:26:17,311
is that ableism impacts
every aspect of their life.

576
00:26:17,311 --> 00:26:20,699
So ableism impacts their
home, it impacts their work,

577
00:26:20,699 --> 00:26:23,169
it impacts their relational choices.

578
00:26:23,169 --> 00:26:26,314
It also impacts every
decision that they have made

579
00:26:26,314 --> 00:26:30,394
about the significant choices
that they have in their lives.

580
00:26:30,394 --> 00:26:32,684
The decision about where to go to school,

581
00:26:32,684 --> 00:26:34,315
the decision about where to work,

582
00:26:34,315 --> 00:26:36,392
the decision about where to live,

583
00:26:36,392 --> 00:26:39,347
the decision about who engage
with or not engage with.

584
00:26:39,347 --> 00:26:44,347
All of these things are informed
by experiences of ableism.

585
00:26:44,428 --> 00:26:47,064
Beginning to understand that in real-time

586
00:26:47,064 --> 00:26:50,112
means beginning to
understand dimensionally

587
00:26:50,112 --> 00:26:53,274
what is happening in someone's life.

588
00:26:53,274 --> 00:26:56,982
So it means understanding meaningfully

589
00:26:56,982 --> 00:27:01,740
whether or not someone's
workplace is accessible.

590
00:27:01,740 --> 00:27:02,989
Is it totally accessible?

591
00:27:02,989 --> 00:27:04,555
Is it partially accessible?

592
00:27:04,555 --> 00:27:06,273
If it's partially
accessible, does that mean

593
00:27:06,273 --> 00:27:08,388
that they don't get to
go to staff meetings?

594
00:27:08,388 --> 00:27:09,990
What are they not getting to do

595
00:27:09,990 --> 00:27:14,223
in that partially accessible workplace?

596
00:27:14,223 --> 00:27:15,873
Can they go to the bathroom?

597
00:27:15,873 --> 00:27:18,074
That's a thing.

598
00:27:18,074 --> 00:27:23,043
If someone's home
environment is accessible

599
00:27:23,043 --> 00:27:24,107
or not accessible.

600
00:27:24,107 --> 00:27:26,475
If it's not accessible, why not?

601
00:27:26,475 --> 00:27:29,134
If it's not accessible,
who is it in their life

602
00:27:29,134 --> 00:27:32,795
that is compensating
for that lack of access?

603
00:27:32,795 --> 00:27:36,907
And what does that mean for
that relationship dynamic?

604
00:27:36,907 --> 00:27:38,960
What does it mean for
a relationship dynamic

605
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:40,964
if someone is set up in such a way

606
00:27:40,964 --> 00:27:43,489
that their life needs to be facilitated?

607
00:27:43,489 --> 00:27:45,689
How conscious is that?

608
00:27:45,689 --> 00:27:48,391
How much conversation has
there been about that?

609
00:27:48,391 --> 00:27:50,824
What does that mean about that person's

610
00:27:50,824 --> 00:27:53,689
ability to experience boundaries?

611
00:27:53,689 --> 00:27:55,311
One of the things that is often true

612
00:27:55,311 --> 00:27:58,455
for people with disabilities is that their

613
00:27:58,455 --> 00:28:02,074
experience of personal boundaries
is dramatically different

614
00:28:02,074 --> 00:28:03,573
than the experience of personal boundaries

615
00:28:03,573 --> 00:28:08,573
of able-bodied people because
there's a way in which

616
00:28:09,237 --> 00:28:12,148
the body that is identified
as a disabled body

617
00:28:12,148 --> 00:28:14,181
is a body that is also commodified.

618
00:28:14,181 --> 00:28:17,631
There's an objectification
process that happens

619
00:28:17,631 --> 00:28:21,699
that means that someone
is not able to afford

620
00:28:21,699 --> 00:28:23,675
the same relationship to privacy.

621
00:28:23,675 --> 00:28:25,982
The same relationship to intimacy.

622
00:28:25,982 --> 00:28:29,498
The same relationship to
interacting in a meaningful way

623
00:28:29,498 --> 00:28:31,449
with their bodies and their environments

624
00:28:31,449 --> 00:28:33,199
in the way that someone else might be able

625
00:28:33,199 --> 00:28:34,628
to take for granted.

626
00:28:34,628 --> 00:28:35,900
So understanding what's happening

627
00:28:35,900 --> 00:28:39,297
for your client in real-time means also

628
00:28:39,297 --> 00:28:42,231
sort of dimensionally
understanding these things.

629
00:28:42,231 --> 00:28:44,508
But it means things that are

630
00:28:44,508 --> 00:28:46,013
even more dimensional than that,

631
00:28:46,013 --> 00:28:49,726
which include things like
how are you thinking about

632
00:28:49,726 --> 00:28:52,257
the impact of disability in
how you understand what's

633
00:28:52,257 --> 00:28:55,991
happening for your client diagnostically?

634
00:28:55,991 --> 00:28:59,626
It is really, really easy
to integrate disability

635
00:28:59,626 --> 00:29:01,389
into a sense of pathology.

636
00:29:01,389 --> 00:29:04,546
It's also really, really
easy to divorce disability

637
00:29:04,546 --> 00:29:07,012
from how you're understanding
that person's self

638
00:29:07,012 --> 00:29:10,030
and their identity and how
they move through the world,

639
00:29:10,030 --> 00:29:11,334
which is going to be comforting to you

640
00:29:11,334 --> 00:29:12,312
because if I'm not thinking about it,

641
00:29:12,312 --> 00:29:14,502
I can't do it wrong.

642
00:29:14,502 --> 00:29:17,149
But it's actually going
to rob you of the ability

643
00:29:17,149 --> 00:29:20,231
to meaningfully understand
what's happening for them.

644
00:29:20,231 --> 00:29:22,297
Micro-aggressions, those
experiences in the world

645
00:29:22,297 --> 00:29:25,654
that we have of being
diminished and devalued,

646
00:29:25,654 --> 00:29:29,363
those experiences that are
the opposite of mirroring,

647
00:29:29,363 --> 00:29:32,531
are also the experiences
that corrode the self.

648
00:29:32,531 --> 00:29:35,581
if you have a client's that's
chronically in positions

649
00:29:35,581 --> 00:29:37,907
that they are experiencing things that are

650
00:29:37,907 --> 00:29:41,247
corrosive to their self, that is impactful

651
00:29:41,247 --> 00:29:44,630
in how you think about what
you're doing with that client.

652
00:29:44,630 --> 00:29:48,697
That is impactful in how
they move through the world.

653
00:29:48,697 --> 00:29:50,511
Another piece of this is a piece that

654
00:29:50,511 --> 00:29:51,676
has to do with trauma.

655
00:29:51,676 --> 00:29:54,311
For those of you who do trauma work

656
00:29:54,311 --> 00:29:56,637
and are being trained in trauma work,

657
00:29:56,637 --> 00:29:59,970
there's a lot of transferable
skill in understanding trauma

658
00:29:59,970 --> 00:30:02,836
because you are working
with people who are

659
00:30:02,836 --> 00:30:05,893
disproportionally likely
to have experienced trauma.

660
00:30:05,893 --> 00:30:07,888
You are also working with people who,

661
00:30:07,888 --> 00:30:09,655
because of medical interventions,

662
00:30:09,655 --> 00:30:13,081
have often had experiences
that very much replicate trauma

663
00:30:13,081 --> 00:30:16,656
because they are the
experience of having someone,

664
00:30:16,656 --> 00:30:20,792
who has power over you make
decisions about your body

665
00:30:20,792 --> 00:30:22,826
that are painful to you over which

666
00:30:22,826 --> 00:30:24,505
you feel powerless in that moment.

667
00:30:24,505 --> 00:30:26,719
That is fundamentally the definition

668
00:30:26,719 --> 00:30:28,420
of a traumatic experience.

669
00:30:28,420 --> 00:30:31,651
So there are ways in
which interacting with

670
00:30:31,651 --> 00:30:35,185
the medical community
creates a system of trauma

671
00:30:35,185 --> 00:30:38,833
for the person that you're working with.

672
00:30:38,833 --> 00:30:42,558
So those are some of the clinical issues

673
00:30:42,558 --> 00:30:44,674
that may be present.

674
00:30:44,674 --> 00:30:46,990
Other clinical issues that
may be present, though,

675
00:30:46,990 --> 00:30:50,274
have to do with your client's relationship

676
00:30:50,274 --> 00:30:55,209
to disability and their
social and emotional world's

677
00:30:55,209 --> 00:30:56,975
relationship to disability.

678
00:30:56,975 --> 00:30:58,771
What I mean when I say that is

679
00:30:58,771 --> 00:31:00,312
family of origin, for example.

680
00:31:00,312 --> 00:31:01,703
Families have a lot of really

681
00:31:01,703 --> 00:31:03,840
interesting ideas about disability

682
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,366
A disability is incredibly,
incredibly triggering.

683
00:31:07,366 --> 00:31:08,867
It's incredibly triggering.

684
00:31:08,867 --> 00:31:10,486
So one of the things that you want to know

685
00:31:10,486 --> 00:31:14,859
from your client ultimately
is what the belief system was

686
00:31:14,859 --> 00:31:16,436
in the family about disability.

687
00:31:16,436 --> 00:31:17,667
Where did the disability come from?

688
00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:19,600
Is it somebody's fault?

689
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,322
Is there a source of blame?

690
00:31:22,322 --> 00:31:25,735
Is there a spiritual or
religious-based belief system

691
00:31:25,735 --> 00:31:27,610
around why that disability occurred?

692
00:31:27,610 --> 00:31:29,117
What is that disability mean?

693
00:31:29,117 --> 00:31:31,009
How does that disability
shape the identity

694
00:31:31,009 --> 00:31:32,444
that the family has?

695
00:31:32,444 --> 00:31:34,727
How does that disability
shape how the family

696
00:31:34,727 --> 00:31:36,130
is relating to one another?

697
00:31:36,130 --> 00:31:38,387
All of those things are going to have had

698
00:31:38,387 --> 00:31:40,892
some pretty powerful
impact on how your client

699
00:31:40,892 --> 00:31:42,877
understands themselves,
and how your client

700
00:31:42,877 --> 00:31:46,309
understands their
relationship in the world.

701
00:31:46,309 --> 00:31:48,832
Ableism will have informed those

702
00:31:48,832 --> 00:31:52,310
most intimate relationships in that way.

703
00:31:52,310 --> 00:31:54,218
So understanding those belief systems.

704
00:31:54,218 --> 00:31:58,639
Also, understand a belief
system around cure.

705
00:31:58,639 --> 00:32:00,946
Just because I have
embraced disability identity

706
00:32:00,946 --> 00:32:03,769
in the way that I have or
the social justice movement

707
00:32:03,769 --> 00:32:05,825
says that we should, all
of us, have the right to

708
00:32:05,825 --> 00:32:07,737
live in the bodies that we're living in,

709
00:32:07,737 --> 00:32:09,135
not everyone is living that way.

710
00:32:09,135 --> 00:32:12,645
And so understanding
what someone's individual

711
00:32:12,645 --> 00:32:14,262
relationship to their own disability is

712
00:32:14,262 --> 00:32:16,755
and their relationship
to the issue of cure

713
00:32:16,755 --> 00:32:20,648
is a powerful influence in
what happens in the therapy.

714
00:32:20,648 --> 00:32:24,429
And is impactful in what
happens in the therapy.

715
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:27,623
But there's something else.

716
00:32:27,623 --> 00:32:30,133
And that is what's happening for

717
00:32:30,133 --> 00:32:34,403
the able-bodied provider
in the transference.

718
00:32:34,403 --> 00:32:36,130
in that relationship.

719
00:32:36,130 --> 00:32:37,071
Disability is triggering that.

720
00:32:37,071 --> 00:32:39,711
Doesn't make you bad.

721
00:32:39,711 --> 00:32:43,185
It does mean that there are ways

722
00:32:43,185 --> 00:32:46,770
that disability can trigger
our own sense of mortality.

723
00:32:46,770 --> 00:32:49,553
It can trigger our own
sense of vulnerability.

724
00:32:49,553 --> 00:32:51,604
It can trigger or own
sense of defensiveness

725
00:32:51,604 --> 00:32:53,770
around that vulnerability.

726
00:32:53,770 --> 00:32:54,736
When we get really overwhelmed

727
00:32:54,736 --> 00:32:57,576
by someone else's life
experience, we blame them.

728
00:32:57,576 --> 00:32:59,352
We don't mean to, but we kind of do.

729
00:32:59,352 --> 00:33:01,553
We kind of start to rationalize.

730
00:33:01,553 --> 00:33:02,807
Think about what happens for you when

731
00:33:02,807 --> 00:33:04,648
you see someone who is homeless.

732
00:33:04,648 --> 00:33:06,587
How often does it happen that you think,

733
00:33:06,587 --> 00:33:08,867
oh well, they're probably addicted.

734
00:33:08,867 --> 00:33:10,953
Oh well, they're probably psychotic.

735
00:33:10,953 --> 00:33:13,254
We do that because we
want to distance ourselves

736
00:33:13,254 --> 00:33:14,887
from the experience of that person.

737
00:33:14,887 --> 00:33:17,053
We want to objectify that experience

738
00:33:17,053 --> 00:33:18,779
and distance ourselves
from that experience

739
00:33:18,779 --> 00:33:22,769
because we don't want to
resonate with that experience.

740
00:33:22,769 --> 00:33:25,960
We find issues of disability
incredible threatening.

741
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:27,837
We find issues of disability
incredible threatening

742
00:33:27,837 --> 00:33:30,111
because we have terrible,
terrible models in this culture

743
00:33:30,111 --> 00:33:32,221
of what it means to be a
person with a disability.

744
00:33:32,221 --> 00:33:34,697
It doesn't look good.

745
00:33:34,697 --> 00:33:37,504
And so, in feeling threatened in that way,

746
00:33:37,504 --> 00:33:42,504
we often will distance
ourselves from our clients,

747
00:33:42,869 --> 00:33:45,416
we'll distance ourselves from
people with disabilities.

748
00:33:45,416 --> 00:33:48,421
We'll distance ourselves by
say, "They're so inspiring."

749
00:33:48,421 --> 00:33:50,313
We'll distance ourselves by saying,

750
00:33:50,313 --> 00:33:52,267
"Wow, I would never do what you do.

751
00:33:52,267 --> 00:33:55,676
"How do you do what you do?"

752
00:33:55,676 --> 00:33:58,146
It sounds like a compliment
inside your head.

753
00:33:58,146 --> 00:34:02,336
What's true in real life...
(laughter)

754
00:34:02,336 --> 00:34:04,825
What's true in real life is that it is

755
00:34:04,825 --> 00:34:07,437
an active objectification.

756
00:34:07,437 --> 00:34:10,874
And it is an active
objectification that is designed

757
00:34:10,874 --> 00:34:15,205
to rayify my membership
and your membership

758
00:34:15,205 --> 00:34:16,449
on that food chain.

759
00:34:16,449 --> 00:34:19,508
I want to make sure that you
know you are in your place.

760
00:34:19,508 --> 00:34:22,135
I want to make sure that
you know that I am not you.

761
00:34:22,135 --> 00:34:25,464
I want to make sure that
I know that I am not you.

762
00:34:25,464 --> 00:34:25,869
Guess what?

763
00:34:25,869 --> 00:34:26,910
Disability is coming.

764
00:34:26,910 --> 00:34:28,270
You're all us.

765
00:34:28,270 --> 00:34:30,620
(laughter)

766
00:34:30,620 --> 00:34:33,754
But there's a way in which, especially in

767
00:34:33,754 --> 00:34:35,769
a transferential relationship,

768
00:34:35,769 --> 00:34:38,553
where so much of what we do depends on

769
00:34:38,553 --> 00:34:40,921
bringing ourself to the room and bringing

770
00:34:40,921 --> 00:34:42,577
our own sense of empathy and our own sense

771
00:34:42,577 --> 00:34:44,136
of residence to the room,

772
00:34:44,136 --> 00:34:45,856
if there's a threat to that,

773
00:34:45,856 --> 00:34:49,254
if you are experiencing
that as threatening,

774
00:34:49,254 --> 00:34:51,266
of course you are because you also

775
00:34:51,266 --> 00:34:53,829
are a product of this ablelist culture.

776
00:34:53,829 --> 00:34:55,051
That is not your fault,

777
00:34:55,051 --> 00:34:58,157
but it is worth resolving
because you will not

778
00:34:58,157 --> 00:35:01,933
be able to give your
client what your client

779
00:35:01,933 --> 00:35:05,729
so deeply deserves, which
is being meaningfully

780
00:35:05,729 --> 00:35:08,481
seen and understood,
meaningfully responded to,

781
00:35:08,481 --> 00:35:12,398
meaningfully developing a
sense of safety and belonging.

782
00:35:12,398 --> 00:35:15,285
Those things are your client's right.

783
00:35:15,285 --> 00:35:18,902
Those are the things that
you signed up to support.

784
00:35:18,902 --> 00:35:21,787
And if you are having a lot of traffic

785
00:35:21,787 --> 00:35:25,850
about ways in which being
experience near with your client

786
00:35:25,850 --> 00:35:29,076
is threatening to you, then
you're not going to provide them

787
00:35:29,076 --> 00:35:30,748
the things that they need.

788
00:35:30,748 --> 00:35:34,754
And that's painful and
that's a tremendous loss.

789
00:35:36,861 --> 00:35:41,861
The other part of that is the
pressure of disembodiment.

790
00:35:42,674 --> 00:35:45,521
The problem with having a complicated body

791
00:35:45,521 --> 00:35:49,913
in a culture that does not
value complicated bodies,

792
00:35:49,913 --> 00:35:52,947
is that there's a tremendous
amount of pressure

793
00:35:52,947 --> 00:35:56,366
to disavow yourself from that body.

794
00:35:56,366 --> 00:35:59,926
There is a tremendous amount
of pressure from the therapist,

795
00:35:59,926 --> 00:36:02,455
there's a tremendous amount
of pressure from the family,

796
00:36:02,455 --> 00:36:04,552
there's a tremendous amount
of pressure from yourself,

797
00:36:04,552 --> 00:36:06,672
from your internalized
enablism, your experience,

798
00:36:06,672 --> 00:36:09,854
my experience, of being able to say,

799
00:36:09,854 --> 00:36:14,224
Yeah, I'm not really...
I'm fine, I'm fine.

800
00:36:14,224 --> 00:36:16,029
Because I can't afford to not be fine.

801
00:36:16,029 --> 00:36:19,397
I can't afford to have a need like that.

802
00:36:19,397 --> 00:36:21,604
That is the impact of ableism.

803
00:36:21,604 --> 00:36:24,393
It is also this kind of profound

804
00:36:24,393 --> 00:36:25,940
expression of disembodiment.

805
00:36:25,940 --> 00:36:28,491
This kind of profound expression of like

806
00:36:28,491 --> 00:36:31,031
the person that I am and the person that

807
00:36:31,031 --> 00:36:33,215
I am out in the world, and
the person that you see,

808
00:36:33,215 --> 00:36:34,377
and the person that I'm interested in

809
00:36:34,377 --> 00:36:38,016
having you interact with
is that person over there

810
00:36:38,016 --> 00:36:42,551
that's kind of to your left
of this particular body.

811
00:36:42,551 --> 00:36:45,102
And we see that in trauma
survivors as well, right?

812
00:36:45,102 --> 00:36:47,308
The experience of trauma
survivors being like,

813
00:36:47,308 --> 00:36:51,035
you know, when I inhabited
that body, bad things happened.

814
00:36:51,035 --> 00:36:52,994
I'm not so interested
in inhabiting that body.

815
00:36:52,994 --> 00:36:55,591
I'm really not interested
in caring for that body.

816
00:36:55,591 --> 00:36:59,734
You can just, I'm, no, not doing it.

817
00:36:59,734 --> 00:37:02,031
Ableism can function
in a very similar way.

818
00:37:02,031 --> 00:37:04,627
This is the body that has
defined my confinement.

819
00:37:04,627 --> 00:37:06,494
This is the body that
had defined my choices.

820
00:37:06,494 --> 00:37:09,281
This is the body that has
defined my membership.

821
00:37:09,281 --> 00:37:11,930
And this is the body that has
impacted my relationships.

822
00:37:11,930 --> 00:37:13,749
I'm not so interested in this body.

823
00:37:13,749 --> 00:37:16,729
I'm not so interested in
taking care of this body.

824
00:37:16,729 --> 00:37:18,397
There's a way in which
therapists can really

825
00:37:18,397 --> 00:37:19,707
easily collude with that.

826
00:37:19,707 --> 00:37:21,997
There's a way in which
therapists can really easily

827
00:37:21,997 --> 00:37:24,013
collude with like, well
you're not talking about it,

828
00:37:24,013 --> 00:37:26,680
and I feel ill-equipped to talk about it

829
00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:28,894
and I'm terrified that I'm
going to say the wrong thing,

830
00:37:28,894 --> 00:37:30,414
so how bout we just don't talk about it?

831
00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:31,674
That sounds terrific.

832
00:37:31,674 --> 00:37:32,868
Let's go with that.

833
00:37:32,868 --> 00:37:36,650
(laughter)

834
00:37:36,650 --> 00:37:40,850
Except that it's a profound
disservice to your client.

835
00:37:40,850 --> 00:37:44,678
And again, if any of you
are reading and enjoying

836
00:37:44,678 --> 00:37:48,175
Peter Levine, and if
you're not, please try.

837
00:37:48,175 --> 00:37:51,158
If any of you are reading
and enjoying Peter Levine,

838
00:37:51,158 --> 00:37:53,343
what you will know, and what you'll know

839
00:37:53,343 --> 00:37:55,926
if you're reading the brain stuff, too,

840
00:37:55,926 --> 00:38:00,926
is that being embodied is
fundamental to our humanness,

841
00:38:01,539 --> 00:38:04,754
and being embodied is
fundamental to our healing.

842
00:38:04,754 --> 00:38:07,955
That there's a way in
which healing depends on

843
00:38:07,955 --> 00:38:12,759
our ability to be in active
conversation with our bodies.

844
00:38:12,759 --> 00:38:15,288
Trauma lives in the body
in a very specific way

845
00:38:15,288 --> 00:38:17,817
and when we are not able to act and react

846
00:38:17,817 --> 00:38:20,628
from a trauma-based perspective,

847
00:38:20,628 --> 00:38:22,905
from within the bodies that we've got,

848
00:38:22,905 --> 00:38:26,108
we are limited in our capacity to heal.

849
00:38:26,108 --> 00:38:29,454
Being a sexual being is
a very embodied thing.

850
00:38:29,454 --> 00:38:31,971
Intimacy can be a very embodied thing.

851
00:38:31,971 --> 00:38:34,681
If you are supported
and, in fact, encouraged,

852
00:38:34,681 --> 00:38:38,371
and in effect facilitated
to have a relationship

853
00:38:38,371 --> 00:38:41,175
outside of the body that you're in,

854
00:38:41,175 --> 00:38:44,005
there's a whole lot of life
and a whole lot of self

855
00:38:44,005 --> 00:38:46,130
that you don't get to have,

856
00:38:46,130 --> 00:38:48,355
that you don't get to have access to.

857
00:38:48,355 --> 00:38:52,803
The process of supporting
someone and being re-embodied

858
00:38:52,803 --> 00:38:56,113
and being re-embodied in
the body that they've got.

859
00:38:56,113 --> 00:38:57,848
Like, one way or the other,
we've got to figure out

860
00:38:57,848 --> 00:39:00,039
how to inhabit the body that we've got.

861
00:39:00,039 --> 00:39:01,455
And one way or the other,
we've got to figure out

862
00:39:01,455 --> 00:39:03,705
how to be willing to
take care of that body.

863
00:39:03,705 --> 00:39:05,721
And one way or the other,
we got to be willing

864
00:39:05,721 --> 00:39:08,513
to introduce that body into
an intimate relationship

865
00:39:08,513 --> 00:39:12,538
and into an intimate connection
with another human being.

866
00:39:12,538 --> 00:39:14,288
We need it, it's fundamental.

867
00:39:14,288 --> 00:39:16,572
It's fundamental to who we are.

868
00:39:16,572 --> 00:39:18,287
We all know those early studies

869
00:39:18,287 --> 00:39:21,148
before there were human
subjects departments

870
00:39:21,148 --> 00:39:23,822
(laughter)

871
00:39:23,822 --> 00:39:27,288
where they would take
a mammal and remove him

872
00:39:27,288 --> 00:39:30,587
from its mother and
provide it with everything.

873
00:39:30,587 --> 00:39:34,259
Provide it with adequate food
and adequate body temperature,

874
00:39:34,259 --> 00:39:38,520
adequate hydration and not touch,

875
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:40,204
and they would die.

876
00:39:40,204 --> 00:39:42,028
Every time.

877
00:39:42,028 --> 00:39:43,122
We are embodied beings.

878
00:39:43,122 --> 00:39:47,400
We need each other and we
need to inhabit our bodies

879
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:52,131
in a way that is meaningful
and part of connection.

880
00:39:52,131 --> 00:39:54,224
Being a person with a disability means

881
00:39:54,224 --> 00:39:56,990
inhabiting a complicated
body that people are

882
00:39:56,990 --> 00:40:00,343
responding to in a lot
of really complex ways.

883
00:40:00,343 --> 00:40:04,372
Being an ally and a
healer with someone who is

884
00:40:04,372 --> 00:40:07,269
inhabiting a complicated body, also means

885
00:40:07,269 --> 00:40:08,996
creating a language and an understanding

886
00:40:08,996 --> 00:40:12,396
for how to inhabit that
body in a meaningful way.

887
00:40:12,396 --> 00:40:15,542
Making sense?

888
00:40:15,542 --> 00:40:18,878
This is also where I want
to invite you to think about

889
00:40:18,878 --> 00:40:21,680
how you are thinking about
your client's life experience

890
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:25,212
different than you might
if you were identifying

891
00:40:25,212 --> 00:40:29,349
them as a person who is able-bodied.

892
00:40:29,349 --> 00:40:31,884
If you are a person who is able-bodied,

893
00:40:31,884 --> 00:40:36,416
we have an expectation
that you're having sex.

894
00:40:36,416 --> 00:40:39,683
We have an expectation that
you're achieving goals.

895
00:40:39,683 --> 00:40:40,717
We have an expectation that you're

896
00:40:40,717 --> 00:40:42,823
interacting meaningfully with the world.

897
00:40:42,823 --> 00:40:46,134
And if those things aren't happening,

898
00:40:46,134 --> 00:40:48,636
we identify that as a problem.

899
00:40:48,636 --> 00:40:51,268
We identify that as a problem and we work

900
00:40:51,268 --> 00:40:54,450
actively to think about how
to mitigate that problem.

901
00:40:54,450 --> 00:40:57,802
It is really, really, really easy

902
00:40:57,802 --> 00:40:59,467
when someone presents with a disability,

903
00:40:59,467 --> 00:41:01,221
particularly when someone presents with

904
00:41:01,221 --> 00:41:04,953
a disability that you are overwhelmed by,

905
00:41:04,953 --> 00:41:08,837
to distance yourself from
those ordinary life goals.

906
00:41:08,837 --> 00:41:11,759
To distance yourself from an
expectation that this person

907
00:41:11,759 --> 00:41:13,719
should also have romantic relationships.

908
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:15,274
That this person should
also have friendships.

909
00:41:15,274 --> 00:41:18,176
That this person should
also have employment.

910
00:41:18,176 --> 00:41:20,621
It's really easy when
feelings systemically

911
00:41:20,621 --> 00:41:25,204
overwhelm to distance
yourself from those things.

912
00:41:25,204 --> 00:41:27,350
And it's really critical that you don't.

913
00:41:27,350 --> 00:41:31,320
It's really critical that
as an activist and an ally

914
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,499
and a provider that you
hold for your client

915
00:41:34,499 --> 00:41:39,480
an expectation that
they get to have a life.

916
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:41,087
if the ADA has given us anything,

917
00:41:41,087 --> 00:41:42,420
and I'm a little ambivalent,

918
00:41:42,420 --> 00:41:45,038
but if the ADA has given us anything

919
00:41:45,038 --> 00:41:46,821
it has given us a generation of people

920
00:41:46,821 --> 00:41:48,793
who have grown up underneath it.

921
00:41:48,793 --> 00:41:50,803
It has given us a generation
of people who've grown up

922
00:41:50,803 --> 00:41:53,703
with the expectation of having a life.

923
00:41:53,703 --> 00:41:55,290
That's really different.

924
00:41:55,290 --> 00:41:56,932
It's really different from how I grew up.

925
00:41:56,932 --> 00:41:59,268
It's really different
than what our cultural

926
00:41:59,268 --> 00:42:01,953
expectation has been to this point.

927
00:42:01,953 --> 00:42:04,223
And that's the beginning of
really meaningful change.

928
00:42:04,223 --> 00:42:06,995
That's the beginning of really
meaningful change to say,

929
00:42:06,995 --> 00:42:11,177
I have an expectation of being
part of the human community.

930
00:42:11,177 --> 00:42:15,845
Now my ability to do that
still tremendously troubled.

931
00:42:15,845 --> 00:42:19,299
Still systemically limited.

932
00:42:19,299 --> 00:42:21,727
But if I don't even hold that expectation,

933
00:42:21,727 --> 00:42:23,944
if I don't even have that mental picture,

934
00:42:23,944 --> 00:42:28,042
of I'm a person that
gets to be in the world,

935
00:42:28,042 --> 00:42:29,956
then that's going to change
a lot about how I interact

936
00:42:29,956 --> 00:42:31,325
with the world, and it's going to change

937
00:42:31,325 --> 00:42:33,221
a lot about what I expect from it.

938
00:42:33,221 --> 00:42:34,072
It's also going to change a lot about

939
00:42:34,072 --> 00:42:36,881
what I expect from my providers.

940
00:42:40,065 --> 00:42:43,763
A healing act is holding with
your client that expectation.

941
00:42:43,763 --> 00:42:45,729
A healing act is holding with your client

942
00:42:45,729 --> 00:42:49,511
the expectation in that
everybody gets to have a life,

943
00:42:49,511 --> 00:42:53,286
and everybody gets to sort
of be in the human community

944
00:42:53,286 --> 00:42:57,247
in meaningful and challenging
and interesting ways.

945
00:42:57,247 --> 00:42:59,167
And that there are lots
and lots of ways to

946
00:42:59,167 --> 00:43:01,684
facilitate and make that happen.

947
00:43:01,684 --> 00:43:03,201
And where I want to take us back to

948
00:43:03,201 --> 00:43:06,649
is in the disability justice movement

949
00:43:06,649 --> 00:43:08,750
because the disability justice movement

950
00:43:08,750 --> 00:43:11,215
reaches way back to feminist psychology

951
00:43:11,215 --> 00:43:15,893
to say it's really,
really in collaboration

952
00:43:15,893 --> 00:43:18,249
that all things occur.

953
00:43:18,249 --> 00:43:23,249
The whole idea of autonomy
is profoundly mythologized

954
00:43:25,061 --> 00:43:26,965
because, that's not a word at all.

955
00:43:26,965 --> 00:43:28,491
(laughter)

956
00:43:28,491 --> 00:43:29,699
Mythologize.

957
00:43:29,699 --> 00:43:31,332
(laughter)

958
00:43:31,332 --> 00:43:35,799
The whole idea of autonomy
is fundamentally based on

959
00:43:35,799 --> 00:43:39,116
if I am someone whose needs are not only

960
00:43:39,116 --> 00:43:44,116
completely acceptable,
but are so seamlessly met,

961
00:43:45,199 --> 00:43:49,024
I never have to acknowledge
that I'm getting help.

962
00:43:49,024 --> 00:43:53,033
Think about our model of
the most autonomous person.

963
00:43:53,033 --> 00:43:55,898
Think about our models
of who really did it,

964
00:43:55,898 --> 00:43:58,265
who really was super successful.

965
00:43:58,265 --> 00:44:01,522
Bill Gates, let's think, let's pause.

966
00:44:01,522 --> 00:44:04,122
That is not someone
who hasn't gotten help.

967
00:44:04,122 --> 00:44:06,576
that is someone who has gotten
a tremendous amount of help.

968
00:44:06,576 --> 00:44:09,482
Armies of people are
facilitating that person

969
00:44:09,482 --> 00:44:10,503
every single day.

970
00:44:10,503 --> 00:44:13,337
Armies of people facilitate
the people that we call

971
00:44:13,337 --> 00:44:15,169
autonomous every single day.

972
00:44:15,169 --> 00:44:18,977
The difference between
that population of people

973
00:44:18,977 --> 00:44:23,357
and the rest of us, is that
that population of people's

974
00:44:23,357 --> 00:44:25,662
access is facilitated in such a way

975
00:44:25,662 --> 00:44:28,168
that they don't even have
to be conscious of it.

976
00:44:28,168 --> 00:44:29,702
They don't even have
to know it's happening.

977
00:44:29,702 --> 00:44:30,571
It just is.

978
00:44:30,571 --> 00:44:32,495
It's just kind of true in the world

979
00:44:32,495 --> 00:44:34,880
that I have a need and it's met

980
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:39,280
and I don't even really
have to name it as a need.

981
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,980
And on top of that, I get
to be called healthy for it.

982
00:44:41,980 --> 00:44:43,992
And on top of that, I get to
be called successful for it.

983
00:44:43,992 --> 00:44:47,235
And on top of that, I get
all of the relational food

984
00:44:47,235 --> 00:44:49,885
of that mirroring.

985
00:44:49,885 --> 00:44:50,804
Because that's the other thing that's

986
00:44:50,804 --> 00:44:52,926
not happening when people
are not in work environments.

987
00:44:52,926 --> 00:44:55,358
The other thing that's
not happening when they're

988
00:44:55,358 --> 00:44:57,584
not participating in community events

989
00:44:57,584 --> 00:44:59,394
and the other thing that's not happening

990
00:44:59,394 --> 00:45:03,277
when they're not getting to
reach a rich relational world

991
00:45:03,277 --> 00:45:05,057
is they're not bringing
their gifts to that world,

992
00:45:05,057 --> 00:45:06,977
they're not bringing
themselves to that world,

993
00:45:06,977 --> 00:45:10,227
and they're not having
reflected back to them

994
00:45:10,227 --> 00:45:12,233
their fundamental worth.

995
00:45:12,233 --> 00:45:13,632
So ultimately, the only thing that gets

996
00:45:13,632 --> 00:45:18,632
reflected back to you is
you as designated need.

997
00:45:19,567 --> 00:45:21,953
I am not resource, I am need.

998
00:45:21,953 --> 00:45:24,066
I am designated need.

999
00:45:24,066 --> 00:45:26,413
Well, if I'm designated need,

1000
00:45:26,413 --> 00:45:28,050
then part of what that
means is that I never

1001
00:45:28,050 --> 00:45:30,602
experience myself as resourced.

1002
00:45:30,602 --> 00:45:34,517
Part of what that also means
is that my starting point

1003
00:45:34,517 --> 00:45:38,234
is always apologetic
because my starting point

1004
00:45:38,234 --> 00:45:40,337
is I'm already taking up too much space

1005
00:45:40,337 --> 00:45:42,766
just by virtue of the fact that I'm here.

1006
00:45:42,766 --> 00:45:45,053
I've already been a problem.

1007
00:45:45,053 --> 00:45:47,047
I've already been a need.

1008
00:45:47,047 --> 00:45:51,069
I can't actually afford
to need anything else

1009
00:45:51,069 --> 00:45:53,384
and I certainly can't afford
to tell you what that is

1010
00:45:53,384 --> 00:45:55,649
because we've already established

1011
00:45:55,649 --> 00:45:57,984
that you are providing
charity by affording me

1012
00:45:57,984 --> 00:46:00,566
my very existence.

1013
00:46:00,566 --> 00:46:02,409
That's what I mean when
I say participation

1014
00:46:02,409 --> 00:46:03,465
in the human community.

1015
00:46:03,465 --> 00:46:04,817
What I mean is that.

1016
00:46:04,817 --> 00:46:06,756
That if we are all of us human beings,

1017
00:46:06,756 --> 00:46:09,021
then we are all of us
people who have needs

1018
00:46:09,021 --> 00:46:11,523
and we are all of us
people who have resources.

1019
00:46:11,523 --> 00:46:15,556
And that if we systematically
remove a population of people

1020
00:46:15,556 --> 00:46:18,939
from that balance sheet,

1021
00:46:18,939 --> 00:46:20,915
then not only are we identifying

1022
00:46:20,915 --> 00:46:24,883
that population of people as having needs,

1023
00:46:24,883 --> 00:46:27,208
we're also removing their resources.

1024
00:46:27,208 --> 00:46:30,196
We're also removing their
ability to meaningfully

1025
00:46:30,196 --> 00:46:33,675
contribute to the resources in the world.

1026
00:46:33,675 --> 00:46:36,205
And we're removing, most of all,

1027
00:46:36,205 --> 00:46:41,005
I am then removed from my sense
of worth as a human being.

1028
00:46:41,005 --> 00:46:45,133
I am then removed from my sense that I can

1029
00:46:45,133 --> 00:46:48,891
contribute in a meaningful
way to the larger world.

1030
00:46:48,891 --> 00:46:50,691
And that's a devastating loss.

1031
00:46:50,691 --> 00:46:53,414
And it's a devastating
loss that's going to create

1032
00:46:53,414 --> 00:46:55,901
some emotional symptoms,

1033
00:46:55,901 --> 00:46:58,935
for which I then could be pathologized.

1034
00:46:58,935 --> 00:47:00,476
But that's not going to
happen now because now

1035
00:47:00,476 --> 00:47:03,356
you have that whole context.

1036
00:47:03,356 --> 00:47:04,706
You're going to carry
that context with you

1037
00:47:04,706 --> 00:47:08,824
everywhere you go, I'm sure of it.

1038
00:47:08,824 --> 00:47:12,813
So our option for
meaningfully contributing

1039
00:47:12,813 --> 00:47:14,624
to a healing environment is really

1040
00:47:14,624 --> 00:47:17,355
about shifting gears and
really about shifting

1041
00:47:17,355 --> 00:47:21,212
into a place of if everybody counts,

1042
00:47:21,212 --> 00:47:23,044
then we can afford to be embodied.

1043
00:47:23,044 --> 00:47:24,722
We can afford to care for our bodies,

1044
00:47:24,722 --> 00:47:26,449
we can afford to care for ourselves,

1045
00:47:26,449 --> 00:47:28,104
we can afford to be in relationships

1046
00:47:28,104 --> 00:47:29,522
with one another.

1047
00:47:29,522 --> 00:47:31,107
If everybody counts and
everybody is meant to be

1048
00:47:31,107 --> 00:47:33,979
part of the human community, then we are,

1049
00:47:33,979 --> 00:47:38,979
all of us, part of designing systems that

1050
00:47:39,810 --> 00:47:41,997
facilitate everyone being part of that

1051
00:47:41,997 --> 00:47:44,049
human community not because, you know,

1052
00:47:44,049 --> 00:47:46,820
I'm a really good person and
want to do a really good thing,

1053
00:47:46,820 --> 00:47:49,111
but because I want the resources that I'm

1054
00:47:49,111 --> 00:47:50,318
going to miss out on.

1055
00:47:50,318 --> 00:47:52,684
I want the personhood that
I'm going to miss out on

1056
00:47:52,684 --> 00:47:55,881
if we eliminate an entire
population of people.

1057
00:47:55,881 --> 00:47:57,867
If we eliminate an entire
population of people,

1058
00:47:57,867 --> 00:47:59,437
I'm going to lose a lot.

1059
00:47:59,437 --> 00:48:04,437
So I'm going to be active
in creating situations

1060
00:48:04,839 --> 00:48:07,710
that create access for all of us

1061
00:48:07,710 --> 00:48:09,446
because if all of use are here,

1062
00:48:09,446 --> 00:48:11,324
all of us can contribute in a really

1063
00:48:11,324 --> 00:48:12,237
meaningful way.

1064
00:48:12,237 --> 00:48:15,113
And I'm going to think about needs not as

1065
00:48:15,113 --> 00:48:19,775
that stratification,
not as I am the helper

1066
00:48:19,775 --> 00:48:24,323
and you are the helped, but as
we are collaborators together

1067
00:48:24,323 --> 00:48:26,183
in creating a situation.

1068
00:48:26,183 --> 00:48:28,908
If the situation that we
are interesting in creating

1069
00:48:28,908 --> 00:48:32,197
is that we want to be
together in this experience,

1070
00:48:32,197 --> 00:48:34,033
we want to be together
in this relationship,

1071
00:48:34,033 --> 00:48:37,691
we want to be together in interacting

1072
00:48:37,691 --> 00:48:39,370
with the world in this way,

1073
00:48:39,370 --> 00:48:41,569
then let's put on the
table all of our needs

1074
00:48:41,569 --> 00:48:44,182
and all of our resources in figuring out

1075
00:48:44,182 --> 00:48:47,072
how to facilitate making that happen.

1076
00:48:47,072 --> 00:48:52,072
(applause)