My name is Samantha and I am 24 years old. I will soon be a certified massage therapist. I have a B.S. in Biology from Meredith College, and recently finished post-Bac studies at Valdosta State. My future plans are to take the MCAT and attend medical school. When not studying, I enjoy baking, writing, playing penny whistle, watching documentaries, and playing D&D. For the most part I can be considered a typical post graduate med school hopeful, the only exception to this being I am blind.

I was born 3 months premature, which led to a severe case of retinopathy of prematurity. From the time I was 3 months old to 2 years old, I had 6 eye surgeries, all in an attempt to save my vision. These surgeries were partially successful, giving me light perception in my left eye and a small amount of usable vision in my right. Thanks to several other related complications over the years, what vision I had has slowly decreased over time and doctors predict that I will, at some undetermined point in my future, go completely blind.

I started learning Braille, using a cane, and navigating the world around me with the help of an orientation and mobility instructor when I was 4. I started and remained in the public education system  throughout all of elementary, middle, and high school, but always had an aid that would assist me with The visual aspects of my classes. I was in AIG classes in elementary school, took honors classes in high school, and graduated with around a 4.0 GPA.  One might think that based upon my academic success I had little trouble with school throughout my formative years. The fact is, I suffered from numerous difficulties, from the unwillingness of some teachers to provide proper accommodations as specified by my IEP, to a patchy and inconsistent continuation of my braille and screen reader technology instruction that still causes problems for me today.

Despite the challenges that I have faced due to my disability I feel no resentment towards my blindness, although it can be supremely frustrating at times. I have never known any other way of life and I have a wonderful support structure of friends, family, and a beloved guide dog to keep me going and give me a hand when times get tough. Until recently I was under the impression that accessibility for the blind in America wasn’t great, but it was improving and better than some places. The idea that there were better places in the world in regards to accessibility for the disabled community was something that I never thought of before, at least not until England.

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to visit England with some of my classmates from Meredith. We got to visit Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, the City of Bath, numerous villages, and other well known sites. While there, I realized just how far behind America is in regards to accessibility. 

In England I was able to easily determine monetary bill denominations because of tactile markers. Many of the places had tactile models, Braille descriptions, or audio guides so I could interact and understand the place or exhibit. For example, I was able to touch a model of Stonehenge while one of their workers explained the points of interest of this ancient site. At Winchester Cathedral, they had a Braille guide book explaining the architecture and visual elements. In both the Roman Baths and Windsor Castle, I was able to obtain an audio guide that explained my surroundings as well as information on plaques. I was able to understand everything in the different rooms: the windows, the walls, the paintings, the armor and weapons, and the history in a way that I had never been able to before in The US. 

In America, I have to rely on the little vision I have or trust someone to be honest with me when it comes to determining cash value. I also use a wallet with different sections so I can sort my cash. Museums and other similar types of attractions in the states never seem to have tactile models or any other type of accessible media for that matter, leaving me to rely on friends to describe things or walk around for several hours bored out of my mind. Based upon my experiences, a blind person is lucky to be able to find a braille map or up-to-date braille menu in a restaurant. Many other elements of accessibility were better in England as well, from numerous wheelchair accessible entrances, to elevators that spoke more often than not, to audible street crossing signs and guide bumps at most intersections, even in some of the smallest villages we visited.

Attitudes towards people with disabilities were different there as well, with most people seeming less unsettled with the idea and better able to adapt to having a person with a disability in their midst. One example of this that I will never forget is getting on a shuttle bus at Stonehenge and hearing the driver get a radio that someone in a wheelchair was going to be getting on at the next stop. The man simply asked the three people across from us in the bus to move over and explained the situation. The people moved without complaint, and he maneuvered the seat to make room, l then lowered a ramp and assisted the passenger onto the bus. There was no scrambling to find a solution to accommodate this person like I have witnessed in the United States. As so many things seem to be in England, the idea of people with disabilities seem to be more integrated into infrastructure as opposed to being accommodated for. Elements of this could also be seen in the medication aisle of a Tesco My friends and I were visiting where I, much to my disbelief, discovered that some of the boxes were brailed, describing the brand-name and Medicinal contents within. By no means is the accessibility in England perfect and there’s definite room for improvement there as well, but upon returning to the United States and encountering the first elevator in the airport that didn’t speak in what felt like years, I realized something that was both shocking and sad. I felt more safe, comfortable, and accepted for who I am in a country that I had visited for only two weeks than I ever had in the United States where I have lived my entire life.

It is thanks to the experiences that I had in England that I realized that the accessibility situation in the United States desperately needs to be changed. I have managed to pave a way for myself despite challenges, but I still face new ones every day. There are also others out there who may not have the level of support structure that I do and who, for reasons beyond their control, are not as fortunate as I have been to make it to where I am today. Currently, there is a distinct lack of infrastructure surrounding accessibility for the visually impaired in the United States and despite the laws and rights that are in place on paper, the United States still has a very long way to go. Attitudes towards people with disabilities need to change because there is still much stigma surrounding disability that leaves a lot of people uncomfortable interacting with us. I don’t know how many times I have been with a sighted friend or family member and someone we interact with will talk to my companion about me as if I’m not standing there and capable of answering for myself. In this country disability seems to still be synonymous with deficiency and yes it may take us longer to complete a task or we may have to complete it in a different way, but this simply makes us different, not broken or incapable of thinking and acting for ourselves.

There has been a lot said in the media and legislation surrounding marginalized minority groups, but we in the disabled community have for too long been the invisible minority. We are expected and forced to adapt to a world that will not adapt and accept us. I know legislation for the disabled community is in place, and though it has made many positive changes for our community, it is by no means foolproof. I have personally been affected by this imperfect system and I still continue to be. In this country a child cannot be told they can’t reach for their dreams because of their biological sex, gender, sexual orientation, or skin color, yet I don’t know how many times I have been told “you can’t,” or “you shouldn’t,” or “that’s crazy,” because I am blind. Currently, I live in the United States of America, a country that prides itself on the idea of freedom for all, but I, as a blind person, cannot vote, shop for groceries, read how to make a frozen pizza, use most touchscreen home appliances, know what’s on the screen of a credit card reader, or comprehend what is happening on any Star Trek series made prior to 2018 without assistance. There are of course options, but many of these are either time-consuming, clunky, involve having to implicitly trust a stranger, or just plain ineffective.

I have created this petition in hopes to educate others of the many obstacles the disabled community faces that our non-disabled peers may take for granted every day. My ultimate goal is to obtain as many signatures as possible, so I can attach this petition to various proposals I will be sending to different companies and legislators demanding more accessibility in products, transportation, and laws. The disabled community is rarely a priority or even acknowledged in the outcry against injustice these days.

We deserve better.

We deserve more than simple and cheap adaptations that oftentimes are ineffective and only a weak effort to meet requirements deemed by imperfect laws. It is time that the USA acknowledged and made greater efforts to make our country accessible for everyone. After all, do we, as disabled citizens of the United States of America, not also deserve the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? If you agree with this sentiment I would like to take this chance to ask you to please sign this petition and help me improve the accessibility of America.