For some of us, returning to work after we were injured was not a question; it was what was expected. In my case, my grandfather had polio. He used canes and a wheelchair; he also went to work every day in a machine shop. My father injured his spine in the Navy and is one of the hardest working people I know. So when I was injured in the Marine Corps, the question wasn’t, “Will you go to work?” but, “When?”
I was lucky. I didn’t have the problems many people experience. The Veterans Administration had the best spinal cord care in the world, even in the early 1970s. I didn’t worry about my daily needs. I could fend for myself well enough that I didn’t need an attendant. I wasn’t married. I didn’t have the day-to-day tasks of child care and household responsibilities. I could still drive.
What I didn’t realize back then was the amount of work this organization had already done to make it possible for me to go to work; that the efforts to assist returning injured veterans were bringing about change for everyone. When an organization such as United Spinal shows the value of integrating and hiring persons with disabilities, all of us profit both individually and collectively.
Not that we can ever rest on our laurels. The arduous battle for legislation to ensure our civil rights must be ongoing. Without it, even in the 21st century, there are conceptual and attitudinal barriers that would keep us at home and out of sight. It is, therefore, our job to show the world that we are not limited by our physical makeup.
United Spinal has a strong legislative program, and we will be reaching out to many of you to help us advocate for equal employment opportunities in individual states. We are also dedicated to forming alliances with companies who believe that their employees’ value is greater than the sum of their parts. For many of us, incurring an injury or disability has forced us to rethink our vocational aptitudes and to get an even greater education than originally planned. Last but not least, we bring to any task the same patience, courage, and determination that helped us rebuild our lives after a traumatic injury or the onset of a disability.
For years our organization has been advocating and fighting for access and equal opportunity for persons with disabilities. Our successes are visible when we see an accessible bus, a curb cut, a ramp, but the job is not nearly done and must continue. Simultaneously, we need you to be doing your part by motivating yourself to reach your potential and by letting us know when you encounter difficulties in your quest to do so. I think I speak for all of us when I say: “Don’t let your disability limit you-only you can set the limits of your disability.”
Clair Russell Hesselton, PhD
President
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