Let's Talk About Intellectual Disabilities: Loretta Claiborne at TEDxMidAtlantic — Transcript

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1. 0:17good afternoon
2. 0:18everyone it's more likely good evening
3. 0:21because it's after three well anyway I'm
4. 0:24I'm happy to be here to talk to you I'm
5. 0:27going to talk about the politness of
6. 0:28people with intellectual dis
7. 0:30ability but before that I'm going to
8. 0:32talk about a little bit about my life
9. 0:35when my mother had me I was born
10. 0:36intellectually Challenge and we talk
11. 0:39about
12. 0:40fearlessness when my mother she didn't
13. 0:42fear anything she had seven children and
14. 0:46of course when I came she was told you
15. 0:48know this one you're going to have to
16. 0:50institutionalize it probably won't live
17. 0:52that long and of course myom mom read
18. 0:54The Spill and she said don't tell me
19. 0:57what to do don't tell me what to do I'll
20. 1:00raise my children well my mother had
21. 1:02dreams and hopes just like every other
22. 1:04mother she wanted me to grow up like her
23. 1:07other six siblings who were living two
24. 1:09deceased and one adopted which would
25. 1:12have made 10 children but she wanted me
26. 1:15to grow up and go to school and her
27. 1:17dream was for me to graduate from high
28. 1:18school like any other child I had dreams
29. 1:21I wanted to be an athlete I wanted to be
30. 1:23a nurse and I wanted to be a
31. 1:25veterinarian with two of my dreams I
32. 1:27knew wasn't going to happen because of
33. 1:30all the naysay that came around you're
34. 1:32not going to do this you're not going to
35. 1:33graduate from high school you're in a
36. 1:34segregated class I was segregated
37. 1:37outside on the playground I heard a man
38. 1:38talk about earlier about Playgrounds for
39. 1:41everyone inclusionary playgrounds well
40. 1:44when it comes to a child who is
41. 1:45intellectually challenged there's not
42. 1:47much of a playground for them but to be
43. 1:49bullied and teased and be the Teeter
44. 1:52ball of everybody's joke as time went by
45. 1:56my mom's dreams were fulfilled I
46. 1:59graduated from from high school but I
47. 2:01was still living a violent angry life I
48. 2:05can remember going to the dentist with
49. 2:07my sisters and
50. 2:08brothers and she took all five of us
51. 2:10girls and the dentist would look at four
52. 2:12of them and said oh yes when you got to
53. 2:14me oh we can't treat her you need to
54. 2:18take her to the
55. 2:19clinic of course my mom being a broad
56. 2:21person she was she didn't take no slack
57. 2:24from
58. 2:25nobody but of course sometimes she fell
59. 2:30and there was a time when I was going to
60. 2:32be institutionalized the two schools I
61. 2:34was going to go to are now
62. 2:37closed and she was proad that her child
63. 2:41is going to be educated in the same
64. 2:42school system that her other six
65. 2:44children who are living you got a
66. 2:46special education class here you're
67. 2:48going to educate my child my mom was
68. 2:50fearless and you had to be Fearless of
69. 2:51her you couldn't be Fearless for her cuz
70. 2:53she was big and when she talked she was
71. 2:55like EF Hutton she didn't take no backs
72. 2:58slack from nobody and when she said be
73. 3:01quiet shut up she meant it she could
74. 3:04pick you out of a
75. 3:05crowd talk about being Fearless this
76. 3:08woman was Fearless she was Fearless in
77. 3:10the community and she was Fearless for
78. 3:12her seven young children even though she
79. 3:14was had welfare even though there wasn't
80. 3:17much food but she met what she met and
81. 3:20she metant for her children to be their
82. 3:21best of course I'm living with anger
83. 3:25taking a lot of psychot trophy drugs it
84. 3:28was coming time for me to Branch out I
85. 3:31was going to a workshop when a man
86. 3:33approached me and says you know there's
87. 3:34a program called Special Olympics I
88. 3:37didn't speak and no I didn't use sign
89. 3:42language and I remember him saying to me
90. 3:45we want you to come out for this program
91. 3:48and of course me and myself mean angry
92. 3:52all I looked like was like
93. 3:54this I could care less because I know as
94. 3:58a bread Ender joke
95. 4:01I got into Special Olympics a free
96. 4:03program of course it offered Sports and
97. 4:06training competition at the time they
98. 4:08use this word this word is not to be
99. 4:10used now for the
100. 4:13now we use terms like people
101. 4:17who have intellectual
102. 4:19disabilities when I first got into
103. 4:20Special Olympics this one
104. 4:23day now it's all year 180 countries it's
105. 4:29providing sport is providing something
106. 4:32that I was denied health
107. 4:34care just a month ago I was up at the
108. 4:37Clinton Global initiative to speak about
109. 4:40people being denied of healthare who
110. 4:42have intellectual
111. 4:44disability of course people come to the
112. 4:46platform with about people how they're
113. 4:48treated there's not enough food clean
114. 4:51water you know the legistics of what
115. 4:54people came but for the first time
116. 4:57somebody with an intellectual disability
117. 4:59was able to get up and speak to the
118. 5:02world about people who have the needs
119. 5:06and the disparity of health care for
120. 5:08people with intellectual
121. 5:10disability rise up folks it's happening
122. 5:13here in the US OFA that people are still
123. 5:17being denied and when I think about
124. 5:19about being
125. 5:21Fearless today when I get out there and
126. 5:24fight I'm fearless I didn't think I was
127. 5:26able to get back I was told that what
128. 5:29wasn't going to be there was supposed to
129. 5:31be a gentleman here today Mr Tim shraer
130. 5:35was supposed to speak on fearlessness
131. 5:37and he says I'm not the person to speak
132. 5:40Loretta you
133. 5:41are and I never thought I could be
134. 5:45Fearless yes I do fear still today I do
135. 5:49Fear the Future because I know right in
136. 5:52this country health care for the regular
137. 5:56population how we are challenging to get
138. 5:59decent health care so yes I am growing
139. 6:03older and I do have fears just like
140. 6:05everyone else about how I'm going to be
141. 6:08treated and how people with intellectual
142. 6:10disabilities around this country and
143. 6:12around the world is going to be treated
144. 6:14because if we don't have good health
145. 6:16care we have
146. 6:18nothing you can have all you want in
147. 6:21this world you can have the best of food
148. 6:24but if you don't have good health and
149. 6:26care for yourself we don't have Humanity
150. 6:30and now when I look at Special Olympics
151. 6:31I always think back why would somebody
152. 6:34like Miss Unice Kennedy Shriver who came
153. 6:36from a prominent family think about
154. 6:38somebody who was intellectually
155. 6:41challenged yes she had a sister that was
156. 6:43intellectually challenged but she W
157. 6:45beyond that 1968 when she knocked on the
158. 6:48gates and she says you know what I'm
159. 6:51going to take my chance in 1962 she had
160. 6:54a camp in the yard Society told her no
161. 6:56no no no no those people don't belong
162. 7:00people like me belonged in institutions
163. 7:02warehouse for a crime we didn't commit
164. 7:05basically
165. 7:07prison and here was a woman who stood
166. 7:09out and I always wanted to ask her we
167. 7:13were great great friends and I never got
168. 7:15to answer this question
169. 7:18Unice did you ever a fear of what people
170. 7:21would
171. 7:22think of you doing something for a
172. 7:25population of people were not supposed
173. 7:27to be thought of
174. 7:30I wished I would have had the chance to
175. 7:31ask that question to her and I
176. 7:35didn't I had to rely on
177. 7:38faith I had to rely on being fearless
178. 7:41and for me to be Fearless for people
179. 7:43with intellectual disability after to
180. 7:46trust in my faith trus in my faith in
181. 7:48others trus in my faith in good people
182. 7:50in my
183. 7:51life and
184. 7:53yes when I think about Mrs shrier she
185. 7:56took a chance and she wasn't afraid she
186. 7:59she wasn't afraid to be Fearless no
187. 8:00matter what stepped in front of her and
188. 8:03that's the way I feel today I'm not
189. 8:06afraid to be Fearless whether it's going
190. 8:08up against the president of the United
191. 8:09States or talking to Congress or talking
192. 8:11to
193. 8:13Senate people ask me all the time read
194. 8:15aren't you afraid of that I said
195. 8:18no no I guess this is the job God gave
196. 8:21me to
197. 8:23do when I look back at my life I was
198. 8:27supposed to be
199. 8:28feared
200. 8:29but today I look at my life and I look
201. 8:33at so many lives so many people being
202. 8:37involved with people with intellectual
203. 8:39disability when I look at Special
204. 8:40Olympics today I think about Unified
205. 8:42sports where people with regular
206. 8:44abilities come into the school or into
207. 8:46the community and play with people with
208. 8:48intellectual disability I look at
209. 8:50project unified where we come in and
210. 8:52talk young people in schools where they
211. 8:55are being bullied with intellectual
212. 8:57disabilities IR regular abilities
213. 8:59talking about just their own
214. 9:01issues last January I heard a principal
215. 9:04with tears talking to me he said Loretta
216. 9:07since we started the project unified
217. 9:08with our regular students come in and
218. 9:10talk to the students with special
219. 9:12needs we had one girl that wouldn't come
220. 9:15to school anymore and because of that
221. 9:17today bullying has went down 60% in our
222. 9:21school 60% bullying is a big
223. 9:25issue so today when I look and see what
224. 9:28special olymp is doing whether it's
225. 9:30healthare whether it's people to be in
226. 9:32the community whether it's for a child
227. 9:34to play on the park whether it's for
228. 9:36somebody to get their own apartment to
229. 9:38Advocate to be Fearless I have to have
230. 9:42something in my mind and beside me I put
231. 9:45my strength and I put my faith in God
232. 9:48that I can be Fearless on behalf of unit
233. 9:50on behalf of Special Olympics on behalf
234. 9:52of all people with intellectual
235. 9:55disability so when I look around that
236. 9:58one day
237. 10:00I won't have to have a job to fight I
238. 10:03won't have to be
239. 10:04Fearless that one day I'll be able to
240. 10:07walk down the street and look at this
241. 10:09person and think of them as a person
242. 10:12instead of a person with an intellectual
243. 10:14disability as a person to be a part of
244. 10:17your community of my
245. 10:20community being
246. 10:22Fearless it's hard and I'll be the first
247. 10:25one to tell you about it because I don't
248. 10:28know know what it
249. 10:30is not to be
250. 10:34fearful I've always grown up to be
251. 10:37fearful fearful of what life is going to
252. 10:40give me fearful of what's going to
253. 10:42happen in the future but now today I'm
254. 10:46proud to say that I am Fearless not for
255. 10:50Loretta but for the world of all people
256. 10:54so I would like to thank each and every
257. 10:56one of you here and that I hope you will
258. 10:59go home if you fear something today keep
259. 11:02your faith keep Faith In Yourself keep
260. 11:05faith in what you believe and you can be
261. 11:08Fearless thank you so much good luck
262. 11:12thank you God
263. 11:27bless