 Good morning. It's a privilege to be a part of you today. My name is J.R. Harding and I'm excited to make some remarks in the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. But before I move forward with my formal remarks, I'd like to thank the planning committee, Dr. Ross, Dr. Cooper, and all of you who I've not yet formally met for this invitation to speak today. I'm most excited to discuss accessibility and inclusion in higher education. But first, I come to you from Florida State University in Tallahassee. I'm a member of the management department at the College of Business. By way of background, I am a two-time quadriplegic who works full-time. My teaching, research and service interests evolves around workforce inclusion in the abilities and passions of persons with disabilities. Personally, I live an active and full life. I enjoy the outdoors, adaptive sports, traveling, and I've been a pioneer in the public policy and advocacy space for over 30 years. I have the great pleasure of sharing my life with my lovely wife, Erica, now on to my formal remarks. Inclusion, inclusion and accessibility are like a puzzle. We must endeavor to assemble all of the pieces that result in full and independent access to all parts of life for persons with disabilities. As many of you may recall, on July 26, 1990, President George H. Bush declared to the world that with his signature, the Americans with Disabilities Act would let that terrible wall of exclusion come tumbling down. Moreover, he argued, we will not excuse, we will not tolerate discrimination in America. We will provide persons with disabilities the opportunity to be blended fully and equally into that rich mosaic of the American mainstream. This directive and the last set of civil rights passed in America has become a beacon of hope and inspiration for all persons with disabilities here at home and internationally. It starts with employment. It's critical that we harness the talent of persons with disabilities through greater access and inclusion, because we represent 15% of the world's population, and here in America, 61 million identify as having a disability. And three families encounter economic and social barriers, because one or more of their family members are living with a disability. These numbers will simply continue to compound over time, and especially as a world ages. We have been formally measuring employment data for persons with disabilities since 2008. That means we've only been measuring and evaluating the relationship between those with and without disabilities as equals for 14 years. And truth, that's not very long, but at least we are measuring the impact of the ADA and relationship to that aspirational goal of inclusion without barriers. The measurement tool we've been utilizing is the current population survey or the CPS. This month, the Census Bureau of Labor and Statistics produces telling reports from their six proven questions and truth that took eight years to incorporate these data points into the metrics. As a result of this information. The constant has been true over the years. Opportunities and success of individuals with and without disabilities are not equal. Employment rates for PWDs are higher than those without disabilities. The employment ratio for persons with disabilities is lower, and the employment participation rate for persons with disabilities is also lower. These outcomes do not seem to fulfill the promise of a blended fully and equally into the mosaic of the American mainstream as President Bush proclaimed 32 years ago. That terrible wall of exclusion has not yet come tumbling down. Therefore, what obligations, what expectations and what responsibilities does the National Academy of Science, engineer medicine have to do with the ADA, and the tearing down of the walls of discrimination. The leaders within our institutions of higher ed, federal government and fellow Americans, we must simply lead by example. If we do not embrace this challenge, who will. We must live up to our mission to teach to serve and to identify those best practices through research. We must not forget that higher ed and employment opportunities have always been a springboard to economic and self sufficiency. We must endeavor to raise that bar on what full inclusion is and can be for each next generation. The ADA is an arrow found within that quiver of America, but it's only an effective tool when we choose to untap its potential for economic and social growth. It's predicated on justice and equality. The ability to enable anyone willing to try to achieve their highest level of self sufficiency and independence. It has the natural ability to exponentially expand discovery competitiveness and innovation. Are we building access and inclusion into our grants. Are we specifically creating those opportunities for the next generation. Persons with disabilities are very much like our institutions of higher ed. Those like to solve problems case in point the morale act of 1862 provided land grants to states for that specific purpose of establishing colleges that specialized agricultural and mechanical arts. Some of these first universities included Wisconsin, Iowa State, Missouri, and Rutgers. Later, the second morale act of 1890 created or distinguished HBCs historical black colleges. Currently, these institutions make up the world's most distinguished collection of tier one universities in the world. These universities have helped to transform this country. They have helped propel us into the industrial age, build roads bridges and dams across the land. They've facilitated the training, education, employer restoration of engineers, architects and scientists needed for this new landscape. Likewise, the GI bill coming out of World War two was also very transformative on the growth of higher education systems that served as a catalyst for persons with disabilities. So thanks to the regions at the Illinois at the University of Illinois Champaign soldiers soldiers living with permanent disabilities were invited and actively recruited to learn and thrive within the university culture. These early pioneers had that unique can do American spirit. We saw similar challenges taking place, change taking place at the University of Berkeley with Ed Roberts and the Roman quads. As a result, the country now has the rehab act of 1973, which specifically requires programmatic inclusion of persons with disabilities for all entities receiving federal funding. Many of you may recall at first, Ed was deemed to disabled for the VR system to work. However, upon his graduation from Berkeley, Governor Jerry Brown made at the VR director to signify to the country. That abilities are measured in the heart of an individual, not solely by their ambulatory skills. Personally, I'll always be grateful to Ed's determination is tenacity and his advocacy for unfettered inclusion. I got to be the first Ed Roberts of Western Kentucky. He was their first student with the significant mobility impairment. We had to build ramps sidewalks accessible dorm rooms, implement reasonable accommodations, and have faculty members learn how to incorporate me into the curriculum. Rather than leaving me on the sidelines of the classroom and life. During these early years, my friends, of course, still bounce me up and down steps curves and fraternity parties, and occasionally spilled me out on the concrete, but that's part of that pioneering spirit. Later, higher ed took another significant leap forward with breaking down barriers through the passing of the ADA. This watershed legislation required all of our colleges and universities to take a deep dive into their architectural infrastructure, accommodation process, programmatic activities to ensure both academic and interpersonal development of students with disabilities. Today, we make up about 12.5% of the total student population, matriculating and our universities. These news tools were transformative on so many different levels. So what would our colleges and universities be that place just for gentlemen to be trained, but a place for everyone to learn to thrive and to make community contributions to that mosaic of the American way of life. Each of you here today, have your own unique higher education stories. Each of you are probably had that special faculty member who took the time to befriend you to mentor you and guide you into your profession of choice. Like you, I'll never forget how Florida State faculty member accommodated me during my second spinal cord injury. In the middle of my dissertation data analysis, you remember chapters four and five. When I flipped my band at 75 miles an hour, broke my shoulder, both legs, and my spinal cord for the second time. Yes, truly unimaginable. The shock of the second injury caused me to lose all of my previously gained abilities that I could hardly afford to lose my dissertation chairperson, Dr. Barbara man chose to drive down to the University of Florida, where I was recovering. She showed incredible empathy and concern for my well being. She asked if I needed anything. She asked and inform me not to worry about my data, and that we would get the dissertation completed. I told document that I would like to work on my analysis and the application section from the rehab room. To discharge the university community figured out how to beam my dissertation from my dorm room to the university server to another university server, and specifically to my household room, which was outfitted with an adaptive computer to meet my needs. This was done in the summer of 98. This was done before we had Google and solving problem. This problem, they took reasonable accommodation to a whole new level. This was only possible because universities were on the cutting edge of technology. They introduced the ethernet connection to enable large amounts of data to be sent back and forth on this thing called the internet. I was able to finish my dissertation, just two months behind my original goal, despite all of that physical and mental damage to my body. Because of this level of student-centered instruction and commitment, I am gainfully employed and have been so for well over 20 plus years. In fact, I'm making a planned gift to some of my universities to ensure that the next generation of students with disabilities are able to benefit from the teaching and the research and the service opportunities. They might encounter at their school of choice. So how do we show our leadership? How do we continue to use our universities and colleges as economic and social change agents? How do we specifically meet the needs of our marginalized population that are facing attitudinal, structural, programmatic communication, and financial barriers to education and work? Well, building upon that puzzle metaphor, we must continue to assemble all the pieces of our inclusion tools to mitigate and eliminate barriers. These tools include, but are not limited to, physical access, programmatic access, information technology, internships, mentoring, and much more. I'd like to use the 4As as a teaching tool to empower my students to build a more robust workforce in the future. The 4As are start with the right attitude, build that access, have those accommodation tools, and assimilate everyone into your teams. This approach is driven by that inclusion framework found on the employer assistance resource network. The framework is uniquely tailored to assist almost all individuals on the diversity spectrum spectrum with inclusion needs. I ask each of you, what are you doing to promote the right attitudes, to ensure the proper infrastructure, to promote reasonable accommodations within your labs, your research, your exams, and so forth? How are you assimilating the next generation into the professions of science, engineer, medicine? Are you leading the way? Are you building a pipeline of talent in your field? Are you communicating inclusive practices, utilizing accessible technology, and ultimately, are you measuring the impacts of your part of the world into the greater system? When will each of you see and understand that my mobility device is not who I am, but just how I get around? I am defined by many different characteristics and interests, none of us are singular in our perspectives. Our differences are not our weaknesses, but rather our strengths. We, persons with disabilities, have a lifetime of solving problems. It is this kind of tenacity, this kind of innovative thinking, this kind of persistence that will help us continue to build a knowledge-based community for today and tomorrow. After all, living with a disability is not a constant. It is an ever-evolving concept that has the intersectionality across the ages, ethnicities, genders, religions, and identities. If we live long enough, we will all encounter some type of disabling condition. Many of us have already begun this journey of living with a disability. Perhaps some of you use glasses or hearing aids to accommodate your own particular needs. So, how many of you are demanding that your new state-of-the-art research facilities is accessible and inclusive? Do your buildings and features within them exceed the minimum standard? Minimum? Let's maximize. Each of our new facilities on our campuses and across our institutions of government will be here for 50 to 100 years. Let's build universal, let's make them universally accommodate without the need for specialized interventions for each new student and faculty member entering and utilizing the facility. How many of you are currently using accessible features on your iPhone, your computer, the environmental controls built in your home? Are you creating accessible documents for your syllabi, your research papers? Are you communicating them in a manner that individuals can read them freely and independently on any device at any time? Are you advancing inclusion as defined by the social model of inclusion rather than reinforcing the archaic biases built into the medical model of living with a disability? As each of you are aware, one model places the burden of advocacy and accommodation on the individual living with the disability rather than placing the reasonable expectations on our institutions or businesses and communities to remove the barriers from full and active life. The 2010 standards are creating new expectations, opening previously closed doors like the outdoors and amusement parks. These universal design standards have been improved upon since those early stages of 1990 and 92, where we did not have the benefit of science and technology that's now driving a more functional and purposely constructed environment. Things like lever door handles and curb cuts. Remember, everyone complained about them, but now none of us can live without them. The Workforce Investment Opportunity Act of 2014 substantially changed our funding and supporting the nation's workforce dollars. It's specifically charging us to reach out to young people with disabilities and requires our nation's largest contractors to meet those 7% aspirational workforce goals. Moreover, the EOC promulgated some aspirational goals for the federal government at 12% diversity numbers and uniquely recruiting those with most significant impairments like quadriplegia, down, cerebral palsy, and the like. We are witnessing the push for employment first initiative where everyone living with a disability can be working in integrated and competitive environments, integrated and competitive environments. Soon, many of our not for profits will no longer be able to use this tool called the 14c waiver to support and drive sheltered workshops. They will need to be able to pay individuals with disabilities, the minimum wage or higher right competitive and integrated. Soon, we will have to absorb thousands of new employees into the broader mosaic of the American life. When previously, they were told, they were less able. Perhaps we are the ones for less able because we lack the vision, the compassion, the understanding and the ability to raise that bar. And I appreciate being with you today.