“I’m going to show the world that having a disability is cool!”
Those are the words of Jennifer Adams, Ms. Wheelchair America 2014, who will speak on the “Inclusion Revolution” at Belmont University on Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. in McWhorter Hall Room 110. The event is sponsored by the Belmont Student Occupational Therapy Association (BSOTA) and is open and free to the public, with convocation credit available to Belmont students.
Ms. Adams is a successful 33-year-old businesswoman from Tacoma, Washington. She was born with partial limbs and has used a wheelchair her whole life. She grew up in a family of eight children after being adopted along with five of her siblings, all who had either down syndrome or cerebral palsy. “I believe that really set me up to grow up into the world with a view of diversity and to accept people from the inside first,” Adams said. “I attribute a lot to my parents.” Her adopted mother, Jeanne, is a family doctor in Chehalis, Washington.
It was teasing she experienced in her youth that led Adams to seek out ways to tell her story. For 17 years, she has been motivating others with her positive message. “We all have limitations,” said Adams in a recent interview with her hometown newspaper, The News Tribune, “but if you press beyond your limitations, that’s where fulfillment and life’s purpose lies.”
Adams is a radiant, high energy spokeswoman who enjoys singing, public speaking, and skateboarding. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Faith Seminary in Tacoma and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Pacific Lutheran University. After receiving her master’s degree, she worked at the Tacoma School of the Arts as an advocate for students with disabilities.
Adams has a passion for the arts; acting, dancing, and singing. She has experienced barriers to her passion in the mainstream art world due to her disability, but her goal is to encourage people to take their gifts and talents out into the world to break down barriers of discrimination. “When people with disabilities show the world our talents,” she says, “disabilities dissolve and abilities shine forth.”
In the News Tribune interview, Adams laid out one of her main goals for the coming year: “I want to advocate for the inclusion model of education within public school systems all over the nation. The special education system in public schools is very antiquated. There’s still a lot of segregation where a student can spend all day in a special education classroom, instead of interacting with their peers. Statistics show special education students flourish when they’re in mainstream classrooms because it challenges them in a different way than in a special education classroom. It helps them flourish socially, too. They are more likely to succeed when they become independent adults, because isolation keeps them from socializing with their peers. There are some cases where it’s not better for kids to be in a mainstream classroom, but I would say 85 percent of special education students could be fully included in the mainstream classroom and do well.”
Students in BSOTA are doctoral level students at Belmont in the School of Occupational Therapy, part of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing.