An American Dream ...

This semester at Notre Dame College, I taught an op-ed by Nancy Mairs, a disabilities activist with an impressive writing record. Mairs' op-ed originally ran in the New York Times and was reprinted in the Bedford Reader. The provocative title Waist-High in the World is one of her books and a curriculum by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

In teaching Mairs' op-ed, I wanted students to consider the impact of disabilities as well as sensing the possibility of translating their own close-to-home ideas into public discourse and even, in some time and in some way, social action.

I sometimes teach through demonstration. I wrote and rewrote, wrote and rewrote--about my cousin and her family's private dilemmas that do indeed reflect social conditions at large. The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran the op-ed I wrote; I am grateful. I have not yet followed the fine print of what's happening in Washington, D.C. I know that many people have worked hard on the health bill, and others are opposed to it...I don't quite know what the answer is...My gut feeling is that it may not go far enough on affordability and access. I truly hope that I am wrong.

Image: Public Domain
Read about Betsy Ross's creativity and life here