» ACCESSIBILITY CHALLENGES | The Advocacy Project

Amanda Lasik (The Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organization- BERDO): Amanda received a bachelor’s degree in International Business from Northern Arizona University. She served as an Americorps VISTA member working on educational programs for immigrants in rural Washington State. Amanda has also volunteered in Central America and worked for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, where she managed legislative advocacy related to health care and disability rights, wellness programs, and Spanish self-help groups. At the time of her fellowship, Amanda was studying international development at the University of California San Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. After her fellowship Amanda wrote: “[This] was a great learning experience for my professional development. I gained an invaluable perspective on a new part of the world. I have a much greater understanding of Islam and a culture I was unfamiliar with prior to my fellowship. I also have a new understanding of the challenges of fundraising for small NGOs in developing countries.”

13 Aug

This blog is dedicated to my friends at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I have always been proud of the Society’s advocacy for public accessibility and transportation and the way that activists are able to effectuate change on a local level in the United States. I have created this photo blog to illustrate some of the differences between disability advocacy in the developed and developing world. Both BERDO and the National MS Society strive for full inclusion for persons with disabilities, but the challenges that both organizations face are distinct. When I look at these pictures, I imagine myself as a person that uses a wheelchair or has a visual impairment.