WHY WE CREATED THIS WEBSITE
Women with significant speech and physical impairments, such as cerebral palsy and dystonia, are speaking but few are listening.
4dwm focuses on young women who have both speech and physical disabilities. These young women are talented, intelligent and want to be more engaged with society. Their access to computer technology gives them a voice, sometimes literally through speech communication devices.
The primary movers behind this website are Corbett Joan O’Toole and Meecha Bregante Corbett. This mother/daughter team wants to build a network for women like Meecha, who has CP with speech impairment. Like many young women with disabilities Meecha wants role models and resources. Creating a website to share ideas seemed like a useful idea.
They enlisted the support of Women Pushing Forward and the Policy Research on Women and Disability (PROWD). Women Pushing Forward is directed by Alicia Contreras and founded in 1994. It focuses on empowerment of women with disabilities by tackling the complex issues of basic mobility for physically disabled women. Policy Research on Women and Disability (PROWD), founded in 2004, is a collaboration of Disabled Women’s Alliance (Corbett Joan O’Toole), Crip Commentary (Laura Hershey). PROWD organizations have organized national and international conferences on women and disability, created websites on advocacy, education and research, as well as being active public speakers on important issues for disabled women.
This website could not exist without the very generous support of the Verizon Foundation.
Content Coordinators for this site:
Ana Alegria Rojas: Ana is 42 years old, lives in Angleton, Texas, and is a native Texan. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988 with a degree in nutrition, she worked for the State of Texas, teaching pregnant women in deep southeastern Texas the benefits of good nutrition in a prenatal care program. In 1995, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which has progressed significantly in the last few years. Today, she is a nutritional consultant. She is an avid reader of local color fiction, enjoys classical music, gets away to the Gulf of Mexico as much as possible, and dotes on her two pugs!
Robin Stephens: Robin is a disability rights lawyer and activist who has a speech impairment. You can find her at her computer working or checking email, at a protest, or just hanging out. Robin is coordinating the legal page.
Martina Robinson: Martina is a 31-year-old artist, activist, and academic, who lives in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts.In 2006, she ran for Lt. Governor of her state, along with Grace Ross, on the Green-Rainbow ticket. The pair garnered 43,032 votes according to the Boston Globe. Martina is coordinating the leadership page.
Devva Kasnitz: I am an anthropologist trained at The University of Michigan. I have an extensive background in medical anthropology, qualitative and applied research including health and immigration, and disability rights research including personal assistance services at work, rural transportation, leadership development, and accommodation policy.
I’ve been working at the University of California, Berkeley for the last 5 years managing a postdoctoral program in disability studies and teaching a class Anthropology and Disability. I’ve worked at the World Institute on Disability and served as the Chair of Membership of one California independent living center and as Treasurer and then Executive Director of another.I’m one of the founding board members of the Society for Disability Studies and the Association of Programs in Rural Independent Living. I was active in unionizing at The University of Michigan, and I have been an entrepreneur who owned a retail clothing store and was active in community Enterprise Zones and Model Cities programs.
I have Torsion Dystonia, a movement and speech disability of childhood onset which requires accommodation. I use a voice interpreter revoicer for work and formal speech. I divide my time living in a cottage in Berkeley and in a Eureka California Victorian with my husband, my 3 year old stepson, a dog, 4 cats, and 3 chickens. My passions are dance and my family. My current goal is to find time to write and to dye my grey roots. Devva is coordinating the resources page.
Kelly Munger: Kelly is a PHD student in Disability Studies. Her research examines the lived experiences of social marginalization in adults with cerebral palsy. Kelly is coordinating the sexuality page.
Rita Roberson: Rita has a BA in Therapeutic Recreation and a Rehabilitation Technology Certificate from San Diego State University. She is a teacher’s assistant in a class called “Disability and Society” at S.D.S.U.; one of her responsibilities is to share her life story with the students. She also volunteers at the United Cerebral Palsy Assistive Technology Center and with the Assistive Technology Advocate at the local Independent Living Center, Access to Independence. She is very active in her church and loves to ride horses and play role-playing games. Rita is coordinating the assistive technology page.
Tammy Burton: Born a California girl with cerebral palsy, Tammy meandered throughout the west in the disability “system.” Now she is a proud Boulder, Colorado woman! Enrolled as full-time student at Regis University, she is closing in on a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on management. But Tammy’s greatest education has come from her first-hand experience with disability, poverty, and parenthood. As a young adult, Tammy was forced to live in a nursing home and she had to fight to live independently. In this struggle for freedom, Tammy found her calling to advocacy.
Now, as wife to Dustin and mother of Benny (age 3) and Destiny (age 2), two smart, sweet, and rather rambunctious children, Tammy views activism and advocacy as more crucial than ever before. “It’s not just about me anymore. It’s not even just about people with disabilities. It’s about ensuring that all people are treated fairly. No more boxes for anyone!”
Tammy serves as the treasurer for Boulder ADAPT and serves on the Equity Committee for Benny’s preschool/elementary school. As an activist, advocate, mover and shaker, Tammy is especially committed to providing resources for parents with disabilities.
Susan Fitzmaurice: Susan is a lifelong disability advocate, with nearly 40 years of experience in both professional and volunteer positions spanning all facets of the disability community.
Susan is the ADA Coordinator for the City of Dearborn and the liaison to its Commission on Disability Concerns, the director of the Reel Life Disability Film Festival, the creator of both a disability & sexuality and a disability crisis resource website, the managing director of a micro enterprise Teddy’s Ts, on the board of United Cerebral Palsy - Detroit, a blogger, and the parent of an adult son.
Susan’s most recent academic work has been at Syracuse University in Disability Studies and in Rehabilitation Counseling. Susan has recently incorporated all of her various enterprises into an organization called IDEAAS - Information on Disability for Empowerment, Advocacy, and Support. Susan is coordinating the health & wellness page.
