Full transcript:
Hi folks. It’s been a pretty emotional afternoon for us at DisabilityPride.net, for myself and Mary. This afternoon we learned of the death of Ariis Knight, who had cerebral palsy, and actually, Ariis had to go to emerge and did not get the medical treatment she needed or deserved and consequently, she died.
A big part of what happened, once again, was because she had cerebral palsy. There was a probably an attitude of, indirectly believing that her life was less valuable than someone who does not have CP. Unfortunately, ever since Robert Latimer murdered, and yes, I mean murdered. I use that word deliberately because that’s actually what it was. He murdered his disabled daughter Tracy, who had CP and ever since that, I find that the media has a habit of always, almost always, linking CP with intellectual disability, which is actually not common at all. I wish with all my heart that the media and others would stop doing that. Because the truth is, a lot of people who have cerebral palsy are actually very intelligent and our lives are as valuable as anyone else’s.
What happened when Ariis went to emerge, she was not allowed to have someone with her to help her to communicate, which is another problem. Often people, whether it be doctors, nurses, bus drivers, people assume they cannot understand the person and as I always say, whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re probably right. It’s about attitude, it’s about recognizing the value of a person who has CP. It’s about recognizing their contributions to the world. It’s about realizing that they have friends, family, people who love them, people they teach and they assume, as well as those who would *presume it’s a two-way street.
This attitude of assuming that somebody who has cerebral palsy also has an intellectual disability has to stop. It has to stop. As soon as possible, because obviously, lives are at stake. Ariis lost her life because nobody gave her the opportunity to adequately communicate her needs, to communicate what was wrong, to communicate her fears. That’s something I understand very well because I know how frustrating and humiliating it is when whenever people think I have a comprehension problem. I don’t but yet, at times, I will get on a city bus and the bus driver will say “do you know your stop?”
What an outrageously stupid question. “Do you know your stop?” Part of me always wants to say “nah, I just thought I would get on here and let you figure out where I ‘m going.”
But honestly, even if I said that, 9 out of 10 times the driver would not bother to listen long enough to really get my sarcasm. Another thing Mary and I were talking about, if it was someone else in ariis’s situation, if it was a deaf person, if it was someone new to our country, they would almost certainly be allowed to have an interpreter or someone with them. Why was Ariis not allowed this? Why was the person she chose not allowed to be with her? Yes, I know Covid-19 is happening, and that’s scary enough all by itself but when you’re in the situation that Ariis was in, not being allowed to have someone to help you, in the last moments of your life…
I’m sorry, that is not acceptable. That is not. It’s just unspeakable. Something needs to change. So, our way of honoring Ariis at DisabilityPride.net is to make this video and try to tell as many people as we can this should never ever ever have happened. This is not ok. And this needs to be addressed by government, by medical professionals, by everyone, churches, clergy, teachers. C’mon people, it’s 2020. Let’s get a grip. Let’s respect every human life. Whether you knew Ariis or not, I didn’t know Ariis, but I know we have lost something that we should never have lost.
So, please just, remember her and next time, let’s not have this happen again. Sadly I know it will, but it shouldn’t. Let’s try not to have it happen. Thank you.
