Margarita Elizondo is a motivational speaker, founder of Rolling With Me, model, dancer, and writer. She was paralyzed in 2006 from the chest down from an act of violence. She began speaking about her experience in churches and schools shortly after her injury. She was crowned Ms. Wheelchair California 2013 and Mi Modelo Especial 2019. Margarita has used her titles as a platform to educate the public on the importance of fully including individuals with disabilities in our communities. In 2016 she was recognized as Ability Awareness Hero of the Year by Bank of America & Channel KPBS.
As Founder of Rolling With Me and author of a children’s book series, she aspires to teach children to live in a diverse and inclusive world that gives value to every human being no matter our differences, backgrounds, beliefs, or abilities.
Her writing has also been published in various publications, including Abilities Expo, The Buzz, and Wheel:Life.org.
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My name is Margarita Elizondo. I have a spinal cord injury. I am an author speaker and founder of Rolling with Me.
What I appreciate most about the ADA is that it gave the disability community a voice and a right to be heard. And through that voice, my predecessors created the ADA. They fought for our right to access and that access gave us access to education rights, to have an opportunity for employment, to vote, to be included in society. That voice, when they gave us that right, what that did was affirm us, affirm us as being part of humanity and being included, that we have a right to social justice, just like everyone else.
So as an individual who acquired a disability, which means I was an able-bodied person before I became disabled, perceptual barriers is one of the things that we need to work on. In other words, biases, stereotypes. What do people think? And how do people perceive individuals with disabilities? That’s the change that we need moving forward. And we can do that by educating society on who we are, our personal experiences, and how we want to be looked at viewed and spoken to.
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In partnership with Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed.
Author: Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity Work in K-12 Schools & Communities, and children’s book Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights, ADA 30th Anniversary Edition https://www.dianapastoracarson.com/storeDURING THESE UNCERTAIN AND STRESSFUL TIMES, ABILITY Magazine is providing FREE Premium Memberships that include all Content, Digital Flip Page ABILITY Magazine, PDF versions, plus online interactive ABILITY Crossword Puzzles. SIGN UP HERE FOR YOUR FREE MEMBERSHIP
