The Program:

Living for 38 years on wheels, Gary’s view through the disability lens has revealed some special corners of the human experience—in all its crazy glory. Humor about disability is not a matter of poking fun at misfortune, but a rich expression of acceptance, and of the wholeness of being ourselves. It’s precisely how little a disability defines a person and mostly about how uncomfortable it makes everyone else. One of Gary Karp’s special skills is making the conversation comfortable, taking the edge off to get down to the core humanity of his story. You will come away with a clear sense of the real people inside of people with disabilities, and a recognition that their disabilities do not primarily define them. For each of us, the innate, true self overrides any other “feature” that makes us up on the outside.

The Presenter:

Gary Karp is an author and speaker whose goal is to enlighten society to the radical changes that have taken place in what he calls “Modern Disability.” A wheelchair user following a spinal cord injury he incurred in 1973 at the age of 18, Gary has produced four books, and written extensively as a disability journalist. He speaks to a wide array of audiences across the U.S., including at universities, rehabilitation centers, business, government, and meetings, where he is remembered for his passion, clarity, and humor as well as his dazzling juggling skills! His core business message is focused on the historic emergence of people with disabilities as fully qualified workers—and as consumers with real money in their pockets. In 2007 Gary was inducted into the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame as a disability educator. moderndisability.com.

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