Well, I have traveled the world and been so blessed to go on this journey and document the lives of people with disabilities. People who, like me, might have experienced a challenge in life, whether it's difficulty seeing hearing, and remembering. And people with disabilities are among us every day.
You see, my life changed in 1978, many years before this picture was taken. You see, this picture represents a spirit of adventure, and a spirit of discovery, a spirit that allowed me to travel the world. And try to uncover those factors that limit people's potentials and really challenge us to really fulfill our dreams.
Now, before this picture was taken, I basically was just a little kid. And an unlikely doctor's visit resulted in me acquiring polio. You see, in 1978, I received a polio vaccine.
that damaged my muscles. But it wasn't so much the disease that changed my life, but the way society responded to a child that was different. You see, society treated me like I was a dirty pair of shoes, something to be thrown to the side and forgotten. But this response was more complicated because every school my mother took me to said, I'm sorry, we can't accept it. Victor, we can't accept your child, he won't be able to have an education.
Society wanted to put me away because society was saying don't put this on us. Don't put this condition, it's not our responsibility. But what this really was about was a denial of human rights. And a denial of human rights that changed the course of my life in a way that I had never previously expected.
Now a lot of that changed thousands of miles away in an unlikely cafeteria. And it wasn't so much the daily... slop or the food that was served there that was particularly delicious.
It was the attitude of the children and the teachers. I can give you an example. Miss Deering, in the first day of class, when I showed up, she said to the students, she said, students, Victor's a new student.
He's going to need help getting to the cafeteria. Whoever volunteers to push Victor is going to get 15 minutes of extra play time. So all the hands went up and I became the most popular kid in the school. Everybody wanted to be my friend.
Now that was a huge change and it didn't cost anybody any money. It was an attitude, it was a spirit of inclusion that changed my life. Because from that day onward, the child that was not to receive an education, completes two degrees in business administration, political economy, a masters in regional economic development, and a PhD in social inclusion. Not bad for a kid that wasn't going to learn much. Now I teach, and I teach at some of the most prestigious universities and I teach urban planning.
I teach people how to think through making cities that really advance the rights and the dreams of all people. I teach about what the cities of tomorrow should look like, but I also teach some very important realities that many of us aren't aware of. For instance, today, one in seven people in the world lives with some disability.
Now, although strange life forms may exist on other planets, I can assure you that I did not come from Mars. Meaning that we're here. People with disabilities are your neighbors.
They're your friends. They're your relatives. People with disabilities are here to let a creative spirit and a spirit of problem solving People with disabilities have a lot to connect to.
attributed according to the International Labor Organization. The yearly cost of excluding people with disabilities from the workforce is close to two trillion dollars. That's a lot of money.
That's a lot of wasted potential. You see, what all this points to is political will. political will to rethink through the structures of inequality and to actually start to document and address the systems that exclude people. People that may not be able to hear well or see well. or move around without assistance are still people with dreams.
You see, people with disabilities around the world are living full and productive lives. They're artists, they're financiers, Sears, they're entrepreneurs. You see, we go to the restaurants, we go to the theaters, we join our community events. Now, we don't need pity, nor do we need charity.
And I certainly don't want to be seen as some kind of a victim. kind of a medical abnormality, because I'm not. I'm just Victor.
And I have dreams and desires and a mission to help change the world. Now, that mission is inspired through what I've seen in the world. Now, I've seen children with dyslexia receive extra time to take their exams, and they achieve great results.
I've seen a young woman that is visually impaired use the computer. by listening to the website being read out loud to her. I've seen a young man that is hard of hearing and deaf become a doctor and support the delivery of babies. You see, we know that human potential cannot be stopped, but what we need to do is make the decisions to ensure that it's not, that we identify those barriers that limit our potential.
You see, disability does not Discriminate. Each and every one of us in this room could at any point fall into a disability. It's the only minority group that anybody can join at any time. So it's in your self-interest to think this through and to go back to your work or your schools or your communities or your homes and say, scratch your head.
and say, hey, what can we do to make this place more accessible? What can we do to make this place more inviting? How can we make sure that if somebody visits our store and maybe cannot speak or cannot hear, can still write down their orders or can access a menu in Braille?
What can we do to make inclusion happen? What we need here is for each one of you to join this fight. And what I'm wanting to do... is to enlist you in working with me to promote equality and justice. Really, what I'm calling for is radical inclusion.
And radical inclusion really is about dismantling those barriers. Whether there's a couple steps in front of your shop, whether there's attitudes that are negative in your family that you can challenge people to think differently, or whether it's just thinking through hiring somebody. at your employment and giving them a real chance to show their potential.
Because by doing so, we're actively engaging in ending separation and in ending distinction and embracing acceptance. We're opening a world that allows us all to reach our dreams. Thank you so much for joining me this evening.