Debbie Meyers Columbia, Maryland, US

T11, December 1998

I was a dance teacher before my injury. Despite this loss, I found my way back into dance and found a way to teach tap dance using my hands and vocal instructions. I have been awarded the Individual Achievement Award by the Howard County Commission on Disabilities this year. I also sit on the board of the Maryland Council for Dance which hosts an annual conference. I was asked to teach an Improvisation Class for dancers at this years conference. When I got to the location, the only elevator in the building had been broke for 2 days. It was getting late for me to get to my class, so I tranferred out of my chair, crawled down 2 flights of steps and had 2 volunteers lift back into my chair. Despite the fact that the American with Disabilities Act has been on the books for 16 years, the world had not gotten flat and elevators break. Had I wished that stem cell research would have allowed me the dignity to walk into my dance class.