A delayed birth caused Harilyn Rousso to have cerebral palsy, but it has not slowed her down as an educator and disability rights activist.
Rousso spoke last night as part of the Diversity Lecture Series. She presented “From Girl to Woman to Elder: An introduction to gender issues for people with disabilities throughout the life cycle.”
“Disabled women and girls are a large, diverse group — 26 million strong in this country alone — that cover a broad range of disability types and cut across all ages, socioeconomic classes and racial groups,” Rousso said at the start of her lecture.
Disabled women and girls have been a passion of study for Rousso for more than 25 years.
One of her most distinguished feats as an activist was the creation of the Networking Project for Disabled Women and Girls of the YWCA of New York City.
Before becoming a disabilities activist, Rousso earned a degree in economics from Brandeis University and worked for the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C. While she was in Washington, she decided she wanted to help others, so she got involved in the women’s movement.
In 1979, she started a consulting service, Disabilities Unlimited, to promote equal opportunity and rights for people with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on the issues of women. At the same time, she worked as a psychotherapist with adolescents and adults, specializing in people with disabilities.
“This shows our great potential we have to pull together the people and the resources to address the most complex interdisciplinary and significant challenges,” said Edward J. Ray, provost, who helped introduce yesterday’s lecturer.
Last night’s lecture, given in the format of true or false questions aimed at the audience, focused on the impact of gender on socialization, sexuality, access to education and workplaces and aging for women with disabilities.
“True or false, girls and young women with disabilities have about the same rate of adolescent pregnancy as their non-disabled peers,” Rousso asked the audience.
Rouso explained the pregnancy rates are higher in disabled adolescents.
“The limited access to the social arena deprives them of opportunities to develop social skills needed to make healthy choices and to identify potentially abusive situations,” she said.
Rousso continued the true and false quiz with attendees, closing by saying she hoped they had become more curious about the lives of women and girls with disabilities.
