Your mobility, your mountain: mobility, access, & inclusion | Lauren Panasewicz | TEDxBreckenridge
The speaker posits that mobility is a fundamental aspect of identity, purpose, and human experience, arguing that true societal progress requires addressing systemic barriers that prevent disabled individuals from accessing necessary supports. She uses her own journey—from an elbow injury to profound depression—to illustrate how loss of movement impacts every facet of life, concluding with four actionable ways for the audience to advocate for universal accessibility.
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker is presenting to an audience, initially preparing a talk on "metamorphosis."
- The speaker's personal life context involves recent physical changes, including being **seven months pregnant**.
- The speaker is dealing with resulting physical challenges, including **crippling sciatica** and **chronic pain**, which impacted her **mobility**.
## Theses & Positions
- Mobility is not merely about movement; it is tied to physical/mental health, one's ability to work, relationships, sense of purpose, and identity.
- The speaker's career shift reflects a belief that *sharing joy with someone who never thought they would ever be able to ski* represents the most profound positive impact.
- True systemic failure exists because, despite technology advances (smartphones, electric cars, space travel), **90%** of people needing assistive technologies cannot access them.
- The body is not inherently broken; the *systems* are broken.
- Advocating for accessibility, supporting disability organizations, pushing for inclusive policy-making, and celebrating personal mobility are crucial steps toward a just and inclusive world.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Mobility:** A concept defined by the speaker as something fundamentally tied to purpose, identity, and mental/physical health, which is taken for granted until lost.
- **Disability:** Characterized as a universal experience that does not discriminate based on age, employment, skin color, or gender identity.
- **Assistive Technologies:** Examples cited include hearing aids, eyeglasses, wheelchairs, and prosthetic limbs.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Impact of Injury/Illness:** The loss of physical mobility renders everyday tasks, like showering or cooking, "impossible" and deeply impacts identity.
- **Shift from Macro to Micro Impact:** Transitioning from large infrastructure projects (engineering) to adaptive sports/therapeutic recreation, realizing that a single afternoon could change a person's perception of possibility.
- **The Campaign Method:** Spearheading a campaign using the question *"What's your mountain?"* to raise awareness and funds for prosthetic limbs and vertical feet.
- **Climbing Simulation:** Using the physical difficulty of climbing a glacier-covered volcano (e.g., **Kodapaci** at **19,347 feet**) to model the difficulty of life's personal mountains.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **~13 years ago:** Suffered a traumatic fall off her front porch, resulting in emergency surgery, a partial metal elbow joint, nerve damage, chronic pain, and limited mobility.
- **Time of initial engineering career:** Pursued multiple engineering degrees, focusing on large infrastructure projects.
- **Transition Period:** Started skiing with a friend, **Anna**, who was in an adaptive ski program.
- **Career Change:** Quit engineering career to work full-time in adaptive sports and therapeutic recreation.
- **Later Involvement:** Worked for a nonprofit aiding amputees in Latin America.
- **Campaign Execution:** For nearly a decade, spearheaded the *"What's your mountain?"* campaign.
- **Climbing Event:** Organized a team to attempt to climb a **19,000 ft** glacier-covered volcano in Ecuador.
## Named Entities
- **Pancake:** Speaker's dog.
- **Anna:** Friend involved in the adaptive ski program.
- **Victor:** Patient who got a prosthetic limb and later salsa danced.
- **William:** Patient who was carried by his mother and later played soccer.
- **Latin America:** Region where the speaker worked with amputees.
- **Ecuador:** Country where the volcano climb took place.
- **Kodapaci:** A volcano climbed at **19,347 feet**.
- **World Health Organization:** Organization cited regarding assistive technology access.
## Numbers & Data
- **Pregnancy Status:** **Seven months** pregnant.
- **Ski Incident:** Elbow shattered; resulted in partial metal elbow joint, nerve damage, chronic pain, and limited mobility.
- **Glacier Volcano Height:** **19,000 ft**.
- **Kodapaci Height:** **19,347 feet**.
- **Systemic Failure Rate:** **90%** of people needing assistive technologies cannot access them.
## Examples & Cases
- **Personal Struggle:** Losing mobility due to the **seven months** pregnancy, resulting in difficulty even with ski boots.
- **Emotional Struggle:** Inability to get out of bed due to severe depression; going to the mailbox felt like *"Mount Everest."*
- **Early Failure:** The feeling of questioning if her large infrastructure engineering work was *"helping or hurting."*
- **Success Case 1:** Witnessing a patient like **Victor** (on one leg) salsa dance out on two.
- **Success Case 2:** Witnessing **William** (carried by his mom) later playing soccer.
- **Climber Progress:** Watching patients progress from **parallel bars** to mountaintops.
- **Analogy Example:** The comparison of a challenging trek to a "mountain" in one's life, such as "buckling your ski boots" or "checking the mail in the deepest depression."
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Prosthetic limbs:** Lived necessities provided by the mission.
- **Ski boots:** Required for the speaker to manage for her husband.
- **Assistive technologies:** General category including hearing aids, eyeglasses, wheelchairs.
## References Cited
- None.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Big Infrastructure Projects vs. Adaptive Sports:** Choosing the localized, human-to-human impact over large-scale, impersonal engineering projects.
- **Mobility Potential:** The potential is unique to the moment and can change drastically (e.g., going from unable to move to hiking further with trekking poles).
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- None explicitly addressed, but the entire narrative serves as a counterargument to the idea that physical ability is the sole determinant of human potential or worth.
## Methodology
- **Art of Documentation:** Using the adaptive ski program and the mountain climb to document the progress and resilience of patients and climbers.
- **Advocacy Framework:** Structuring solutions into four distinct, actionable steps: workplace advocacy, organizational support, policy pushing, and personal celebration.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- **Four Action Items for Audience:**
1. Advocate for accessibility in one's workplace/community (e.g., checking for shoveled sidewalks).
2. Support disability organizations (donate, volunteer).
3. Push for policies that include the impacted community in decision-making.
4. Exercise and celebrate one's own mobility potential.
- **Final Message:** *"What do you need to reach your mobility potential?"*
## Implications & Consequences
- The failure of current systems to provide accessible technologies means that societal structures are the primary barrier, not the human body.
- Promoting inclusion ensures that all voices, particularly disabled voices, are heard during decision-making processes.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"At seven months pregnant, I've gained a new perspective on a lot of things."*
- *"I'm talking about a loss of mobility."*
- *"Getting dressed felt impossible."*
- *"Going to the mailbox felt like Mount Everest."*
- *"Mobility is not just about movement."*
- *"I thought the best way to do that was through big infrastructure projects that helped thousands of people at a time."*
- *"The opposite of a KPI is the smile on Anna's face when we got to take her through the mini terrain park for the first time in her sitki."*
- *"We were gaining mobility after loss ignites a spark of joy and possibility."*
- *"What's your mountain?"*
- *"Disability is the only minority group that anyone can join at any time."*
- *"our bodies are not broken, our systems are."*
- *"If they can't access the table, their voices will not be heard."*
- *"What do you need to reach your mobility potential?"*