Rosemarie Garland-Thomson: Disability Is ‘Fundamental To Being Human’

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Rosemarie Garland-Thomson is founding director of Emory University's Disability Studies Initiative.

Life has changed dramatically for people with disabilities over the last few decades. But they still face challenges – including how they're represented on and off screen.

The Disability Studies Initiative at Emory University wants to change that stigma. The group will co-host the Sprout Film Festival Saturday afternoon on campus. The festival will feature short films and music videos made by and about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Emory professor Rosemarie Garland-Thomson is founding director of the Disability Studies Initiative at Emory University. Her New York Times column “Becoming Disabled” talks about how we all become disabled -- and that how we view disability must change.

“Most of us will move in and out of disability in our lifetimes, whether we do so through illness, an injury or merely the process of aging. Still, most Americans don’t know how to be disabled.” -- Rosemarie Garland-Thomson