Liam: Only Being Able to Go Where Everyone Else Goes
“Only being able to go on the edge of where everyone else is going”
When Liam was nine-years old, his elementary school class made plans to build a garden.
Liam uses a wheelchair and wouldn't be able to go into the garden. He could only go around it from the outside.
His school thought this made the garden accessible. Liam disagreed.
He was upset that his school "didn't think that kids in wheelchairs would maybe want to go where everyone else wants to go".
Liam advocated for a new pathway through the garden: A Figure 8 paved path that runs through the middle of the garden.
Now every student can go into the garden.
About Liam
Now 16-years old, Liam is a member of the Design Advisory Committee for the School Bond Program at Corvallis High School. He keeps an eye on the accessibility of future projects that will be built.
He is a member of the National Honor Society, and was recently selected for a prestigious Apprenticeship in Science and Engineering (ASE) summer internship in Computer Science at Oregon State University.
He is spending his summer in a full-time remote internship studying gender interaction with computer science programs and systems.
Liam has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 2. He's the son of Disability Rights Oregon's Board Member Lynn Russell.
ADA's 30th Anniversary
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. But opening up our communities to everyone is still a work in progress.
Way to fight for your rights, Liam! We've got your back!
