Female Athletes with Disabilities

  Amy Palmiero-Winters was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and competed in track and distance running from a young age. In 1994, she was involved in a motorcycle accident which crushed her left leg. After three years and twenty-five surgeries, her leg was amputated below the knee. She would not be able to run at all until three years after the amputation.

In 2004, Amy entered the Silver Strand Marathon. Despite being five months pregnant and running on a prosthetic leg only meant for walking, she finished second in her division. She entered the 2005 New York City Triathlon the following summer, still using a walking prosthesis as well as a bike borrowed from her employer, and placed third in her division.

At this point, Amy decided to engage in running on a more serious level. After obtaining a highly-customized prosthetic leg from A Step Ahead Prosthetics in Hicksville, NY, she decided to relocate to New York in order to become a member of Team A Step Ahead, a group of amputee athletes professionally coached and sponsored by A Step Ahead Prosthetics.

By May 2006, Amy had been training extensively and, with a new prosthetic, she ran the New York City Marathon in 3:24 and broke the world record for a below-knee female amputee by more than twenty-five minutes. She followed this up by running the 2006 Chicago Marathon 3:04, which stands as the best marathon time for a below-knee amputee, male or female.

By 2009, Amy had decided to switch from marathons to the more demanding ultramarathons, which are races of more than fifty miles. She would run ten ultramarathons between 2009 and 2010, finishing first in the female division at the Heartland 100 Mile in October, 2009 and finishing first overall at the Arizona Road Racers Run to the Future twenty-four-hour race on December 31, 2009 by running 130.4 miles during the allotted time. It was the first time an amputee had won an ultramarathon.

In 2009 Amy was awarded the best amateur athlete in the country and also won ESPN's 2010 ESPY award as the top female athlete with a disability. In 2009, she was also named the director of Team A Step Ahead.

Hate Crimes

I found a quite disturbing story that I wanted to share with everyone. It is unfortunate how much abuse and assault that people with disabilities face. What people tell themselves in their heads to make it ok, I will never understand. What is even more unfortunate is that a lot of the time, it is someone that the person with the disability is supposed to trust who is doing the abusing.

This story involves a 27 year old woman, Gemma Hayter, who has a learning disability. She was beaten, forced to drink her own urine by a railway embankment and then stripped and left to die. This was done by her supposed ‘friends’. All three of the suspects from Rugby, England were sentenced to life in prison. 

I find it sad that this woman, who just wanted to be independent and not feel belittled because of her disability, had her life come to such a tragic ending. Unfortunately this abuse is not as hard to come by as some may think. According to the statistics that I found on the Disabled Women’s Network Ontario, 53% of women who had been disabled from birth had been abused. I think that is pretty scary. Comments? I will include a link to the story on Gemma, if anyone would like to read it. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/12/gemma-hayter-murder-three-jailed-life

Disabilities Timeline

1817à the American School for the Deaf is founded in Hartford, Connecticut, the first school for disabled children in the Western Hemisphere.

1848àthe Perkins Institution in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first residential institution for people with mental retardation.

1880à National Association for the Deaf was founded to advocate for reforms on behalf of the deaf.

1901à National Fraternal Society of the Deaf advocates for the ability to buy life insurance and obtain drivers' license.

1921à Franklin Roosevelt contracts polio, he was elected president of the United States in 1932.

1945à Public Law 176: National Employ the Handicapped week was established to create awareness of the possible jobs for the handicapped. In 1988, "Employ the Handicapped Week" expanded to include all disabilities and was changed from one week to a whole month.

1948àNational Paraplegic Foundation established to advocate for disability rights.

1960à first Paralympics games held in Rome, Italy.

1962à the University of California at Berkeley admitted it first significantly disabled student.

1964à Civil Rights Act passed outlawing discrimination based on race. The act started the framework for disability rights legislation.

1965à Medicare and Medicaid are established which created health insurance for Americans considered disabled.

1973à first self-advocacy conference titles, "First Convention for the Mentally Handicapped in North America" were held in Victoria Island, British Columbia.

1975à American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities is established. Represent all disabilities for disability rights.

1977à Boston Marathon added a wheel chair division for women

1978à Sit-ins held in Denver over the inaccessibility of the public transit system.

1984à Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act making polling places accessible.

1986à Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act passed. The act provided protection from abuse and neglect for people with mental illness.

1992à International Day of Disabled Persons established to create awareness and understanding,

Famous Women with Disabilities

Jean Driscoll à has Spina Bifida and is a world-renowned athlete and also a professional speaker.

Harriet Tubman à had epilepsy and had dedicated her life to rescuing slaves and to civil rights, including women's suffrage.

Ann Bancroft à had a learning disability and was an explorer, lecturer, educator, and was the first women to travel across the ice to the North and South Poles.

Marlee Matlin à is deaf at 18 months, won Best Actress Academy Award in 1986 for "Children of a Lesser God", and also an Emmy Winner.

Helen Keller à was blind and deaf; she was the first person, in her condition, to graduate from college. She was a noted speaker, author and crusader for pacifism, women's right to vote and birth control among other causes.

Carrie Fisher à was bipolar and starred in the Star Wars trilogy.

Whoopi Goldberg à has a learning disability; well-known actress.

Barbara Jordan à had multiple sclerosis; was the 1^st black women to work in the Texas Senate. After she was confined to a wheelchair in 1973 she was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee and was part of the impeachment of President Nixon.

Evelyn Glennie à hearing impaired; a percussionist from Scotland received a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 1989.

Cher à has dyslexia; well-known singer and actress.

Marla Runyan à visually impaired; in Sydney, she was the 1^st legally blind women to compete in the Olympics.

Employment and Career Opportunities

• disabled women work in lower status occupations such as service, clerical, or other helping occupations.
• disabled women earn lower average wages then disabled men.
• the few disabled women who do manage to secure employment recieve few or no benefits.
• they have limited opportunities for promotion or career advancement.

Did You Know...

• Disabled women are twice as likely to be sexually assulted.
• Disabled women are more likely to be the victims of abuse.
• Support and services for disabled mothers are almost totally inaccessible or do not exist.
• Women's services are often inaccessible to women with disabilities.
• Many doctors have difficulty dealing with women who are both pregnant and disabled.
• The unemployment rate for women with disabilities is 74%.
• The average income for a disabled woman is $8,360.
• Women with disabilities are the poorest of the poor around the world.
• There are few educational opportunities for disabled girls. When there are opportunities for education, in special schools, boys usually receive them (more applicable in developing countries).  
• The unemployment rate for disabled women in developing countries is virtually 100%.
• Women with disabilities experience a high incidence of abuse--physical, emotional and sexual. Since most disabled women are hidden away in homes, this often happens within the family.
• Many women are disabled due to the practice of female circumcision and infibulation in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Women are disabled with urinary and gynecological infections, fistulas that prevent walking and through trauma induced by the procedure.
  Can you see how disabled women face even more oppression and discrimination than a "normal" or non disabled woman?