1 LIGHTLY EDITED FILE Tuesdays at the Capitol Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Remote CART May 5, 2020 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. * * * * * This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format, and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility, and this lightly edited CART file may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. Due to the live nature of the event, some names and/or terms may be misspelled. This text may also contain phonetic attempts at sounds and words that were spoken and environmental sounds that occurred during the event. * * * * * CART Provided by Jayne Carriker, RPR, CRR, CRC Paradigm Reporting & Captioning, a Veritext Company 612.339.0545 captioning-paradigm@veritext.com 2 [This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format, and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility, and this lightly edited CART file may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. Due to the live nature of the event, some names and/or terms may be misspelled. This text may also contain phonetic attempts at sounds and words that were spoken and environmental sounds that occurred during the event.] >> If you want her to be safe, you have to stay in your seat and buckled up, right? >> Hi, Kari, I'm glad you found us. >> Hi, Kari. It's Heidi. Where are your glasses? >> I'll have them on in a second. >> Okay. So who all do we have on here? >> You can swipe to the right and then you can see all 3 the different people. >> Go to something called gallery view. >> Oh, gallery view. >> Yep, and then you can see everybody at once. >> How do you do that? Oh, Heidi's video and gallery view. >> All right. >> I'm learning. Cool. Awesome. >> I'm having trouble finding gallery view. >> On my iPad it's in the upper left corner but I know different screens look different. >> Heidi Myhre video and gallery view. I have to swipe to the right and I see everybody. >> Yeah, it's funny, Heidi, because on mine I have to swipe to the left. >> Oh. That's going to be hard to teach our self advocacy group because we're trying to learn how to do this and that we're not confused so we can go back to the button for the mic and the camera and the chat thing? >> Welcome everyone who has joined us. We're just figuring out some of the tech stuff for people who are newer on Zoom. 4 >> Whoops, I just -- >> Kari is trying to figure it out. >> Yeah, I'm trying to -- yeah, I have my glasses off, Heidi, but I'll get them on in a minute. >> Okay. >> I'm trying to figure out how to do -- >> You can swipe to the right or to the left and you might get to see them all. That's what I do every so often. >> Back to the direct support connect, that website has actually been around for a number of years. It doesn't get as much use. Good morning. >> You're sideways. >> Yeah, I know, I'll try to fix it. Hold on. >> Our queue is filling up. Good to see. >> Perfect, Nikki. >> I am super, super lucky this morning. I see a lot of my favorite kiddos signing on right now. >> Nikki, is Ally there? Good. >> I think we'll just wait another minute or two and then we'll go ahead and get started just so see if 5 anyone else is signing on. >> You guys, I figured out my profile picture. I feel like I'm at the capitol. If you know me, that's what I wear. >> There you go. Perfect. >> I had to figure out because it only gave me so much space to work with so this is what I came up with. >> See, this is such an exciting day. This is the first time we've done a kids day for Tuesdays at the capitol. >> Ever since I've been doing Tuesdays at the capitol since maybe the 90s is this is the first time. Whenever I started. >> Usually all of our young friends are at school at Tuesdays so we had an idea to do a kids day at the capitol kind of like a field trip for you guys. >> And it's part of history class so it's not like they're not learning. >> Yeah, we're going to make it educational and fun today. I heard a rumor that someone might even be taking a trip to the capitol later. >> Ooh, I want to come and I'm an adult. >> Bridget, up to the to start? 6 >> Yeah, first of all thank you everyone for joining. We're really excited about today. We have a great schedule for you all. I think just a couple things to start off is that if everyone can mute themselves which I think most people are that would be great. And if you can't, then we can mute you for you. It's just easier to hear everyone. And then also we have captioning available, so if you click on the closed caption button at the bottom of your screen you can have captions available if you prefer. So yeah, we have a great group of people today and we're really excited to host our first kids day, and I think to kick things off if Nikki is ready, she's going to start off talking to us a little bit what is advocacy and we'll go from there. So Nikki, if you want to introduce yourself a little bit and you can take it from here. >> Sure. Hey, everybody. My name is Nikki. For the kids out there that are joining us for the first time thank you so much and thank you for everybody who is staying at home and doing the best we can with our families and learning in different ways and playing in 7 different ways. It's really an important thing, and I really appreciate it. I have a daughter too. She'll be coming and joining me in a couple minutes. Her name is Ally and she's 8. I'm here to talk real quick about advocacy, why it's so important to talk about the -- like, for instance, the things that we use as disabled people. I was born with my disability, and I used to -- I still go to Gillette children's hospital, and I met a lot of other disabled people there, and I see that we had a lot of things in common, and that I wanted to speak up for myself and along with speaking up for myself and my advocacy, it also speaks up for people who are like me. So, for instance, we -- a lot of times when we're not in the coronavirus phase of our lives, I go up to the capitol, and I meet legislators, and I tell them about my story. I tell them that I have a disability and I tell them I use home care services or sometimes people call them PCAs or direct support providers. And they help me with my daily life, and I just tell them about why that's so important, and then the senators and the representatives are the ones that get 8 to vote on how those programs are made and created, and when they vote on those things, they can remember the stories that we tell them. So if we tell them that, you know, I can't get up in the morning and take care of my daughter if I don't have PCAs, they will remember that when they vote. And hopefully they will vote in the way to, you know, provide more services for folks with disabilities. I want to thank everybody here for wanting to put on the children's addition or kids addition of Tuesdays at the capitol. I think it's an awesome idea. I think it's -- we should try it again in the near future. And we -- and with that I will give it to the next person. >> Thank you so much, Nikki. I think we're going to go ahead and play a video that everyone who has been a part of the advocacy community has seen before but we want to -- >> Just going to wipe your face off. >> We want to share it with everyone else, so I'm going to share my screen so we can watch this video. Whoops. >> As your body grows bigger, your minds grow it's great 9 to learn because knowledge is in our. [Singing]. I'm just a bill. Whoo, you sure got to climb a lot of steps to get to this capitol building here in Washington but I wonder what that scrap of paper is. >> I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill and I'm sitting here on capitol hill. Well, it's a long, long journey to the capitol city. It's a long, long wait while I'm sitting in committee but I know I'll be a law some day. I hope and pray I will but today I am still just a bill. >> Gee, Bill, you sure have a lot of patience and courage. >> I got this far. When I started I was just an idea. Some folks back home thought they wanted a law passed and they called their local congress man and they introduced me to congress and I became a bill and I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law. Yes I'm a bill and I got as far as capitol hill. Well, now I'm stuck in committee and I'll sit here and wait while a few key congressmen discuss and debate whether they should let me be a law. How I hope and pray that they will, but today I am still 10 just a bill. >> Listen to those congressmen arguing. Is all that discuss and debate about you? >> Yeah, I'm one of the luckiest ones. I hope they decide to report on me favorably. Otherwise I may die. >> Die? >> Yeah, in committee. It looks like I'm going to live. Now I go to the house of representatives and they vote on me. And then I go to the senate and the whole thing starts over again. I'm just a bill, yes, I'm only a bill and if they vote for me on capitol hill, well then I'm off to the white house where I'll wait in a line with a lot of other bills for the president to sign. And if he signs me, then I'll be a law. How I hope and pray that he will but today I am still just a bill. >> You mean even if the whole congress says you should be a law the president can still say no? >> Yes, that's called a veto. Then I have to go back to congress. >> By that time it's very unlikely to become a law. 11 It's not easy to become a law, is it? >> No. But how I hope and pray that I will but today I am still just a bill. >> I signed you Bill, now you're a law. >> Oh, yes. >> Thanks for sharing that with us, Bridget. That is one of my all time favor videos ever. Did you know when that video first came out. When I was in school we saw it on a film projector on a big white screen on the wall. That probably sounds pretty crazy to all you young people but that's how long the process of passing a bill into a law has been around. It's been around even longer than that video has. >> Yeah, I remember in grade school with the projector and we were watching it. >> So we're -- >> And I remember on TV. I'm that old. >> What we're going to do next, guys, is we're going to read a story. So now you know how a bill becomes a law, but I want to talk to you a little bit about how even if you're a young person, you can still make a really, really big 12 difference in how bills become laws. Nikki talked a little bit about the supports and the accommodations people with disabilities need to live. There's a really, really famous law in the United States called the Americans with Disabilities Act and this has been around 30 years, 30 years this year. What a lot people don't know is that a very young girl had a really big part in making that law -- or making that bill become a law and today I'm going to read you a story about that little girl and how she helped the Americans with Disabilities Act become a law. This story is called all the way to the top how one girl's fight for Americans with disabilities changed everything. And I know there are some friends on this video that really, really like it when I read stories so I'm excited to read to all of you today. Jennifer Keelan may be small, but her voice is mighty. Yee-haw. Snowball responds speeding up from a walk to a trot. Jennifer loves to go fast but she knows soon she will have less time for riding since she's finally old enough for school. She can't wait to make new friends. She's ready to go. 13 The school is not far. Jennifer rolls outside, down the sidewalk and to the corner. But stop! a 4 inch curb is a cliff to someone who uses a wheelchair. Her grandpa eases her wheelchair over the curb. Though the drop jolts Jennifer she makes it to the building. But stop. The school says Jennifer doesn't belong there because she uses a wheelchair. That's not fair, is it? Instead Jennifer and her mom find a different school that says she can attend kindergarten but only for part of the afternoon when lunch is over. As Jennifer rolls in each day everyone is already busy. She has to figure out what's going on and how to join in. Since most kids have never met someone who uses a wheelchair, her classmates are confused and even a little afraid. You'll never be one of us, some of them say. Oops. Jennifer knows they're wrong. 14 She's just a friend waiting to happen. But how do you change someone's mind? She's not sure. But she's not about to give up. Jennifer and her family hear about activists who are working to make sure people with disabilities have access to public places like schools. They want to know more so they attend a strategy meeting. Jennifer has never seen anything like it. The room is full of grownups with all sorts of disabilities. Some use wheelchairs. Some use canes. But none of them are sitting around waiting for things to change. They're shouting, laughing and planning a big protest to get wheelchair lifts on buses. They turn to Jennifer. Do you want to come? Yes, she wants to go. Downtown Jennifer rolls to the microphone and tells her story. She leads marches through the street chanting the people united will never be defeated. 15 It feels so good to speak up for what she believes in. She can't wait to do it again. She's raring to go. She protested Phoenix. She rolls through streets in San Francisco, waves signs in Montreal. The demonstrations own the always change people's minds but Jennifer is used to that. Even when her neighborhood school finally agrees she can attend she and her classmates with disabilities aren't allowed to eat in the cafeteria with everyone else. That hurts but she keeps going. Working with other activists reves her up but she can't help noticing that usually only her and her sister are the only ones raising their voices. She knows firsthand that children with disabilities get ignored too so she keeps speaking up. When Jennifer is 8, activists propose a new law called the Americans with Disabilities Act or the ADA. This law insists schools, governments and businesses make room for all people including those with disabilities. Jennifer feels like dancing. If it passes, it means sidewalks with curb cuts, buildings with ramps in addition to steps. 16 It means Jennifer and her classmates with disabilities can finally go to the cafeteria with everyone else for lunch. That's a big deal. Jennifer and her family watch the news for updates of the ADA but reporters never mention it. She switches off the TV in frustration wishing she could change reporters' minds on what's worth talking about. Instead the Keelans get their updates about the ADA when activist friends call. It's bad news. Members of congress say the law will be too complicated and too expensive. They say it's just not worth it. Since the news station is ignoring people with disabilities, Jennifer and her friend are determined to find another way to make congress hear their voices. It's go time. Her family buys plane tickets to Washington, D.C. has they march down Pennsylvania avenue, Jennifer has never shouted louder. What do we want? The ADA. When do we want it? Now. 17 Sometimes here we have marches where we say things like that too. Finally they reach the U.S. capitol but stop. A mountain of steps block Jennifer and other people using wheelchairs from the building where congress makes laws. Grownups slide out of their wheelchairs and start pulling themselves up the steps. They will make sure that members of congress know that they are there. Jennifer's heart races. This is what she's been shouting about. I want to climb the steps, she says. But stop. The grownups think she's do young. You can't do it. Jennifer knows this is not just about her. It's about her friends at school who are shut out of the cafeteria at lunch. It's about millions of other kids she's never meant. Jennifer wants to speak up for all kids with disabilities who aren't there. I need to climb the steps. She slides out of her wheelchair and scoots along the sidewalk to bottom of the stairway. 18 She puts her hands on the first step. She hauls herself up. Rock and dirt dig into her skin. The crowd roars and reporters are surrounding her with cameras and microphones recording they are gutsy climb. I'll take all night if I have to she vows and she keeps heaving, hauling, dragging herself up the steps. She keeps going all the way to the top. Pictures of Jennifer climbing the steps flash around the world. Reporters start talking about the ADA. Members of congress see the news, listen to the activists and finally they pass the ADA. Laws like the ADA don't change everything overnight. Entrances have to be rebuilt, sidewalks redesigned, buses engineered and slowest of all minds have to change. So Jennifer will continue shouting, waving signs, organizing and explaining. She will continue fighting for what she knows is right. Jennifer has places to go and nothing will stop her now. What's really cool about this, guys, is this is a real story and this picture right here, that's a real picture of Jennifer climbing the steps that day. So look at what a cool thing. 19 It doesn't take a lot of -- it doesn't take being a grown up to make change in the world. In fact, when the grownups were trying to make that change, they weren't getting anywhere. Nobody was paying attention and it took one 8-year-old girl doing something super big and super brave to change the whole world. And I know for me and I know for Nikki that the ADA has made a really big difference in our lives as people with disabilities. So now what I want to do is I want to introduce you to two very good friends of mine, and one of them is a grownup and one of them is a 9-year-old. And I want them to talk to you about what they're doing as a mother and son to help change the world for people with disabilities too. So I'm going to introduce you guys to Maren and Simon and they're going to talk a little bit about how to tell your story to lawmakers. >> Hi, Jillian. Do you want to tell them a little bit about yourself, Simon? >> Sure. Well -- >> Where do you go to school? 20 >> I go to enunciation. >> Yep. And what's your name? >> Simon. >> And how old are you? >> Nine. >> Nine, yep. And what do you think about this pandemic? >> That, um -- >> You think the pandemic has been hard for people with disabilities? >> Of course. >> How so? >> Because they can't like get to like a trampoline park or they can't go to their sports teams. They can't go for like entertainment at like baseball and like other sports. >> Uh-huh. And you've been with me a couple of times when I've gone to the capitol, right? >> Uh-huh. >> Do you remember the last time we were there? >> Yeah. >> And what were we there for? What did we do on that day? 21 >> We made signs for equal rights for people with disabilities. >> Yeah, absolutely. Kind of like the little girl in the story. We're letting people know that there are still some things we need to work on for the disability community. Still some things that are kind of hard. Are there any things that you think are really important for lawmakers to know about people with disabilities? >> That even if they make like -- even if they sell like the like stock -- even if they sell like hot spots and tablets and phones and all other -- all those other devices out there, not every family or child will know how to use those. Like they might not have wi-fi and their family may not have the skills to set up a hot spot. >> Uh-huh. >> Somewhere. >> Yeah, it's really hard to get access sometimes, and having this pandemic has kind of made it all the more difficult for some people that don't have access because it's really difficult to go outside and sometimes it's not safe for people to go outside, right? >> Yeah. >> So what are you looking forward to when this pandemic 22 is over? >> Spending time with my family and showing my friends all the cool presents I got for my birthday. >> That's a good thing. That will be nice when we can get together. You know what I'm looking forward to? I'm looking forward to getting back to the capitol so I can talk with people about some of the issues facing the disability community and some of the things that we've learned as a result of this pandemic. And you know what else I'm looking forward to? I'm looking forward to seeing my friend Jean who is going to tell us a little bit about the capitol. Jean, are you there? >> I am. Okay. So I have a little bit of a slide show. I think Bridget is going to put it up. Here we go. Today we're going to take a virtual tour of the Minnesota state capitol, and a lot of the things that you heard today, the story Jillian read and how a bill becomes a law from schoolhouse rock, we're talking about the national federal capitol in Washington D.C. but all of the states have capitols too and we in Minnesota have 23 a state capitol. Next. So if you go to the capitol, right inside is an office called the information center, and today you can see me in the information center volunteering to give a tour today because they're not open. But if you want to visit the capitol in the future, at the bottom of the slide you can go to that website and there's a link there that says visiting the capitol and it will tell you everything you need to visit the capitol. Here's a map of the capitol. Sometimes people think the capitol is one building, but it's actually a whole complex, and today I'm going to talk about four different buildings because those are the buildings that people here with the consortium for citizens with disabilities use the most. So in the blue is the big state capitol building, and you'll see a picture of that in a little bit. Then across the street across University Avenue in red is the senate building, and then -- okay, you can see the arrows going around. And then kind of off to the left and lower is the transportation -- whoops, go to the state -- sorry -- go to the state office building is in yellow and then 24 connected to the state office building is the transportation building in green. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about these buildings and then we will come back to the map. I don't know why those are there. So this is the state capitol building. This is probably the one that you see the most, so this is the front, and when you go to the state capitol, you might be going to a rally. Most rallies are inside in the rotunda and we'll see that in a little bit but some of the rallies in nice weather are outside on the steps and on the lawn and people are covering that whole area listening to speakers who are having a rally. So steps like this are similar to what you saw in Jillian's book. Most capitols are pretty big buildings and you have to climb a lot of steps. But now we're lucky because of the ADA that we have ramps and special access to all of the buildings so that everyone can get in. >> I'm going to interrupt you for just one second, Jean, about the steps. So the accessible place in this picture believe it or not, guys, there's a tunnel under the steps. 25 Like if you walk around the building past the steps, then you get to go into a secret tunnel that brings you in. That's where the ramp is so everyone can get into the building in Minnesota. >> And me and Nikki, this is Heidi, was at the capitol for the opening of a sidewalk that we can be all part of the capitol. So it's a long sidewalk that leads up to the capitol so when we have rallies you can be in different parts of it so we got to see the ribbon cutting and the governor came and we had ice cream. And advocating change together was a big part of this and we had ice cream afterwards. So it was a big deal and it took a long time and some of the other people that are here today at Tuesday at the capitol were there too to celebrate this movement and this was after the remodeling of the capitol. They didn't think about it before the capitol was being remodeled. >> A lot of people who come to the capitol want to know about that sculpture. It's real name is the progress of the state but most people refer to it as the Quadriga. It's made of copper hammered around a steel frame and it 26 has four figures. The male figure in the back represents the state. The two female figures represent Minnesota agriculture and Minnesota industry. And the four horses represent earth, fire, water and wind. So I talked a little bit about why we would go to the capitol building, and so one of the reasons we would go is because we're having a rally in the rotunda so the top picture shows you the rotunda empty and it's a big room in the very middle of the capitol and you can see all those little archways are different doors that you can enter the rotunda. And then in the bottom picture you can see one of our disability advocacy days at the capitol. Look how we filled that rotunda up and up on the second floor you can see people hanging over the balcony with their signs and banners and sometimes they're even up on the third floor so you can see the rotunda from all of the floors and sometimes when we have a big rally, people are all lined up all over. Also in it the capitol building is the governor's office. So you can see our current Governor Walz and the lieutenant governor. 27 I don't know why my mind just went blank. Flanagan, lieutenant governor Flanagan. So you never know when you're walking around the capitol if you might see them. And that's their visitors room right there so if you come, that's like their entryway. So you know how our houses have a tiny entryway that hold one or two people. Their entryway, their visitor room can hold a ton of people. You can see all the chairs and look at the beautiful paintings. One of the nice thing about going to the capitol is to see all of the beautiful engraving and architecture and this has been -- as Heidi mentioned this has been restored in recent years so everything there looks beautiful. >> It wasn't that long going, Jean, that members of the CCD that are on this call today that we got to go into that room and talk with Governor Walz about disabilities. Just a few weeks before we got told we all had to stay home we were in that room and tell them how important special education is and how appropriate it is that people have appropriate care in their homes. 28 That was pretty cool. >> And this is Heidi. I got to see the capitol as it was being remodeled and I got to see and Jean is going to talk about different parts of the capitol but I got to see the painters and it was really cool how they redid the capitol in all the different ways they do it. So that was an awesome thing because I like art and I like things, you know, and the history of learning about why we changed certain things in the capitol, so I thought you guys should know that because that was really awesome to see all the different ways they do it. >> Yep. Also in the capitol you see the senate chamber and the house of representatives chambers, and you heard the bill talk about how the people had to vote. This is where they vote, so the senate votes in one room. And the house votes in another room, and if both of chambers vote to pass your bill, then it can go to the governor to get signed and be a Minnesota law. And look at that little alcove up in the left slide. You can see those seats. That's a visitors gallery, so when the capitol is open again and they're having chambers, you can actually go 29 and observe the house or the senate in session. >> Jean, can you see my representative's desk in the picture. I had to share that. Rick Hanson is my representative in west St. Paul and a few other towns. >> Yeah, just like school they have assigned seats. So the other building that we go to a lot is the state office building, and you can see on the right that's a side entrance to the capitol or that's the entrance to the capitol so you can see right across the street from the capitol is the state office building and in that building you will see the offices of most of your house representatives, so everyone has two representatives. They have a house representative, and they have a senator, and so in this building is where your house representatives have their office. So if you go to visit your legislator you might not even go to the capitol. You might just go to the state office building to their office there and talk to them there. And then across University Avenue is the senate office building. This is a brand-new building just a couple years ago. It's really nice, really up to date, and this is where 30 your state senators are. So again we might have a meeting at the state senate office building and we won't even go to the capitol. We will go right to the senate building to the senator's office and have a meeting with him there. And then back across the street the other way next to the state office building is the transportation building cafeteria. This is a really important building for CCD because when we have Tuesdays at the capitol in person or when we're all meeting to get ready for a rally over at the capitol in the rotunda, this is where we will meet. We will go in the transportation building downstairs to the cafeteria and have our pow wow with our other disability advocates at Tuesday at the capitol. And then I'm going to show the slide again with the map. And so you can see again we talked about the state capitol, and then across university is the Minnesota senate. Off to the left is the state office building and connected to that is the transportation building. And Jillian and Heidi mentioned earlier about the tunnels. The really cool thing about the Minnesota state capitol is that there are tunnels underneath all of these 31 buildings that connect them so when it's winter and it's freezing time or if it's a snowy day and it's hard to get around outside, you can walk through all the tunnels and all those buildings are connected so you can go all the way from the Minnesota senate building through the capitol and all the way to the state office building and then to the transportation building to have lunch if you want to. >> And I remember when we fought for the ADA to make it safe so we can go through those tunnels when they were remodelling the capitol because it was hard to maneuver and get around so we fought really hard to so we could still visit and have our voice heard and go to the different locations because when they were remodeling for a couple years, there's been some heavy bad winters where we still came to the capitol but we wanted to be safe and find ways to do it and bring all the different groups of people with disabilities. So that was an interesting thing, and then different organizations got together and really talked about what's the best way so we can still come to the capitol and get our voice heard and go different places. >> Also on that map for the adults and the parents, you'll notice it shows where all the different parking lots are, where the different meters are if you want 32 meter parking. It shows where disabilities parking is. I just didn't point out those today because I didn't think the kids would be so interested but the parents can look up that map to get any of that. There's also a map of the transit so you know what public transit will go to the capitol. Okay. Now we can go to the next slide. So just in case you can't remember everything from Jillian's book or from the video how a bill becomes a law, there are a lot of good information sites on the Minnesota state government for students or for young people, and so you can go, they have a 9-part series where you can do a different worksheet every day that's going to tell you about different things about our state and about our electoral, our legislative process, so you can click on each one of those later. Bridget is going to have the PowerPoint available. Or you can go to that page if you go to Minnesota legislature and you look under state government series, it will pop right up, and you can look at all those links and see all of the different things that you might want to look up. And then next slide. 33 There's also a couple other publications. The senate has a publication called government in Minnesota, a guide for kids, and it's in red just like that, and you can get to that again through that one site, Minnesota legislature, and then do senate guide for kids and it will pop right up. And there's also a publication called capitol steps, and it's from idea to law, and it walks you through just like the video did how a bill goes from an idea to becoming a bill to becoming a law. And so that's something you can look up later. They also have like cross word puzzles and other cool stuff in that book, so if you want your parents to go on line, they can order one to have sent to you. And that is our tour of the state capitol. >> I just want to say when I was a little kid, I got to go to the top of the capitol and see the little horses and the people so that was part of my tour when I was in grade school, so if you're excited, maybe you can ask your school if they would take you to a tour of the capitol because it's a very valuable thing to do. >> Governor Walz likes to remind all of us as well is that the capitol is all of our house. The capitol belongs to people that live in Minnesota, so it's a special place. 34 So Bridget and I just want to check in and see, does everybody have any questions before we wrap up? You can either ask your questions out loud or you can message them in chat. >> I know right now it's hard to see our representatives and senators. This is Heidi. But you can do videos or write a story and put your picture on it and send it to them because I know the ARC self-advocacy group and they are sending out videos. So it's kind of face to face but they will see it in their e-mail box. So it's kind of like me doing a one page thing that Jean talks about every Tuesday or once in a while talks about how to write your story and so then instead I'll be telling my story on a video like my name is Heidi Myhre and I live in west St. Paul and I spell out my name and give them some highlights of how I feel and the subject that they thought would be really cool to talk about is how we feel about the sickness going on right now and how it's affecting people with disabilities. So that was our topic. And then tell our story in a short thing just like we learned at Tuesdays at the capitol that we do. >> You can also do question and answer like Maren and 35 Simon did. So you can do a videotape of yourself with your mom or dad or friend asking the questions and you just answer because sometimes it's hard to just start talking so that's another good way you can tell your story. >> So we have to -- >> And then they can see how you communicate to the world and they can see the true you. I like how Jean put it. >> So we have another question that came in. Jill asked, who are our best advocates in congress? I know about Senators Abler and Benson in our corner. We have a lot of great advocates. It really kind of depends on what the issue is. I know that I've worked personally and some of the senators and representatives I've worked with have been Radeen and I work on a lot of autism specific issues. We also get a lot of support from Senator Hoffman, Senator Rau. Who else? Senator Isaacson was great last year and this year. >> John Hoffman >> Yeah, I mentioned John Hoffman. Jean, you're great at remembering all our allies. >> I'm not quite sure who he said. 36 But one of the ways to find out who your advocates are or what your members of the legislature are interested in is you can look up who is on different committees, so you can see who is on the education committee and know that those people are really interested in what's happening in education. Or health and human services or business or transportation, so you can go down that list and know if you contact one of them that they will have a same interest in that topic that you're interested in. I just saw Senator Marty's name come up. >> The other thing I want to tell you though is we don't have to think of who is a good advocate for us now. When we go to the capitol and we tell them our stories and we teach them about our lives with disabilities, we can make any senator or representative a really good ally for us and that's why it's so important that we go and share our stories because we don't want to have maybe ten or twelve good allies. We want every single senator and every single representative to be a good ally and that's why it takes all of us to really come together and go see our representatives and tell our stories so they can all understand why this is an important issue. >> And the reason Jillian said that is because in the 37 end they all have to vote on it so the more we educate them, the more they understand the issue of what's really going on in the community because if they don't have the right information, they might vote, you know, in a way that they think they understand but they might not understand. So by educating every one of them on both sides of the house and the senate, then they get a better understanding of what's really going on. So that's our job to teach them because we are the people that they vote -- we voted for them and they want us to come to the capitol and tell our story. And then they can go in there and take it T not everyone is going to vote the same way and we have to be okay what with that but at the same time we can be proud that we did our part, you know, and did what we set out to do and that's why CCD is here and the ARC and all the different organizations and we are under a big umbrella, you guys, and this umbrella has all the different people who believe so you don't have to be this group and this group. We can get together because a lot of it overlaps in different areas and it's want just for children but for adults and elderly so it can be a mishmash of everything so we still can fight. 38 >> So Jill is asking how do I learn more about becoming public advocate and how to deal with compromise. As far as lobbying goes, you only lobby officially if you're paid by an organization to do it which is nice because there are a lot of rules that go along with lobbying. If you're a private citizen not being paid, then you're considered an advocate and you don't have to follow as many rules. I mean there are still proper protocol and some social norms that go along with it but lobbyists have to follow a lot more rules. I'm going to actually have Maren talk a little bit more about that because she is one of our greatest activists as a paid lobbyist. >> Yeah, I'm happy to chat about that. My path to advocacy started when my son was diagnosed with autism at three and I will be perfectly honest and say that disability issues were not really on my radar a lot until that time, and that was my learning curve. But it quickly became apparent to me that was incredibly difficult to help him access the services and supports that he needed and I was thinking about this. If it's that difficult for me, then how much more difficult is it for a community where there may be a 39 language barrier or families that maybe don't understand the paperwork processes that are involved in our systems or, you know, some of the terminology involved in negotiating an IEP for your child. So that's really how I got started and we were checking before about our legislators and if your legislators weren't on that list of champions then I would say it's even more important for us to get in touch with them and reach out to them and tell our stories. If your legislator wasn't on that list it's maybe because nobody has reached out to them and talked to them about how disability issues can be. I started off as a parent. I was asked to testify a couple times and the other thing that I found was really helpful was just reaching out to other families that had stories to tell and making sure they knew when disability day at the capitol was taking place or when hearings were taking place or when a certain bill was going before the legislature so there's all kinds of different ways to get involved depending on what you're comfortable with and how much you want to get involved. But it's really important that we tell our stories no matter who we are. >> We said that this was educational. 40 And so just in case anyone wants homework, we're talking about our legislators, our senators, our representatives who represent us. I don't think we talked about how do we know. What if we don't know who represents us. So you or your parents can Google Minnesota legislature, who represents me, and it will pop up with a little box that you just put your address in, and it will tell you who represents you. And I think I see Jillian typing. I think she's maybe typing and it's maybe going to pop it up. No, she's not. She's answering an e-mail. Sorry, Jillian. >> I just put the link in the chat though. So there's the link. >> The link is in the chat but check that out because it will show you who represents you and it will have their little picture, and I finds it really helpful to look at their picture so if I'm at the capitol complex and I see someone in the elevator, I might go, hey, that's my person. I better introduce myself. >> And I just want to remind you guys all that you can 41 do advocacy work without going to the capitol, especially right now. You can make phone calls or you can write letters. In fact, one of my little friends, I don't know if she's still on but she was on earlier. When I went to Washington D.C. she sent me to capitol hill and she said I wasn't going without a letter from her to her senators. And she sent me a letter on union corn stationary telling how special education was. And I'll tell you that letter got more attention. So it really matters. You can write a letter. You can make a video and send it to them by e-mail. You can call them on the telephone and people think that it takes hundreds and hundreds of calls for someone to care at the capitol, for a senator to think an issue is important. The secret is it only takes five people. And you can call a senator and say this issue matters, this is important. It becomes a hot button issue for them because their job is to care about the people in their community and what they care about. >> And this is Heidi. 42 You can also sign up for e-mails because I get their e-mails in the e-mail boxes of the senators and representatives, so I know the daily stuff that's going on at the capitol like they're having a meeting, and maybe that issue doesn't involve me, but at least I know that it's happening in my community, and then I get down to, oh, I see health and human services, you know, and then I will go, what topics are they talk about? Oh, education, or health and human services stuff that, you know, because they're having some problems right now. So I get to learn all the different things that are going on. And the other thing I've been doing with this whole sickness going on, I've been watching YouTube so they've been putting them on YouTube. So it's kind of like being at the capitol but I'm not sitting in a seat and watching them. I'm watching them on YouTube and I'm seeing the legislators doing their meeting and talking about an issue that I believe in or an issue that I wouldn't have thought about getting into. So that's another way. Ask you can sign up for those and they're on Facebook and twitter and a few other sources. 43 So look at all the options out there and don't just limit yourself just to one idea because there are so many different ways you can do this in order to stay connected. Especially right now. >> I'm going to jump in. Kari she will done wanted to say something. You might want to unmute yourself and if you're still on I think we can all hear you. Yes? Maybe she had to leave for some reason. >> It looks like she's connecting. >> Okay. >> While we wait, I'm going to put a little activity booklet in the chat. It's from the -- I think it's from the house of representatives, but it's a coloring book so it kind of teaches you a little bit more about our state but it's also a fun activity to do as well. So I'll put that in the chat and I'll put it on our website as well. I think, Kari, are you there? >> Okay. You might have to unmute from your end. Kari. 44 Oh, I think she just sent -- oh, okay. >> I unmuted Kari now. >> Okay. >> Okay. For some reason I couldn't get myself unmuted, but we need to start focusing on stuff that's happening today and how the legislators are doing their voting and what's being voted on because I think we're taking steps way too far back and we already know all this stuff. >> Do we have any other comments or questions today? >> This is the time where we really have to be creative because I've been working on human services right now getting -- I finally got a new worker that comes to my house and by covering with the mask and all that stuff and I was willing to take the risk and it worked out beautifully. I don't know what the norm is going to be after we leave our cozy places or how we're handling this so we have to be really creative in thinking about the future because I don't know if we're going to be doing the same kind of advocacy work. Like they might have new ways of doing things like with a PCA or whatever help David gets. So just think about that because that's been on my mind, so I wanted to bring that up. 45 Because we've been talking about a lot about that, you know, like after this is done are services going to be in the same way and are we still going to be doing it like we used to advocate. So I just wanted to throw that out there. >> Thanks, Heidi. Well, I think with that we're going to wrap up, so thank you to Jillian and Jean and Maren and Simon and Nikki and for everyone who shared today. I think this was really great and I'm really glad that you all could participant. We're going to put the recording up on the MNCCD website with the PowerPoint and any other links that we had from today, so if you want to look back at it or if you want to share it with people in the next couple days, it will be up. I don't know if Jillian and Jean have any last comments. >> I think Maren has one last comment to add. >> Yeah, I just wanted to add one more thing especially for the kiddos that are watching. The one thing I would encourage you to remember is this all starts with an idea. It doesn't start with a bill or a law. It starts with an idea about something that needs to be changed. 46 Something we can do better and we all have lots of ideas so if it seems kind of far away that this isn't something for me, just remember it starts with an idea and we all have those. So that's my last thought. >> Thank you so much for joining us you guys. This was a great morning. Bye, ally, bye, Simon. >> Bye everybody. Thanks for coming. >> Hi, Ally, it's Heidi. >> Hi, Heidi. >> I miss you. Afterwards we have to get together and say hi to each other. >> We will. I miss all you guys. We definitely know that's you, Heidi. >> I care about the world. What can I say. >> All right. Bye, everyone. Thank you. >> Bye. 47 [This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format, and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility, and this lightly edited CART file may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. Due to the live nature of the event, some names and/or terms may be misspelled. This text may also contain phonetic attempts at sounds and words that were spoken and environmental sounds that occurred during the event.]