This interview was done with Camarie Shepard (she/her), an Occupational Therapist in Pittsburgh, USA. She completed her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy (OT) at the University of Pittsburgh and is currently running her own private practice.
Camarie has bilateral leg spasticity and mild myopathy affecting all four limbs. She has double vision, is hard of hearing, and has an auditory processing disorder.
She has always had leg spasticity, but it only started seriously impacting her mobility the year she started graduate school.
In terms of mobility aids she most often uses a forearm crutch on her right side. For days where more support is needed she uses a LifeGlider (which she describes as a reverse walker for adults). Occasionally she also may borrow a manual wheelchair or an electric scooter.
Camarie’s practice provides telehealth, community-based services, and special education advocacy. Additionally they participate in public speaking engagements. Although she primarily does telehealth, she also does group activities with a local group home. She sees a wide range of ages and diagnoses such as Autism, ADHD, and Dysgraphia (to name a few). She is fluent in American Sign Language allowing her to see Deaf clients, and she ensures her practice is queer-friendly.
In the following interview Camarie discusses her experience with graduate school and professional practice in relation to her disabilities.
Graduate School
How did having a physical disability shape your grad school experience?
The biggest thing that it made difficult was fieldwork. We had to really think about what
fieldwork placements would be a good match for my skills and my access needs.
The pandemic greatly shaped my experience. When classes had to go remote faculty
checked in on me to see if I needed anything. I actually thrive in remote classes because I am able to have optimal positioning for my spasticity as well as optional access for my
vision and hearing. The biggest challenge came when we needed to figure out fieldwork
placements for me prior to the vaccine being available. My disabilities make me high risk for negative covid outcomes. We struggled a little in figuring it out but in the end we came up with a plan for telehealth that worked really well for me.
“The biggest barrier I faced was other people’s perception and institutional inflexibility.”
What type of barriers did you face in grad school?
The biggest barrier I faced was other people’s perception and institutional inflexibility. I
often was in the position of having to prove what I could do. Often for me, the best
accommodation is just flexibility. I need flexibility with absences to accommodate doctors appointments and flexibility with deadlines to accommodate pain flare-ups.The lack of flexibility in a lot of graduate school programs really is a barrier.
Did you feel supported in grad school? By faculty, other students, etc…
I felt very supported by my fellow students and in particular by other students with
disabilities. They were the ones who told me not to quit when I wanted to give up.
Having to advocate for yourself constantly is frustrating and exhausting. Once I developed a rapport with my faculty it became easier. I remember in particular when we were struggling with figuring out a fieldwork placement for me, my advisor decided to take a strength-based approach and came up with a customized program that played to my strengths. It ended up being the best experience of my degree.
Is there any advice that you would give to students with physical disabilities applying for or in school now?
Never trust anyone else to know your rights. I conducted some research while I was in
school about the experience of OT students with disabilities and one of the common themes that we found was students being told inaccurate information about their rights.
You will need to know your rights and advocate for yourself. Keep a good paper trail. Have discussions in email rather than in person or on the phone. Talk to your office of disabled student services before you have a problem rather than after. Insist on your
accommodations even if a professor says “it’s not that hard”. Keep track of your absences. Know what to do if a professor tries to deny you an approved accommodation. Find your disabled peers and find disabled mentors because sometimes you really just need to talk to someone who has been in your shoes.
Do you feel accessibility (in general) has changed between since you started school?
I was really lucky to be on a DEI curriculum committee during my time in graduate school. I was also really fortunate to speak to a disabled student who came in immediately after I graduated. I was able to talk with them about their experience. It would seem that they had a much smoother experience than I did and I am hopeful that maybe I played some small part in making that happen.
