'Awareness Is Not Enough,' Says Disabilities Advocate at Royer-Greaves

Disability awareness is not enough for the disabled community, advocate and author Dr. Kerry Magro told the Royer-Greaves staff, parents, and community members gathered for a May 11 Lunch and Learn event. “In 2023, we need to turn disability awareness into disability acceptance,” he said.

Magro, who could not speak at age 2.5 and was diagnosed with autism at age 5, has built a career as a professional speaker and author. He founded a non-profit and is a Netflix disabilities consultant. But when Magro was a kid in school, it didn’t matter so much whether other kids knew about disabilities, he said. “I wanted someone to sit with me in the lunchroom and be my friend.”

Magro said the most important way be an ally and a friend to a person with a disability is to ask questions about what they need and want. When he was 19, people who learned that he had autism would talk slower, which frustrated him. “They were thinking they were doing the right thing, but they were not meeting me where I was,” he said. It’s important to ask those who have a disability about the language they prefer, too, he added. “Some people in our community will prefer identity-first language,” he said. For example, he said, many find power in the term “autistic person.”

Magro noted that there is a wide range of capabilities within the disabled community. About 40% of autistic individuals in the United States are either non-speaking or non-verbal, he said. “Some may not be able to speak or answer to their name, but they are still able to hear your words and feel your kindness,” he said.

Magro also offered practical advice for the parents of and advocates for people with disabilities. While not everyone can advocate for themselves, it is essential that those who can be empowered and encouraged to do so, he said. Far too many disabled people struggle academically or socially “when all they needed was appropriate accommodations,” he said.

Sharing a child’s diagnosis with them as early as possible is an important step, Magro said, because self-awareness is key to self-advocacy. Magro offered other practical advice for parents and advocates, including:

• If your child is non-verbal, place the focus on communication, not speech.
• Realize you need a community, and build one in-person or online.
• Get respite support and take breaks when you need them.
• Start saving for your child’s future and teach them to save for their own future.
• Encourage physical activity.
• Support and seek out peer mentorship programs that link disabled and non-disabled people.

“Dr. Magro’s presentation was inspirational,” said Royer-Greaves Executive Director Vicky Mayer. “We are so glad he came, and so grateful to the sponsors who made this event possible: BMC Benefit Services, The Communication Solutions Group, iPATH Cloud Solutions, Malvern Bank, and PDC Pharmacy.