Favorite song: “Not a favorite, but I really like the song ‘Lean On Me’ by Bill Withers”

Two Words to Describe Himself: Funny and a Cool Guy

“If you know your rights and know how to fight for them, you can achieve your dreams and become anything you want.”

- Micah Fialka-Feldman, 2010

Micah Fialka-Feldman recently vacationed with some friends in Colorado.  On his trip, Micah stopped by PEAK Parent Center’s office and shared with us some important lessons he’s learned in his life.

Micah is a 26 year old self-advocate who was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, a city just outside Detroit. Micah grew up with his mom, dad, and younger sister, and their family remains close today.

Micah identifies as having an “intellectual” disability.  He struggles with reading but uses computer software that helps him have access to the Internet and other applications, all of which keeps him connected. And, because he keeps practicing, Micah’s reading continues to improve, and he enjoys looking in newspapers and books to find words he knows or is learning.

When Micah started school, he was placed in a separate special education classroom for students with disabilities.  He had to enter his school building using a different door than the other kids from his neighborhood.  Micah didn’t like this, and in first grade, Micah told his parents “I want to go in the same door as all the other kids.”  With this one seemingly small statement, Micah defined himself as a self-advocate and launched what would become his lifelong work to fight for equality and inclusion for all people.

First Micah started going through the same door as the other kids.  Then, he got out of the segregated learning setting and into the classroom with his peers without disabilities.  In order to be successful, Micah needed some academic supports, which were outlined in his Individualized Education Program (IEP).  Micah decided it was essential that he participate in his IEP meetings, a decision that gave him an opportunity to positively communicate his goals and dreams directly with his teachers. Micah’s involvement in his IEP planning was tremendously successful, and beginning in 6^th grade, Micah also started including his friends in his IEP meetings.  His friends contributed great ideas because they had first hand knowledge of Micah’s academic and social worlds and shared things they noticed were going well, what changes they noticed in Micah, and their own suggestions for the coming year.  At one meeting, a friend shared that they thought Micah’s paraprofessional was doing too much work for Micah, and they knew Micah could be doing more independently.  In later grades, his friends helped him develop PowerPoint presentations that outlined things he wanted to share during his IEP meeting.  Micah and his friends’ involvement in his secondary and college (yes, college!) education have always had a positive impact on his academic and life achievements. 

In high school, Micah helped to pioneer a peer tutor program, where students could enroll and earn a ½ credit for helping support him in his classes.  His peer tutors would help him with everything from learning to swim, to working side-by-side during class, to reading texts out loud.  During school, Micah utilized a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking, speech recognition software that converts his speech to text, and reads words on the screen out loud.  This has been an incredible tool, helping Micah gain independence and access, and is something he continues to use almost every day.

Overall, in school and his life Micah attributes much of his success to having support from such amazing parents who listened to him, knew he was doing a good job, and understood what he wanted and needed.

In the spring of 2003 Micah graduated from high school, and like many of his friends and classmates, he wanted to attend college. One school, Oakland University (OU), was willing to work within his IEP, and in the fall Micah began attending college. At first, Micah was in a program at OU that was more isolated; he and other college students with disabilities  all walked together, ate lunch together, and attended classes together. While he didn’t mind getting to know his fellow students with disabilities, Micah desperately wanted to have a more typical college experience.  In the fall of 2006, Micah enrolled in the Options Program at OU, a program designed for students with intellectual disabilities who wanted to attend college. He started paying full tuition and got a regular student ID card, rather than one that identified him as a “Guest Student.” When he enrolled, Micah was told he could live on campus and that he was a full student.  Because Micah didn’t take standardized tests such as the SAT, he was unable to select a major, but took on average 12 credit hours of classes per semester.  He took classes like Chinese History, Social Change, Gender Studies, and his personal favorite, Public Speaking.

Micah’s daily commute from his home to college took on average two hours using public transportation. In the winter of 2008, to avoid this grueling commute and to enjoy the full college experience, Micah applied to live in the dorms on campus.  But, his application was denied by the Vice President of Oakland University who claimed that because Micah wasn’t going toward a major, he wasn’t a full student and thus could not live in the dorms.  Micah set up a meeting with the vice president where he explained that he was capable of living independently, urging her to reconsider, but she would not be swayed.  Micah’s fight was far from over, however. Across the next two years, Micah pled his case at Board of Trustee meetings, got letters of support from his college professors and friends and advocates from across the country, got over 1,000 signatures from friends and peers at OU, and joined student rallies that were organized on his behalf by his peers. Yet his application was still denied.  Steadfast, Micah and his parents contacted the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, Inc. for support, and together they filed a lawsuit against Oakland University’s Board of Trustees.

After extensive hearings and depositions, and after summary judgments were submitted from both sides, the honorable Judge Patrick Duggan finally ruled that “OU violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, when it refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to waive its Housing Department's rule that students must be ‘seeking a degree’ to live on-campus. The Court found OU had failed to conduct an ‘individualized analysis’ of Micah's reasonable accommodation request and it cannot rely, as it did here, on ‘prejudice, stereotypes and/or unfounded fear’ of persons with disabilities when analyzing the reasonableness of such request,” (Retrieved on September 7, 2010, from http://www.throughthesamedoor.com/pages/dormcase.html).  Finally, after two long years, Micah won the right to live in the dorm, just in time for his last semester as a student at OU. The university is appealing Judge Duggan’s decision.  Click here to watch a YouTube video of Micah moving in to his dorm room!

Micah graduated from the Options Program at OU in the spring of 2010.  Since thenhe has been traveling across the country doing public speaking, sharing his story and inspiring thousands of people.  During his speeches, Micah’s goal is “To give people hope that they can dream to go to college, or do anything if they fight for it.”

His advice to fellow self-advocates exemplifies the messages he shares in his speeches – “If you know your rights and know how to fight for them, you can achieve your dreams and become anything you want.”

Micah’s journey continues to unfold, but is one that we can all look to with appreciation for the path it has paved for those to follow. Learn more about Micah and his work at www.throughthesamedoor.com.

 

 

PEAK Parent Center www.peakparent.org - Fall 2010 SPEAKout Newsletter

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