Tuesday, Apr 16, 2024
Focus on the big picture

I'm a College Student with a Disability. Stop Treating Me Like a Child. | Op-Doc

NYT, 18 May 2022
(With audio description, English and Spanish subtitles.)

Samuel Habib, 21, wants to date, leave home, go away to college. But for Samuel and millions of other young adults with disabilities, the path beyond public school and into adulthood is difficult to navigate.

Samuel lives with a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a mutation in a gene known as GNAO1. He drives a 350-pound wheelchair, uses a communication device, and can have a seizure at any moment. In "My Disability Roadmap," co-directed by Samuel and his father Dan Habib, he seeks out guidance from America’s most rebellious disability activists.

He wants to learn how they built full adult lives as a road map for himself and others. “No one tells you how to be an adult, let alone an adult with a disability,” he says. “But there are badass people with disabilities who figured it out. Maybe they could be my mentors.”

More from The New York Times Video:
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n​
Watch all of our videos here: http://nytimes.com/video​
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nytvideo​
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nytvideo​
----------
Op-Docs is a forum for short, opinionated documentaries by independent filmmakers. Learn more about Op-Docs and how to submit to the series. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@NYTopinion).
Related Articles