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zahliailhaz t1_it1p5is wrote

She graduated in 2013. Haben is amazing, I’ve met her twice, but this isn’t news.

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cgally OP t1_it1srz4 wrote

It's uplifting news though.

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zahliailhaz t1_it4k2qu wrote

Considering Haben Girma herself has said she does not want to be seen as inspirational or uplifting just because she graduated college (something that isn't a news article for non-disabled people) I think we should respect that.

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The fact that it took until 2013 for a deafblind person to graduate Harvard speaks to the ableism the university had previously, not the triumph or inspiration of Haben.

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As I said, I've worked with Haben on a couple different occasions, as I work in disability. Looking at disabled people and considering them inspiring for doing things that wouldn't be inspiring if non-disabled people did them is generally seen as unwanted by disabled people. I'd encourage you to look into this TED talk by Stella Young which speaks on this concept.

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