• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Minnesota Council On Disability

Your Policy, Training and Technical Resource

Search

  • About
    • About MCD
    • Additional Information
    • Annual Agency Reports
    • Governing Council
    • Our Mission
    • Staff
    • Statute and Responsibilities
  • Blog and News
    • Blog
    • News
  • Public Policy
    • About Our Public Policy
    • Bill Tracking
    • Engaging with Government
    • Legislative Updates
    • Public Policy Agenda
  • Technical Assistance
    • Access for Businesses
    • Accessible Housing
    • Digital Accessibility
    • Disability Parking
    • Emergency Preparedness
    • Employment
    • Laws and Regulations
    • Service Animals
    • Snow Removal
    • Training
    • Transportation
    • Voting
  • Events and Outreach
    • Community Outreach
    • MCD Events
  • Additional Resources
  • RDAC
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Events and Outreach / Community Outreach / Keep Moving Forward – Page Four / Transcript: Sharon Van Winkel – Find Your Passion And Do It!

Transcript: Sharon Van Winkel – Find Your Passion And Do It!

[Music]

[Logo: Ampers radio station, with tagline that reads, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities.]

[Photo: Sharon Van Winkel]

Sharon Van Winkel: “No” is not part of my vocabulary. It has to be, “Yes, and let’s figure out a way we can do it.”

[Logo: Ampers radio station, with taglines that read, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities, and Keep Moving Forward.]

Host: This is Keep Moving Forward.

[Photo: President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Photo courtesy of the George Bush Presidential Library.]

George H. W. Bush: Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.

[Logos: ADA 25: Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990-2015, and Disability Rights Are Civil Rights. Logos courtesy of the ADA National Network, adata.org.]

Host: Exploring the legacy and promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

[Photos: Sharon Van Winkel and her husband]

Sharon Van Winkel: I’m Sharon Van Winkel. I’m paralyzed from the waist down from an automobile accident a long time ago. I was a computer programmer. My company would not take me back. But what that did was it freed me up to do a lot of other things, and one of the things that I was introduced to was wheelchair sports. I was asked to join a women’s wheelchair basketball team. It gave me something to feel good about, something that I was being recognized for. I guess I was good enough that I made the Paralympic team, USA women’s team. I found a passion that really made my life project beyond the stars.

[Music]

This disability could happen to anybody at any time. Would you want to have to give up your Jazzercise class because you could no longer see? Find a passion, get involved in it. It doesn’t have to be wheelchair sports. But dig in. Do it!

[Logos: the Minnesota Council on Disability, the Minnesota Humanities Center, the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, and the Ampers radio station.]

Host: Keep Moving Forward is supported by the Minnesota Council on Disability, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, online at Ampers.org.

Page last updated: March 23, 2022

Footer

Find Us

Minnesota Council on Disability (MCD)
1600 University Avenue W, Suite 8
Saint Paul, MN 55104

For accommodation requests, including requesting any document on this website in an alternative format, visit our ADA Title II page.

Contact Us

Phone: 651-361-7800 (VRS)
Toll-free: 1-800-945-8913 (VRS)
Fax: 651-296-5935

Email: council.disability@state.mn.us

Stay Connected

Sign up for the latest MCD news and updates sent to your inbox.

Follow Us

MCD on Facebook MCD on Twitter MCD on YouTube

Accessibility of Our Site · Privacy Notice · Site Map
© 2023 · Minnesota Council On Disability. All rights reserved. · Built by Westwords