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You are here: Home / Events and Outreach / Community Outreach / Keep Moving Forward / Transcript: John Riddle – It’s Hard To Accomplish Things

Transcript: John Riddle – It’s Hard To Accomplish Things

[Music]

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

[Photo: John Riddle]

John Riddle: I used to be an artist before my injury, so it’s been a process to learn how to do the things I used to be able to do.

[Logo: Ampers, with taglines: 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, www.adata.org.]

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

[Photos: John Riddle]

John Riddle: My name is John Riddle, and I got an anoxic brain injury in 2007. I have poor balance and coordination. I’m in a manual wheelchair.

I’m an artist. Lately I’ve been doing images from tattoos, actually, and it’s been a lot of fun.

As an artist, I do feel like I’m perceived differently. Sometimes I get people that say, “Oh, that’s so great,” kind of feeling like they should baby me. Which I don’t appreciate, but at the same time, it just feels like it’s very hard to accomplish anything.

Before, I could draw very intricate pieces with ease. It’s much different for me now because my hand shakes. I really got to focus just to even draw a straight line. I do get frustrated along the way, but it is very rewarding to see the finished piece when I’m done. That just makes it worthwhile for me.

[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: September 24, 2021

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