Tony Coelho-Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone in the United States and around the world. Welcome to the show as we are celebrating This November, Epilepsy Awareness Month, and I know you know, but for new listeners, I am a woman living with epilepsy, and so I am all about this month. I want to say a special shout out to Richard Roberts, who is in Brazil with the State Department. And Richard, I know you remember when we were in South Korea and they told me Whatever you do, when you go up to speak, don't say epilepsy. But I remember our guest advice when he told me years ago, when you get a chance to take the podium, speak up. So I went up and said, hi, I'm Joyce Bender and I'm living with epilepsy. Remember that, Richard? I know you do. And Gangyung, oh, Gangyung, you were there also because that was in South Korea when you were both there. Now Richard, I also was with in Japan, and Cheryl Harris in the United States at the State Department. Love you, special wishes to you. Veni, vidi, vinci in Kazakhstan, and to all the countries listening to the show, from China to Finland. I am so appreciative of your support. So hello to you.

Yoshiko.

Boy, I think this is 5 years. I'm gonna have to check that I haven't missed a Hello Yoshiko. And guess what? Next year is the 20th anniversary of this show, which is why I have to also thank our sponsor, Highmark, who is great, great company and lead sponsor of this radio show. Well, today, today is probably— don't get mad, anyone else listening right now— but my favorite guest, Tony Coelho, who is like a brother to me. But you know, how lucky am I to know someone as famous as Tony Coelho? And this is Epilepsy Month, and Tony, you are the most well-known leader in America— well, actually around the world— uh, living with epilepsy, fighting the fight for people with epilepsy. And we have new countries listening to the show. So because of that, and of course, people in the United States that are new to the show, I wonder if we could start by you sharing your story because I know that will be impactful to everyone here, but to all those listeners in Brazil because of your background. I know it will be impactful. So, Tony, welcome. How about if we start by you sharing your story?

Thank you, Joyce. It's great to be on the show, but to your listeners, I want you to know that I could well be Joyce's father, so just to give you an idea of our ages and so on. Secondly, for Richard, if you're in Brazil, I speak Portuguese. I'm full-blooded Portuguese-American, and so I love Brazil, been there several times. And I'm happy to give my story, Joyce Bender. Basically, as a young person, when I was 16 years old, I was in a pickup truck accident on, on the dairy farm that my family owned, and I hit my head— and everything was fine except a year later, all of a sudden I'm in the barn. We had a dairy farm and I was in the barn milking and I all of a sudden, I woke up and I was in my bed in the house. My brother had taken me, carried me over to the house and I had just had a grand mal seizure. Now my family called the doctor and the doctor came out and basically told them that he thought that I had a seizure and that I had epilepsy. And my parents, being devout Catholics and Portuguese, were taught that if you have epilepsy, you're possessed by the devil. And so And I might say at this point that my Republican friends, uh, uh, think I'm possessed by the devil, so it's kind of bad when your family thinks you are too. But anyway, the story goes on, um, and I had several seizures after that. And so they took me to other doctors. The doctors basically all said the same thing, but they never talked to me, um, they just talked to my family. And so my family said it was all kinds of different things that were wrong, but ultimately then they started taking me to witch doctors. And I went to 3 witch doctors. The last witch doctor, I finally said I wasn't gonna go to anymore, and I didn't. And that started what I call the stigma in my life. And that's basically when people assume something about you. And the stigma for those of us with disabilities is something that we face all the time. But anyway, I go to these witch doctors, I say no, I continue having seizures. I then go away to college in Los Angeles to Loyola Marymount University, um, and I continue to have my seizures there. I think they're passing out spells. I don't know anything about epilepsy, never been told anything about epilepsy, and so I have these passing out spells. At the— when I was a senior, John Kennedy got assassinated, and I decided not to become a trial lawyer and decided I wanted to devote my life to helping out people. And when I graduated, I announced I wanted to become a Jesuit priest, a Catholic priest. Catholic Church, and I went for it. It was a big deal for the Jesuits because I was student body president, outstanding senior, and all those things, so they announced it. And so I went to have my physical, and the doctor said, um, have you ever heard the word epilepsy? And I said no, I hadn't. So he explained what it was, and he says, it's what you have, and I can prescribe I have a medication for you which could well reduce the severity of these seizures and maybe the number of them. And I was thrilled. I finally knew what was wrong and that there was something that could help me. And so I was ready to tell the world. Then he said, well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that your 4F means you can't serve in the military. This was during Vietnam. And he said, "The bad news is, is that you have epilepsy, and the Catholic Church adopted the Canon Law in 400 AD that said if you have epilepsy or possessed by the devil, you can't become a priest." So I was denied entry. Well, that didn't bother me too much because I had a lot of job offers, and so I was excited. I called my family to say, uh, that I knew what my problem was and my parents say to me, "No son of ours has epilepsy and you're with a bunch of kooks down in Los Angeles. You need to come home." And I said no and I was really turned off and that continued the stigma. And so I then tried to get— follow through with all the job offers I had and I fill out the application and in those days the word epilepsy was on every job application. And so I would check it and I never got an interview. And after going to several of these, I finally realized what was happening. And so I started drinking and I would be drunk by 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon every day. And I was always drinking at a particular location. It was a and Griffith Park in Los Angeles, and there were a lot of hills, and so I'd go to this one particular hill, and I thought it was a mountain, but, you know, when you're drunk, you think everything's different. And so, I was there, and the day I was going to commit suicide, I was drunk, and there was a merry-go-round on the bottom of the hill, and I heard a voice, and it said, "You're going to be just like those kids getting on and off the merry-go-round." You're never going to let anything or anybody stop you from doing what you want to do. And that was my amen moment. I have never been depressed since then. I felt like I got my mojo back. And I then went back to the fraternity house where I was staying, and I, 2 weeks later, I had an opportunity to live with Bob Hope and his family. And that changed my whole life. He recommended that I go into politics. And he said, "You feel you have a ministry, and it only can be practiced in a church. You're wrong. A true ministry is practiced in sports, entertainment, business, government. But where you belong is in politics." Now, I hadn't thought of that, although I'd been involved in student government, and I didn't think of that as politics. And so, I wrote a letter to my congressman, got the job, worked for him for 14 years. When he decided to retire, I ran for his seat and got elected. Now, when I was in the campaign, my opponent one day said to a dinner party, that I don't know if you know it or not, but Tony's a very sick man. He has epilepsy and has seizures. And what would you think if he went to the White House and had to argue a particular issue such as water in Central California— water is a very dominant issue— and, and had to argue on an issue regarding water and had a seizure? Well, several people at that dinner that night were really upset with his comment, and they called me. And the next day, a reporter called and said, "Your opponent said X last night. What is your reaction?" And the good Lord was with me, and I said, "Well, I've known a lot of people in the 13 years that I've been in Washington." that went to the White House and had fits, at least I'd have an excuse. And that stopped all the negative comments about me, and it's never been used against me again. And so that's when I started, uh, in the Congress, and I realized after trying to offer some amendments that none of that worked because we in the disability community did not have our basic civil rights and people could discriminate. An employer could say, "Because of your epilepsy, I'm not going to hire you." Openly, legally could do that. If you went into a restaurant and you were blind and you asked the waiter for some help on the menu and they could kick you out because you were a nuisance. If you went to a movie theater, they— if you were in a wheelchair, they could deny you entry because you might be a fire hazard. And so they would kick you out, all legal, um, and so forth. And then I started realizing that we didn't have our basic civil rights and something needed to be done. And that's why I started working on what eventually was called the ADA. So that's my story, Joyce Bender.

Wow. That's all I have to say is wow. Amazing. I love every time you tell the story, I learn something new. And every time it's riveting to me. And with that, we're going to go to break. If you just tuned in, we have the honorable Tony Coelho, author of The Americans with Disabilities Act and a man living with epilepsy as we celebrate Epilepsy Awareness Month. We'll be right back with Tony. Don't go away.

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Benderconsult.com. Get the news on our shows and other happenings by following us on Twitter. Find us at VoiceAmericaTRN or twitter.com/voiceamericatrn. You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now please Welcome back. The host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Welcome back to Epilepsy Awareness Month, and we have with us today, as I said before, the leader in the world, a man living with epilepsy that has really not only changed history by authoring the Americans with Disabilities Act, but since I've known him, and I even know before that, has fought the fight for people living with epilepsy. And I was wondering, Tony, when you think back on the fact that— think about it— millions and millions of people with disabilities have found employment as a result of the Americans with Disabilities Act and caused other countries to have similar to an ADA Act, but thinking about all those millions of people that have found employment and/or, I should say, not been discriminated against, uh, how does that make you feel?

Well, Joyce, obviously, um, when I introduced it, um, I thought it would have an impact, um, but— and I didn't realize the impact that it really has had. And As you pointed out, there's over 50 different countries who have a version of the ADA, not exactly what we have in the United States, but a version of it. And basically what that is, is a recognition that those of us with disabilities in all parts of the world are recognized for our disability and the need for us to have rights. And so I— I didn't realize that the ADA would have that impact. I always like to say that we export a lot of things all over the world, some good, some bad, but the best one has been the recognition of those with disabilities have a need for basic rights. So overwhelming to me, Joyce Bender, as to the impact that it's had, and I'm very pleased to have been part of it.

Overwhelming to me, just knowing you and thinking about all of that. Tony, how about a lot of people I don't think realize or forget about this, but President George H.W. Bush, how do you feel about him and his impact as a president in getting the ADA signed?

Well, I always call President Bush Papa Bush. He was a wonderful, wonderful person who had a child with a disability who died at a very young age. So he and his wife Barbara were very committed to the whole idea of disability awareness and disability support. When there were people in the White House that were opposed to him signing the legislation, his chief of staff at the time. And I talked to the chief of staff, and he said, "I have to recommend a veto, but I know what you're going to do. You're going to call the president, and he'll probably agree with you, but it's something I have to do." I did call the president. The president said to me, "Don't worry about it. I'm going to sign it." And he did. And of course, people can get credit for introducing something, but it doesn't make a difference until it's signed into law by the President of the United States. And President Bush did that over the objections of a lot of different people, but he knew how important this was to those of us with disabilities because of his personal experience. So obviously Joyce Bender I loved him then, I remember him well, and I have the very deepest respect and fondness for him. Now, an interesting thing is that he authored the Disabilities Act, and the Supreme Court in the United States, about 10 years later, the law finally reached them to determine whether or not it was legal or not, and they determined that the ADA only covered people with physical disabilities and not people that had epilepsy and intellectual disabilities and so forth. And those disabilities you cannot see, in effect. And so it was kicked out from— for those of us with these different disabilities.. So we had to introduce the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments, and we introduced it, and it got passed easily by the Congress, and then went to the desk of the president to sign. And the president at that time was George W. Bush, the son of H.W., and he signed it. So the Bush family, Joyce Bender, of tremendous importance and really are heroes in the disability community for both of them supporting us not only in the original act but in the Amendments Act, which of course made those of us with epilepsy covered by the ADA. So I'm very fond of the Bush family.

I know, I know you're friends with all of them and with Doro. And I remember with that ADA Amendments Act that you went and met with President George H.W. Bush. I remember that clearly. And for those of you, if you're interested in more of the relationship between Tony and President George H.W. Bush, Doro, his daughter, wrote the book My Father, My President about her late father, President George H.W. Bush. And when you read that book, you'll read in there about the ADA and Tony, which Tony, isn't it a shame that today we do not have in politics what we had then? Think about it. You, you were a Democrat, you were the whip in Congress, and yet close friends with the Bushes, who were of course from the Republican Party. It is amazing how that has changed. Isn't it a shame?

Yeah, in the Senate, Joyce Bender, we had the Republican leader Bob Dole, who also became a very close friend, and we had a senator from Idaho, a very conservative Republican, and Orrin Hatch. And both the Republicans who were aggressively for us, we had Senator Ted Kennedy, who obviously had family members with a disability, and then we had Tom Harkin, whose brother was hearing impaired. And they were there, and it so became a very bipartisan piece of legislation. In the House, Steny Hoyer led the effort for me. From Maryland, Democrat, who is now the majority leader in the House of Representatives. And you had Steve Bartlett, a Republican member from Dallas, who helped make sure the Republicans were in line. And, and who did that was the speaker at the time, Newt Gingrich, who asked Steve Bartlett to be involved in helping making sure that the ADA got adopted. And so it's been a very bipartisan effort, disability was for years. Nowadays there is opposition from members of the Republican Party to the ADA, and I would say, Joyce, sadly, that if the ADA were being introduced today, it would never have been— it would never pass.. And of course, under the last president, would never have been signed. So it's now become a partisan issue, and hopefully we don't have to go to the Congress for something on the ADA. There's legislation that we're trying to deal with the internet, and I'm sure at some point you'll ask me a question on that. But it was very fortunate we had the Bushes and the Dole's and Senator Hatch on our side, and Newt Gingrich, who helped us with Steve Bartlett on the House side. But that no longer is true.

Alan, I know you close with so many people from the Republican Party, just as you said. Bob Dole, Senator Dole, oh my goodness, I remember you trying to get CRPD through, I remember how close with Bob Dole, oh, not to mention our late Governor Dick Thornburgh and Governor Ridge, both Republicans. How I always felt it was, is you could argue in Congress, you know, argue, I'm talking about now people in Senate and House of Representatives. And the federal level, executive level, you could argue over issues and then leave and go out and be friends. And I would never know any of this, by the way, if you're listening saying, "Oh, how would she know that?" That's because I've been friends with Tony since like 1996, and I've seen him in action, and I've met all of these people through my friendship with Tony. And would you say that's accurate, Tony, about how you could argue and then go out as friends?

Yeah, basically, you could have differences and you could argue about it, but we realized that we were there not only representing our particular area of the country, but that we all were Americans and we needed to do what was in the best interest of all of our Americans. So you'd end up reaching a compromise. And on the ADA, we had to reach a compromise there on many, many different areas. But you could end up with good legislation by both parties working together and making things happen. That's just not true today. And hopefully, it's going to get better under President Biden. We've had major legislation adopted, some of it over the objections of Republicans in the House and Senate, but a lot of it in cooperation with them. And so you're starting to see some of that bipartisanship come back. And hopefully in these next 2 years, as a result of the election that we just had, that there's going to be more of that, of both parties working together to do what's in the best interests of of the United States. And so, that's what politics should be. It has been in the past, and hopefully it'll be again as we move forward.

Amen to that. Well, hey, we're on the half hour, and as you know, we have a news break on the show on the half hour with our newscaster, Perry Judd-Radek— Radek. Perry, are you with us?

Joyce Bender.

How are you today, Perry?

I'm good. I'm really enjoying Congressman Cuéllar. It's always a great show when he's on.

Oh, thank you. So Perry, what news do you have for us today? By the way, Perry is— she's so humble, so I have to tell this— she's known nationally, and she is the executive director, CEO of Disability Rights of Pennsylvania. So with that, Perry, what news do you have for us today?

Hey, thanks, Joyce. Yeah, so, um, this Thursday, November 17th, at 10 AM— so it's important for your listeners— a congressional subcommittee is going to hold a hearing on accessible air travel. The Air Carrier Access Act is a federal law that makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against passengers because of their disability. Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation enforces the Air Carrier Access Act, just as enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act. So, it's a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation Committee. The subcommittee is called the Subcommittee on Aviation. So, they've announced hearing this week. As of this morning, they had not released a witness list, but I just checked before 2:30, Joyce Bender, and there is a witness list for the hearing, and it includes Heather Ainslie from the Paralyzed Veterans of America. It includes Matt Scott, who's a 3-time Paralympic medalist for Team USA. It includes the Government Accounting Office, includes a vice president for Airlines for America. So, the witness list is available if you go to disabilityrightsPA.org and click on today's segment. It will take you to a link to the livestream, which includes a list— a full list of witnesses. So, according to the press release put out by the Subcommittee on Aviation, the subcommittee is going to discuss discuss the entire travel experience for passengers with disabilities. Joyce Bender, this includes check-in, security, flights, and baggage claim. The great news is the hearing will be live streamed. So we can all watch the hearing at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 17th. Advocacy matters. Air travel continues. It's an ongoing challenge for people with disabilities. So we encourage advocates to listen to the hearing and send comments in about their air travel experience to their members of Congress who are actually members of this subcommittee. So, again, if you go to disabilityrightsPA.org, you can click on today's Advocacy Matters segment. You'll get a link to the livestream, a list of the subcommittee members, so you can see if you have any members in your state on this subcommittee. The press release from the Subcommittee on Aviation, as well as some facts about the Air Carrier Access Act. So, Congress is back. They're getting work done, including work on disability issues. So, I think it's good for us to tune in and learn what we can about air travel for people with disabilities.

Wow. So important. I remember, Perry, when Judy Heumann came to speak here in Pittsburgh, and on the way back, on her flight back, when she got off the plane, her wheelchair was broken. So, so many stories so many people have with disabilities as to why they do not like to fly. And when you think about it, Tony, that's just another extension of the ADA.

Yeah, let me just say something to Terry. Terry, you do a great job. Terry, Terry. We appreciate it. And at this, one of the things your listeners, all the listeners should know, Joyce, is that the special assistant to the secretary is an individual who uses a chair, Kelly Buckland, and he is the disability person for the Department of Transportation, and one of the big issues there is those individuals who use chairs, particularly power chairs, who need to fly, and that when they get on the plane, when they get off, the chair has been put in the bulkhead of the plane, and when they get off, the chair chair has been broken and so forth. Just think of that. When they get off the plane, they don't have a mode of transportation for themselves, and where can you go to rent a chair or whatever? And so it becomes a real hassle for individuals in traveling, and so now what we have is with this act,. And with the support of the Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, that we're now having a focus on travel and getting the airlines to understand that this is something they need to handle. And of course, that's part of the ADA.

Yes, so true. One more time, Perry, where do you— and I love Kelly, by the way. Joyce Bender, where do you go? Once again, where do you go to see this?

Sure, disabilityrightsPA.org. Click on today's advocacy matters segment. It's on the home— it's on the, the first page you come to when you go to disabilityrightsPA.org. You'll find all the links to the Subcommittee on Aviation, their live stream, some facts on the Air Carrier Access Act, and a list of the members of the subcommittee So, you can check to see if your member is on that subcommittee, and you can contact them about the importance of changes with the airlines that help people with disabilities travel.

Thank you. Hey, thanks, Piri. We'll look forward to hearing from you next week.

Thanks, Joyce Bender.

Take care.

Tony, I want to, I want to talk for a minute about this stigma. The biggest barrier to acceptance and employment of people with disabilities is stigma. My question is, do you think that is a result of when people see someone have a convulsion? Do you think it's from the history in the church, or do you think it's from both?

Well, Joyce, I think it's from both. When people see a seizure or if they see somebody with a disability, sight impaired, hearing impaired, somebody uses a chair and so forth, they immediately assume a negative. They immediately assume you can't do something. They immediately assume that there's— they need sympathy or whatever. We don't want sympathy. What we want is a right to fail. And as I always tell Joyce Bender that if you don't give me the right to fail, I can never succeed. And so the stigma is that immediately there's an assumption that we can't do something, which means that in regards to employment, people will always say, well, I don't think you can do this because of whatever your disability is, and that needs to change. Of course, the ADA, it's illegal now to deny people employment if you deny them because of their disability. Obviously, they don't say that anymore, but they always have another excuse, but it really comes down to the stigma that what people feel about those of us with disabilities. All churches, not the Catholic Church alone, but all churches, this has been a problem. People ask me, "Well, why didn't you cover it in the ADA?" Well, to be quite honest, If we had included religion in the ADA, we would have never gotten it adopted because of the strong lobby that religion has in the United States. And so they're not covered, but the church has— you know, when I'm out advocating on disabilities, I've been to a lot of different religions, the black churches, Asian churches, Catholic church, and so forth, and to try to convince them that this is something that they should make as a priority to help people with disabilities, to give them the opportunity to fail, as I say. And it's difficult. We're making some progress, but in my case, of course, It was religion going clear back pre-400 AD, of course, and hopefully we can make progress in this area.

Me too. Me too. I hope so too. Hey, before— I want to make sure we have time to talk about this, so I'm going to move ahead. I want to talk about something, and that is January 6th. Tony, you know, I know how you are. When I think of you, if someone would say, what is a key thing of importance to Tony, I would say respect. Respect. That is what I know about him. And you are also a person that is a person of dignity and just so appreciative of what what you've done in your life. I can't imagine, but if you could share with our listeners, being a former congressman and whip in Congress, how did that January 6th impact you and the recent attempted murder of probably Nancy Pelosi, but assault on her husband, Paul? Those two things. How did they impact you?

Well, Joyce Bender, as an American, I'm extremely proud of our government. You know, it has its problems, makes mistakes, and so forth, but the institution that we have in the United States has really made a difference in the lives of so many different people. And whenever I see the Capitol of the United States, I'm always overwhelmed and extremely moved by what that symbolizes and so forth. And to have people who deliberately go in and try to break into the Capitol and do break into the Capitol and, and try in effect to, to try to kill the vice president of the United States or to go after Nancy Pelosi and try to kill her and so forth. It's overwhelming to me how people can have that much disrespect for an institution that has survived all these decades and not have the respect that is needed. Now, we have barriers all around the Capitol to try to prevent these type of things from happening, but it— that really over— was overwhelming to me and how much it hurt that we had people here in the United States who didn't have the respect of what that institution implies, the capital of the United States of America. And, you know, on the regards to Paul Pelosi, Nancy's husband, you know, I think about it, if that would have happened to my wife or mine and my children. And so forth, or to my partner, and that— what would I think? What would I— and I would have been furious and overwhelmed that somebody would try to kill me or kill my family because of my being involved in trying to help the United States in regards to what happens in this country, helping people and making a difference and so forth. I was really depressed when we found out that Paul had been struck and his skull cracked and so forth. And I think most Americans were. Some, of course, have made fun of it, but most Americans were just really astonished that this could happen in our country. So, that's where we are today, and hopefully we can get that changed. And when this particular election that just occurred, I think there's respect come back to some extent to where we were before, and hopefully that's the case. And a lot of people that were deniers got defeated, and so hopefully that'll make a difference as we move forward.

Yes. Yes, I, I, I, oh, terrible. I agree. Well, let's talk about something really happy that I'm excited about, and that is the Kwelo Center. So, Tony, so we can make sure everyone understands, what made you decide to launch it, and what is the mission of the Kwelo Center?

Well, Joyce, I have felt for years that I needed to do something that would be long-lasting. Of course, there's the ADA, but I, I wanted to pay back for what has been given to me over all the years, and so I wanted to do a center that basically dealt with disability policy, and one of the things that I wanted was to place it at Loyola University because they're the ones that when I was really having trouble, they provided the way for me to come out of it. They understood what I was going through and were extremely supportive, so I wanted to put my center there. Because of what they had done for me. And so what we do at the Cuello Center is we're— there are a lot of different projects we work on, but one of the ones that I like the most is we created the Cuello Fellows, and that is individuals with disabilities. You have to have a disability, and we then help them getting into law school, then after law school trying to place them with law firms, in all different types of companies, but ultimately what I'm really after is getting people with disabilities on state and federal courts because what happens to legislation, it goes through the court system and the deciders on whether or not something is legitimate are needed in regards to disabilities is decided by people who don't have a disability. And so they don't bring to the table the personal experiences, the personal knowledge that we have and how something affects us or does not. And so getting people who have disabilities in the court system is critical. And so at the Cuello Center, we have now put through 75 different individuals with disabilities. And we're helping them. For example, I just was told yesterday that one of our fellows just got the Rhodes Scholarship, is going to England for 2 years, and will be studying there besides the legal degree that he has. And there's so many different examples of how a lot of these young people— I'm 80, so everybody's young to me. and the impact that this is having on them. And we are working right now in regards to making courts accessible, accessible to the jury, accessible to the judge, acceptable to the witnesses, acceptable to the person who is up for a charge that they that they made, but accessible to anybody who has a disability. Those courts are not accessible. And so we're working on that right now. And the other thing that we are very involved in is making sure that the internet is accessible to all people, including those of us with disabilities. And so it's— I'm really excited excited about it, the impact that it's had. And of course, what my goal is, that this will stay around for years and years after I'm gone. And so I'm really excited about what it can do, very proud of what it is doing. So it's part of my legacy, Joyce, and I love it.

Well, when, when did you first think to do this, Tony? Like, what was it that happened that made you think to do this?

Well, after I left the Congress, I went to Wall Street and I did well financially, and I did some things in business after that, but I thought, you know, I owed something besides the ADA in that I needed to do something that I felt would specifically help the whole process. The ADA is a civil rights law. It's a piece of paper, but it has to be enforced by government and so forth. But what else could I do? And so I came up with the idea that I wanted to endow a center that its whole focus was on disability rights, that basically it was involved in making a difference for those of us with disabilities. And that's what the center is. It's about innovation. It's about all basic rights, but very involved in technology and innovation, and hopefully will make a difference as the years go on.

And for someone listening— well, say they have a disability and they're going to law school. How could they get involved with this?

Well, if you're in college and you were interested in law, or if you're not sure you are, but you're interested in pursuing it, you apply to the Cuello Center, and we have a lot of applicants who apply. They all have to have a disability, and we then bring them in as Cuello Fellows, and they go through the process, and they have a class that they attend. It's not only in person, but it's remote as well so that people can participate. We now this year went out to different countries, and we have 4 individuals this year from different countries, and that's exciting to me that we're moving beyond just the United States, that we're dealing with countries where these young people are interested in making a difference in their country. So it's just apply into the Cuello Center that's in Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and you You can look it up on the internet, or obviously you can call the Cuéllar Center, but— or call Loyola and find out about it from there. But it is, I hope, making a difference and will make a difference, I know, as it keeps on developing over the years.

Yeah, and I just want to mention that if you go to Twitter, it's @TheCuelloCenter, @TheCuelloCenter, C-O-E-L-H-O, @TheCuelloCenter on Twitter, and also on Facebook, The Cuello Center for Disability Law Policy and Innovation, or you can just go to The Cuello Center at Loyola Law School, which is www.lls.edu, uh, with an arrow and then Quello Center. But just go, go right to the internet, the Quello Center at Loyola Law School. And also, Tony, if a business is listening to the show, because We have a large listening audience on demand, whether it's on Apple, Spotify, VoiceAmerica.com, or of course our own BenderConsult.com. You can listen to this show on demand. It's there for as many times as you want, but you can also share it with others. So for any business people listening, that, um, or just any individual that wants to make a donation, do they just go to your, uh, website? Do they just go to the Quello Center and there's a donate page?

Yeah, there's a donate page. Um, obviously, um, I've committed to endow it and we're basically there, but to continue to build and, and grow, we need to have people who support it. And so individuals that— who are interested in disability policy and law or have a family member who— or a friend or themselves who have a disability, if you're interested in making a difference, we would love to have you involved. We would love to have different companies. We have a lot that are participating now. But there's an opportunity to sponsor individuals, in other words, covering their expenses or getting a— donating for a particular part of the program and for naming it after somebody. But there's all different types of opportunities for people who want to help make a difference. And it's exciting, and I think people would love being involved in really trying to make a difference in regards to disability law and helping individuals.

Yes, that's right. And you know what? Even when you have a child with a disability, especially— wow, if you're listening and you have a family member with epilepsy, you should support this no matter what. Because of what this man did for all of us. And once again, remember, this is Epilepsy Awareness Month. This year at Thanksgiving, you know, and the holidays, any donation helps. Go to the Quello Center because this is Tony's dream, and that's why I'll be talking about it over and over again on this show. Tony, thank you so much for being with us today. You know I love you. I'm always proud to have you on the show.

Thank you, Joyce Bender, very much. You know I love you too, and I appreciate all that you do to make a difference for those of us with epilepsy and particularly all of us in the disability movement. And thank you to your listeners for participating as well.

All right. Well, we went every show with a quote, so you know I had to use this one. "I am happy I have epilepsy because that is what made me who I am and why I did what I did with the ADA," said Congressman Tony Coelho. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice. Where Disability Matters at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you next week, and remember, in Mary Brooker's words, choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters. Right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.