“Nobody tells you how to be an adult, let alone an adult with a disability.”– Samuel Habib
Samuel Habib, 21, wants to date, leave home, go to college. But he drives a 350-poundwheelchair, uses a communication device, and can have a seizure at any moment. Determined to find his path forward, he seeks out guidance from America’s mostrebellious disability activists. Will they empower him to launch the bold adult life he craves?
Film Synopsis: Samuel Habib is a 21-year-old community college student with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, living in Concord, New Hampshire. For his entire K-12 education, he was included in regular classes, learning alongside non-disabled peers. He attended high school prom, played sports, got his high school diploma, and he’s pursuing a degree at a local community college. He’s interested in journalism and film as a career. But for Samuel and millions of other young adults with disabilities, the path beyond public school and into adulthood is a precarious maze. It’s difficult to meet new people and impossible to get his 350-pound wheelchair inside his friends’ homes and cars. He thrives on connection, but with his labored speech and use of a communication device, he can’t keep up with his fast-talking friends and family. He can have a seizure at any moment and requires 24/7 support, yet he wants to get married and have children someday. How to even start dating? “I want to figure out how to follow my dreams,” he says. “But no one tells you how to be an adult, let alone an adult with a disability.” Samuel is struggling to navigate the ableist bias of the physical and social environment. But he’s determined to avoid the statistical realities for most adults with disabilities: unemployed, isolated, and living with their families—or in institutional settings. He decides to travel to meet some badass adults with disabilities and make a film that charts how they built full adult lives—as a roadmap for himself and others
Also available at NYTimes Op-Docs My Disability Roadmap