Dr. JR Harding
Author, advocate, consultant, speaker, trainer and professor
Through his experiences as a quadriplegic, Harding strives to help people of all walks of life navigate through the unfamiliar landscape of disabilities.
Can you tell us a little bit about your experience as a quadriplegic?
Five days before my seventeenth birthday, my back was broken. My world shattered, but not my spirit. My new path was arduous and loaded with uncertainty. I didn’t fully understand what paralysis meant. I had to learn how to deal with the psychological, physical, interpersonal and self-identity issues so I could survive and thrive as a quadriplegic.
How did UWF shape your journey towards disability advocacy?
Going to UWF was monumental for me. I was one of the first disabled students, if not the very first, on the UWF campus. It was my rise from the ashes. It gave me the chance to live up to my own expectations. It was the place and time in my life that I learned how to advocate and work with politicians to make a significant impact on the lives of persons with disabilities. While there, I started a group called Students with Alternative Needs and helped design the first accessibility transition plan, reshaping numerous buildings on the UWF campus. Developing that confidence for advocacy while at UWF directly influenced the work I would later go on to do state and nationwide. That work included developing and implementing accessibility standards and becoming a tenacious advocate with a mission to empower persons with disabilities, seniors and those with special needs.
How do you view your disability today?
Today, I live by a simple philosophy: living with a severe disability can be a normal part of life. I no longer feel helpless, deprived or excluded. Through mutual care, love and support of my fellow persons, my paralysis is merely a fact of my life, no longer the bondage I once considered it. My life has been dedicated to making the door a little wider for the next person.