"About Us" is a series of interviews with accomplished self-advocates in Florida.
Nicole “Nikki” CorattI has been advocating for people with disabilities from a young age. A Florida native currently living in Naples, Nikki has firsthand experience of just how important self-advocacy is, and now as a second-year FL SAND Fellow, she is continuing her mission of making her community more accessible for all. Florida Self-Advocacy Central recently interviewed Nikki to learn more about her self- advocacy journey.
Question: When did you start to identify as a self-advocate and why?
Nikki: I began my advocacy journey on a personal level at the age of 10. I had two working parents who needed to work outside the home. I began to learn how to be a latchkey kid with the proper knowledge of community awareness and safety. I began to understand that people needed to take care of each other. It is said it takes a village to raise special needs children, and for me that became true.
Question: What advocacy related issue is the most significant to you?
Nikki: Education is important for everyone, however growing up in life, I began to see how significant it was for special-needs individuals to be educated on all topics that were relevant to his or her life and others.
Question: Describe a time when you had to overcome an obstacle related to your disability.
Nikki: When I was 11 years old, we began to have a house built in an area of town that was considered on the outskirts of town in my county. The first 2 1/2 years of living in the new home, everything went smoothly until one day when I was in the process of getting on the bus to go to school. It rained that day and we did not have a paved driveway yet. Due to the rain, the accessible bus got stuck in the gravel for the first time since we had this experience of having a new home. To put a long story short, it was an uphill battle with the county for me to go to school for a very long time. We had to get a legal team involved and we did get a paved driveway out of it, but it was a long tedious process. This is why I say education is even more critical in the special needs community. It was from his experience that I learned that, ultimately, we only have ourselves to speak up and use our voice to be able to facilitate our journey in life.
Question: What did you find helpful in overcoming that obstacle?
Nikki: In trying to make sure that I kept my education in the forefront of my advocacy journey, I learned that I had to reach out to people that had also gone through obstacles regarding this topic, and that it’s not about what you know, but who you know when it comes to things like that for sure.
Question: How has your advocacy affected your career and personal life?
Nikki: My advocacy journey has had many highs and lows and many in-between moments, yet it’s something I would never change. I’m very proud of it. The biggest thing I've learned about myself is that my voice is powerful. That's when I realized how strong I really was. It isn't about being physically strong when you have a physical disability; I think it’s about being emotionally strong as well as being vulnerable. My advocacy journey has afforded me opportunities that I could only have imagined in my life, both as a child and an adult.
Question: What advice would you give to someone struggling to accept their disability?
Nikki: Two phrases I’ve learned to use throughout my advocacy journey are "Ask as many questions as you need to," and "If you don’t know the answer, say 'I don’t know the answer, but I’m going to find out for you'" and stick to that.
Question: In 10 years, what would you most like to see changed in the lives of people with disabilities?
Nikki: I’m going to keep it straightforward and say, I hope we can coexist with everyone and not have to have extra things in our life to make our life function. I hope that people with disabilities can feel normal in all aspects of life instead of having to think about things every single day. For example, what I mean is having to feel like we need "extra things" just because we have different needs.
Question: Describe a time when you had to advocate on the spur of the moment.
Nikki: I was in my college journey of life and I had to get from place to place on my scooter. I couldn’t get to class due to weather and for the moment I had to give my friend and classmate my tape recorder to record my notes. I asked her to tell the professor why I needed her to record the notes. My professor let her take the notes for me that day. That day in particular, I was really grateful
Question: If you could pick one song as a theme song, what would it be?
Nikki: My song would be a song by Audra Day called” Rise Up.”
The FSACentral staff would like to thank Nikki for taking the time to participate in the interview. Let us know what you think about "About Us" on Facebook. If you know an accomplished self-advocate in Florida you think we should showcase in "About Us," contact us here or via Facebook.
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