PANAMA CITY — Amanda Baker has been fighting all her life.
It wasn’t until fifth grade she convinced school district administrators that she didn’t need special ed classes. Cerebral palsy affected her legs, but it did not affect her intellect; she graduated high school with a 3.7 GPA.
Because of her motorized wheelchair and an undersized bathroom stall, she was once stuck in a bathroom of her former college for an hour. When she complained, a teacher blamed her for the problem. The administration took the side of the teacher and Baker left school for a year, spiraling into a deep depression. She later rebounded and graduated from Gulf Coast Community College in 2003 and received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida State in 2005.
“I thought no one would care that I have a disability once I have a degree,” she said. “But then I got to the real world.”
Baker wanted to be a radio DJ, but she was barred from the position — not because of a lack of talent, but because all but one of the stations are located upstairs. These life experiences led Baker to the calling of advocacy. She has been fighting for the civil rights of disabled people since 2007, when she was named Miss Wheelchair Florida and then received a $4,000 grant from the Florida Development Disabilities Council to start advocacy organizations.
“I’ll be an advocate with my last breath,” she said. “My passion is for employment. People who want to work and can work should be able to work at a job they want and is indicative of their education.”
Baker is receiving the sixth annual Idelio Valdes Leadership and Advocacy Award at a press conference at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Capitol Building in Tallahassee. The award recognizes individuals who strive to spread awareness about the value of inclusion and services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Baker works four days a week as the office manager for Liz Resources and DNA Services LLC at 1015 Grace Ave., where she has worked since 2011. Part of the mission for Liz Resources is to provide job coaches for people with disabilities. Baker has worked as a coach but is limited because she does not have a vehicle. She said it does help that she has shared experience with many of Liz Resources clients — even if she does not work with them personally.
She would like to work more, but she loses benefits if she works more than 27 hours or saves too much money.
After work, Baker takes part in conference calls and meetings almost every day with various organizations, including Elephant Herds, a local advocacy group she started. She spends significant time returning calls to people asking for help and then trying to refer them to organizations like Liz Resources. She also helped start the state organization Florida Self Advocacy Networked, SAND. The Florida Developmental Disabilities Council also asks Baker for advice, recently about a housing project.
As part of all these organizations, she travels often, requiring an amazing expenditure of energy.
Baker has a less severe version of cerebral palsy, so she can walk in short bursts with the assistance of a walker. However, she has a finite amount of energy to spend. Just getting to the Northwest Florida International Airport is difficult enough because there are no handicap-accessible cabs in the area. She then has to use a manual wheelchair to navigate through the airport.
“It’s unbelievably exhausting,” she said. “I keep picturing someone who wants to vacation here; they fly here and they have no way to leave the airport. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be?”
While transportation needs are secondary to employment discrimination, Baker is interested in improving the accessibility of the Bay Town Trolley and widening sidewalks, wherever possible. She said Medicaid transportation in town only provides trips for medical care and work, instead of grocery shopping like Medicaid Transport in larger cities.
“I know people know what the problems are,” she said. “I hear a lot of complaining but not action.”
She did not set out to be an advocate for people with disabilities, but she could not imagine doing anything else.
“A lot of people have this stigma that people with disabilities want special treatment,” she said. “We just want to be treated equally.”