每日大瓜

Arielle Zellis 鈥�17S Calls For Greater Inclusion of People With Disabilities Through one speaking engagement after another, the message Arielle Zellis '17S wants to get out there is simple: think 鈥減erson鈥� first. 鈥淚nstead of seeing someone as a disabled or ill person, it鈥檚 about thinking of them first and foremost as a human being, made b鈥檛zelem Elokim [in the image of God],鈥� said Zellis, a senior studying psychology at . 鈥淓verything else really comes after that. So when I see you, I鈥檓 seeing you as a unique human beings with likes and interests and strengths and weaknesses, and in addition maybe you have Down鈥檚 syndrome, or depression, versus me seeing you as a 鈥楧own鈥檚 girl鈥� or 鈥榙epressed鈥� and that鈥檚 it.鈥�

Arielle Zellis, a Stern College senior studying psychology, seeks to reframe the way people with disabilities are viewed and included in society.

Zellis initially chose 鈥減erson-first鈥� perspective as the focus of her talk at TedX 每日大瓜, an event that used the Ted Talks format of short, powerful lectures to showcase wisdom from 每日大瓜 speakers on a wide range of topics. The cause is deeply personal for her: Zellis鈥檚 12-year-old brother has Down鈥檚 syndrome, and she believes that her family鈥檚 refusal to engage with him differently than they would any other child has made an enormous impact on the way he lives his life and interacts with others. 鈥淚 worked at Camp HASC for two summers and there was a particularly problematic camper who made an impression on me鈥攕he would kick and spit and curse, and she had Down鈥檚 syndrome, just like my brother,鈥� Zellis said. 鈥淏ut my brother would never behave that way because we held him to a standard that was typical and put him in an inclusive setting that promoted typical behavior.鈥� For Zellis, the difference between the camper鈥檚 behavior鈥攁nd the way others reacted to her鈥攁nd her brother鈥檚 was striking. 鈥淪he has the same thing as my brother has, but society treats them very differently because of the way they behave,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 strongly believe that people with disabilities need to be included in society, and the first step is for them to be able to behave well and gain the proper social skills in an environment that promotes proper social behaviors.鈥� That鈥檚 why Zellis hopes to become a behavioral analyst after she graduates this semester: 鈥淚 want to help these kids become further integrated into society by teaching them the correct social behaviors, because if you don鈥檛 know how to behave people don鈥檛 take you seriously and then they start to pity you.鈥� Zellis鈥檚 TedX talk resonated so powerfully with her audience that she has become a sought-after speaker on the topic. Since the talk, she has spoken at high schools across North America and the Yachad Leadership Conference. After viewing her TedX talk online, the National Inclusion Project asked her to deliver the closing keynote address at their annual leadership conference, which is designed to provide educators and professionals with strategies to better include people with disabilities in their schools and organizations. 鈥淢y family really represents what they鈥檙e teaching, so I鈥檓 going to present a practical and emotional story of how this can really work, and how it works with my family,鈥� Zellis said. As for the growing spotlight her message is receiving, Zellis hopes she can continue to find even more opportunities to reframe the way people think about those who are different than them. 鈥淚f I have a talent for public speaking and the experience to back up what I鈥檓 saying and help people learn about this, I would love to keep sharing the idea of a person-first perspective and representing the siblings of people with disabilities,鈥� she said.