Latoya Nesmith: Artist and Activist

by Amber DiPietra, San Francisco, California

Latoya Nesmith

Outside of the Mainstream

Last month, I visited my family in Tampa, Florida. While there, I was able to get together with Latoya Nesmith, a 25-year-old woman with cerebral palsy (CP) and low vision. My school experience in the early 80’s in Tampa was rocky. Mainstreaming for disabled kids was less than adequate and growing up, I had few friends with disabilities. So, I looked forward to sitting down with Latoya at Self-Reliance Center for Independent Living, getting to know her, and learning more about how she is navigating life with a disability in the Sunshine State.     

When Latoya and her family moved from New York, she entered her senior year at Jefferson High School in Tampa. Her Individualized Education Plan (IEP)  in New York specified that she should be placed in mainstream honors classes. However, Jefferson put Latoya into special education classes. These classes consisted mostly of students with significant cognitive disabilities who were not at the same academic level as Latoya. When she contested her placement, school administrators balked and pointed out the difficulty she had with modulating her voice. Due to her cerebral palsy, her voice sometimes rises and falls in an uneven pitch. The school said that this was a clear indication of her behavioral and cognitive disabilities and was a reason why Latoya should not be in honors classes.

Eventually, Latoya’s insistence paid off and she was moved to the appropriate classes. However, she then lost access to the support she needed from paraprofessionals, aides who would help her during school lunches and assist her in the restroom. Once she was no longer in the special ed classes, it was difficult for her to get enough attendant hours. Also, the only accessible bathroom located outside of the special education wing of the school was the boys’ bathroom. Once she had been mainstreamed, this bathroom was her only option and the accessible stall in it lacked a door -- she had to use the bathroom without privacy or wait until she went home for the day.

Latoya called 8 On Your Side, an investigative team from the local television news. They came out to Jefferson and did a story. A more detailed report was published in the Tampa Tribune, entitled, “Has School Failed Student?” Meanwhile, other parents were offended. They accused Latoya and her family of looking down on the other students in special ed. Latoya faced so much hostility that she finally decided to leave school without completing her senior year and instead got her high school diploma via home schooling. 

“It was like to them, there was no middle, no color, no grey or brown,” she told me. 

Beta Testing Her Dreams

But Latoya, born in the United States to Afro-Ecuadorian parents, lives in a world full of color. She dreams in big, bold strokes. Her plan is to go to college and major in two of the following: media productions, public relations, or disability law.

She began attending Hillsborough Community College (HCC) a few years ago, but had to stop due to health issues. HCC was difficult because she couldn’t traverse the college campus independently without a motorized wheelchair. Latoya told me that in Florida, Medicaid won’t pay for this type of chair once someone has turned 21. Similarly, Latoya said that Florida Medicaid will not pay for physical therapy after a person reaches the age of 21. She is hoping she will qualify for a special waiver that will get her the new wheelchair and allow her to resume physical therapy. She has also applied for services from Florida’s vocational rehabilitation division. This government agency may be able to help pay for some of her schooling and the equipment she needs.

Latoya’s goal is to study at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa and eventually, the University of Amsterdam. Going to school abroad is a big item on her to-do list. She began speaking to me in Spanish during our interview and I protested, but could not find the words to say, “My Spanish is very rusty!” It turns out that Latoya speaks some Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, and Italian, in addition to fluent English and Spanish. As a kid, she spent her summers at a camp for children with disabilities in South Hampton, Long Island. The camp employed counselors from all over the world and Latoya found that it was easy for her to pick up their languages. She is excited by the idea of further cultural immersion.

She also speaks the language of poets. While currently developing plans to create a theater program for persons with disabilities, she is writing a play. The goal is to collaborate with REVolutions Dance, an integrated dance troupe and eventually have the play staged.

As soon as she can solve the problem of transportation, she plans to start attending a twice monthly poetry slam series in Tampa. The challenge is that it happens on Thursday evenings, and Paratransit, the wheelchair accessible van service that is run through the local bus system, only operates until 6pm. For now, she is focusing on ways to connect with other artists online. New connections may also come through her involvement with Ms. Wheelchair USA—Latoya is applying to represent Florida in the pageant.

Besides her aspirations as an artist and activist, Latoya is pretty much a techie. A few years ago, she was featured in a PBS documentary called Freedom Machines. In the film, she demos programmable keyboards for computer users with limited mobility. The documentary is used as an educational tool for teachers.

Trying out the software and hardware spotlighted in the film and giving input on their functionality was a very gratifying experience for Latoya. “I want to continue to beta test new assistive technologies and help get them to the right markets,” she said.

While it frustrated me to learn that Latoya met with some of the same barriers in her mainstream education that I had, we both hope the situation in Florida has improved—for students with all types of disabilities.  Now, Latoya takes a weekly class called “Living Well with a Disability” at the Self-Reliance Center for Independent Living. The peer counseling class is empowering her in the face of her many bureaucratic struggles and she has big dreams for her future.

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