In her campus lecture on “Breaking Taboos & Barriers Regarding People with Disability – What you wanted to know but were afraid to ask,” Dr Eleftheria Bernidaki-Aldous sought to dispel myths about people with a disability and to allow students, faculty and other guests to ask things – even things they thought were taboo – about people with disability.
On the occasion of both the International and National Day of People with Disability December 3, Former Greek MP Dr Eleftheria Bernidaki-Aldous, a professor of Classics at DEREE, spoke at DEREE’s John S. Bailey Library, Upper Level, to a packed house about her life as a blind person (at three, she had an accident that made her blind), her early days as a student on full scholarship at PIERCE-ACG, her further studies in the US, as well as her fruitful career to date.
Dr Bernidaki-Aldous also outlined her efforts to abolish the discrimination that people with disabilities face – both as a lawmaker and as a citizen. She was one of those who helped write the Americans with Disability Act, which took effect in 1992 and has served as the precursor for UN and EU legislation concerning policies for people with a disability. She is also renowned for her work concerning issues of disability in her former role as Chairwoman of the Committee on Disability in the Hellenic Parliament, where she served as a statewide MP 2004-2007 (for the New Democracy party). She now serves as a Senior Advisor of Diversity & Equal Opportunity for the American College of Greece, where she also teaches Classics (DEREE).
Claudia Carydis, ACG’s Vice President for Public Affairs, introduced Dr Bernidaki- Aldous, calling her an “inspiration for her love of life, endless energy, and her unique ability to overcome difficulties – an inspiration to all of us.”
For more information on the life and work of Dr Eleftheria Bernidaki-Aldous, please visit: http://www.bernidaki.eu/
On the occasion of her lecture at DEREE, Dr Bernidaki-Aldous was interviewed on Athens International Radio 104.4FM.