Judge Patricia A. Broderick of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia charmed a packed ballroom with her sense of adventure and humor while speaking about her new book, “Reinventing the Wheel: Hard Roads Can Lead to Beautiful Places.” Thursday. In her book, Broderick describes the many adventures she has had in a wheelchair following injuries from a car accident.
Former Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, one of the architects of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, joined Broderick.
Not one to let obstacles stand in her way, Broderick has enjoyed a full career as a judge and has traveled to 66 countries. She is also an enthusiastic skier. “It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on,” she quipped with regard to skiing. “It’s terrific. It’s thrilling.” Adding that it has not been an easy process, she persists. “I call myself the queen of the crash and burn. I’ve crashed and fallen all the time. Still do. There was a lot to learn and I’m still learning.”
Asked why she wanted to be a judge, she recalled her early career as a probation and parole officer in Virginia and the influence of a judge who mentored her. She views her disability as an opportunity to make meaningful connections with people in the courtroom.
“I don’t think it’s impacted my work at all. I think when people see the wheelchair come in, they’re really surprised and they don’t know what to expect,” she said. “I think it opens them up. I think you can do a lot with that surprise.”
Harkin said he became an advocate for Americans with disabilities, motivated by the examples of his brother, who is deaf, and his nephew, a paraplegic. “People with disabilities are told, ‘There’s a place for you, but it’s not here,” he recalled, saying he wished to change this.
Broderick noted that the ADA was a major milestone not merely in terms of improving physical accessibility but the attitudes that members of the public have towards those with disabilities. “It affects almost every aspect of my life. It’s still difficult but people realize they have to accommodate,” she said, adding that in the past venues lacked empathy when confronted with lack of wheelchair access, but that now people strive to be more helpful.
It is not always the case when traveling to foreign countries, she said. “Some of them were challenges because of what they put in the way,” she said, describing how she needed a doctor's note to leave an airport in Germany. “I think the Scandinavian countries are the best. Australia was also pretty easy.”
Harkin said that he still wishes for more to be done here in America. “I was successful in getting a provision in the ADA that mandated all buildings be accessible, but not housing,” he said, suggesting more efforts were needed in this regard.
Asked what she would wish for if all things were possible in terms of accessibility, Broderick explained her frustrations with air travel. “To get on an airplane without being strapped onto a chair and carried past people,” she said. “Because you’re an inconvenience, you’re the last one off. It seems to me that if we can put a man on the moon we can fix some of these things.”
Harkin cited Broderick as an example of someone who regularly proves people’s prejudices wrong. “The biggest barriers that people with disabilities face are not physical barriers but attitudinal problems,” he said. “She’s been to 66 countries! She’s kept pushing the boundaries.”
