Competitors are advocates for the disabled

As posted by:

By William J. Booher

Posted: June 21, 2008

 

 

Perry Township’s Katrina Gossett keeps on adding achievements.

Gossett, 23, ranked eighth academically when she graduated from Perry Meridian High School in 2002.

She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 2006 and was the top student in its film, television and theater school.

This fall, she’ll begin her third and final year at the University of Chicago Law School after working for the second consecutive summer as a researcher at Baker & Daniels law firm in Indianapolis.

And next month, Gossett, who was diagnosed as an infant with spinal muscular atrophy, a form of muscular dystrophy, will represent Indiana in the 36th annual Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant in Rockville, Md.

The national pageant will feature contestants from 25 states and the District of Columbia and will run July 21-26..

According to the organization’s Web site, the pageant was organized in 1972 as a opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of women who use wheelchairs and to provide a forum for them to advocate for the more than 52 million Americans with disabilities.

The winner will be the most accomplished and articulate spokeswoman.

Ms. Wheelchair America 2008 is Kristen McCosh of Massachusetts.

Gossett said she became interested in the pageant after reading about it in the Muscular Dystrophy Association magazine.

She was chosen for the competition by Samantha Smith, Ms. Wheelchair Indiana 2008, who is Indiana’s Ms. Wheelchair coordinator.

Gossett said the national titleholder will attend events across the country, including the annual Rose Bowl festivities in California.

Gossett, who said she would like to go into a career of employment law, said her aim would be to keep employers informed of provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide accommodation for and protect the disabled in the workplace.

She said if she were selected the new Ms. Wheelchair America, she would seek to end any type of discrimination against people with disabilities.

“The community at large needs to see people with disabilities participating in every aspect of life,” she said.

Gossett’s plans are to practice law in Indianapolis.

“I would work with clients across the country,” she said, “but have my home base here.”

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