Untitled
This is not directed at anyone in particular. It is about several people I’ve met throughout my life. I sometimes need to remind myself that being me means following my own agenda and not pleasing the ones who will not be part of my story.
Ollibean Spotlight: Renee Salas
" Talk to people with disabilities. As many as you can: Adults, adolescents, kids. These people are the real experts on disabilities. These are the people that can tell you what life with a disability is like." Renee Salas
Amy Sequenzia: “Just Me”
Amy Sequenzia writes about rejecting society's many labels. Perceptions such as “super spectacular” autistic and “low-functioning” are equally harmful .
I Am Disabled and I Am Proud
"Polite society often tells us that we need to take the 'dis' out of disability, but maybe... just maybe, we should spend some time putting it back in. Take the "dis" out of disability and you remove the core of what has shaped my life. Disability puts the "D" in diversity, but in order to make that a real difference we've got to own that spot. It took me 35 years to respect and honor that truth. Others shouldn't have to wait that long..." Lawrence Carter-Long
When Autistics Grade Other Autistics
“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree…”We know how functioning labels are not helpful, despite being largely used by neurotypicals. But some autistics also grade members of our community and I want to understand why.
Happiness is Fireflies
This very sweet video, 'Fireflies' by The Jubilee Project is about two kids that connect in a beautiful way.
A Poem About Pain
Other people have written better articulated articles about the same things I write in this poem. It is hard for me to elaborate beyond the words in the poem. It could have easily been me in some cases, it can happen to any of us.
Inclusive Educational Practices for Students with Special Needs
Studies have shown when kids with disabilities are educated in inclusive settings, the classrooms are better for all of the students.
Amy Sequenzia: Does it matter?
Should it matter that some of us are labeled intellectually disabled? Read the definitions, look at us in a realistic way and ask yourself; Does it matter? Aren’t we all worthy?
Amy Sequenzia:Dear Mainstream Media
I am an autistic woman, non-speaking and I have many needs.Yes, dear mainstream media, I am the autistic supposedly too “low-functioning” to deserve to be heard. You pity me and you ignore the facts.
Walk In My Shoes
I want you to walk in my shoes
Not because I want you to feel what it means
To be disabled
But because I want you to understand
How it feels to be excluded
I would like to see you
The Presumption of Competence
Presumption of competence is more than an abstract idea. It has real and concrete effects. Here is one: it is better than a makeover.
Colin Giving Voice
Colin from Newcastle, "Giving Voice" for RCSLT National Campaign
Creators of Halo & Star Wars Renew Student’s Dream after Charter School Rejection
Self-advocate Tres Whitlock on how the NPR story, "Florida Charter Schools Failing Disabled Students" has impacted him.
We Are Not In Our Own World
We need to be careful about how we think about and talk about people with disabilities. One example is the reference that those who are autistic or deaf or blind or have some sort of movement differences are “in their own world.”
