Think Tank2024-05-03T16:50:59+00:00

Change Leaders in the Disability Community

working  to ensure access and equality for every human.

We all have the power to create change and make the world a better place.

Here’s to the Change Leaders- folks out there blazing a trail for the rest of us. They’re the Einsteins, the Ed Roberts, the Justin Darts, the Martin Luther Kings, and Helen Kellers of our generation. You’ve probably heard of most of them, and if you haven’t, you will.

Each of us has the power to create real change and make the world a better place, we just have to roll up our sleeves and do it. Our hope is that getting a glimpse into the lives of people out there making a difference will inspire you to do the same.

If you’re motivated by something these Change Leaders in the disability community have done – go do something. Anything. A big act or a small act, but do something. Let us know what you’re up to and we’ll shout from the rooftops.

  • Image description: Photograph of screenshot of C-SPAN a light skinned man with black hair. He is wearing glasses and a dark grey suit, light shirt and maroon tie. Ari Ne'eman Autistic Self Advocacy Network

The Importance of Supports

"If we invested a mere one-tenth of the amount of money that we currently pour into causation into empowering Autistic people to communicate, that young man and hundreds of thousands more like him would be able to communicate their needs to us today. I am not here today to speak for every Autistic person – that’s impossible. What I am here for is to argue for every Autistic person to have the same opportunity to communicate that I have come to enjoy thanks to the support that I have been lucky enough to receive in my life." Ari Ne'eman

Judith Snow ~ Relationships & Inclusion

"The research shows that when a child who is not academically gifted is included in a regular school, not only do the academics improve across the school, and I did say that, I didn’t say “in the classroom”, I said “across the school”, not only do the academics improve, but drug use and violence goes down."

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

Ollibean: All of a kind

The faces of Ollibean are kids with and without disabilities all trying to make the world a better place.

Sebastien’s Smile

Sebastien's Smile was created for the sole purpose of raising awareness for Mitochondrial diseases which affect the Setin's son Sebastien.

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.”

I Am

How do you talk to someone who uses AAC?

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