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.
Intersection of Law, Education and Civil Rights
As a deaf-blind student with very limited sight and hearing, Haben Girma '13 learned that you must be a self-advocate and come up with creative solutions to the problems you face. If that fails, she says, then the law can be a strong ally.
Senator Harkin Delivers Speech in ASL Upon ADA Passage in 1990
Upon passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 13th, 1990, Senator Tom Harkin delivered a speech on the Senate floor in American Sign Language. Harkin, whose brother Frank was deaf, was the lead Senate author of the ADA, which was enacted later that year. His speech is the first in American Sign Language to be delivered from the Senate floor.
Wanting More and Finding Disability Justice
White House Champion of Change recipient Mia
Disability Activist Keith Jones on Community
"So let us remember that when we teach, when we educate, we make policy, we make decisions that we do it with a conscience and that we remember that we are leaving fingerprints on forever." Keith Jones
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
Amy Sequenzia: Respect How I Choose to Speak
I type my words because I am non-speaking. One of
Happiness is Fireflies
This very sweet video, 'Fireflies' by The Jubilee Project is about two kids that connect in a beautiful way.
My iPad Is Not a Toy
Please never refer to my iPad as a toy. It is not. It is my voice. Imagine if you could not speak with your mouth how important your iPad voice would be.
Autistic Student’s Top 10 List for Teachers of Students with Special Needs #2
Top ten things Autistic student wants teachers, therapists and friends to know about students with special needs... they may be shocking to some of you, but hopefully to most they are exactly what you expect. Here's number 2.
My Civil Rights
Inclusion, Martin Luther King, Jr, The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and education.
You are not wrong.
Know you are not a burden or trouble for being. You are a person who has every right to be. A family that is saying love but saying you are so hard so wrong for not being as they wanted. The family is wrong. Not You. A school segregating is wrong. Not You.There are many if the disability community that are here for you.
