Disability

Inclusive language starts with us — A special day This morning I attended my daughter’s immersion day at her new school in Hong Kong, where she will start primary in August. All parents joined with their little ones for this important life milestone. Then the little people followed the teachers holding hands while the parents gathered in the hall…

I’m Ben Bayliss, a Deaf man from Warwickshire, United Kingdom, now in Dundee, Scotland. Deaf since birth, I’ve worn hearing aids since the age of four. My sensorineural deafness means that my cochlear in each ear do not generate the needed electrical signals to get to my brain. As such…

The Deaf community exists subtly. They don’t look or act differently, but they do communicate with a completely different language than most hearing Americans are used to. American Sign Language (ASL) was developed in the 1800’s and has made many strides in allowing the Deaf to communicate. It is recognized…

How can bias and discrimination impact survivors with developmental disabilities (DD) within the LGBTQIA+ community? Survivors with DD within the LGBTQIA+ community often experience bias and discrimination which impacts their access to services. Too often, people do not understand or personally know individuals with disabilities or who are LGBTQIA+. Below…

Jordan Neely’s subway murder was stand your ground but without guns — My 23-year-old son has autism, an intellectual disability, OCD, and a seizure-like condition. This means sometimes he yells at people. He also can get “aggressive,” which includes poking, hitting, and biting. As a child, it was easier for him to navigate the world because autism is so prevalent, generally, people…

Through my headphones, the narrator’s words clashed with the voices of the students in the classroom. Even though I could see everyone from the back of the room, I felt isolated because I couldn’t read with them. Even being just a few feet away was like being trapped in a…

A completely uncompensated review. You will learn to type and you will like it. When I was nine, my mother insisted that I learn to type as part of my OT (occupational therapy). I was in a segregated special education program for elementary school because of a congenital disability, now known as epidermolytic ichthyosis. OT was part of the available…

A Comprehensive Guide for Self-Employed Individuals — Over the past year since becoming self-employed, I have learned a lot and experienced many firsts. One of those was researching and applying for the support I may be able to receive, which included using Access to Work. When applying for Access to Work as a self-employed individual, there are…

I have decided to see the new specialist endo surgeon. What have I got to lose? A few hundred quid for the possibility of help? I will take those odds. I emailed the surgeon’s PA to answer some of my questions and I found out that the surgeon does virtual…