Inspiration. Lately, it seems like it’s become a four-letter word in the disability community. Phrases like “inspiration porn” get tossed around regularly and the definition seems to be constantly changing, depending on who you ask. But what is inspiration porn, really? Is it possible to have inspirational portrayals of disability that are positive? The term…
If you are a person with a disability or a personal care attendant, direct support worker, or other caregiver, you may have heard about the looming menace of electronic visit verification. Due to lobbying from medical technology companies, notably Sandata Technologies, the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 added a requirement that Medicaid funded personal care attendant…
There’s a bill currently pending in Congress, H.R. 620, the ADA Education and Reform Act, which is becoming of increasing concern to the disability community. Bills like this have been floating around for a while, but there’s a chance this one could pass, and if it does, it would substantially gut the Americans With Disabilities…
Hi everyone, it’s the Fourth of July. Independence Day. And that’s what I want to talk about… Independence. In case you don’t know me, my name is Karin Willison and I recently turned 40 (shh, don’t tell anybody). I live in Indiana after spending many years in California. You may have noticed I…
Dear Kellyanne Conway, I was dismayed to learn of your recent comments stating that people who receive Medicaid and would lose it under the Republicans’ proposed health care plan can just “get a job” that provides health insurance. Your words are misleading and inaccurate. You see, I and millions of others who would lose healthcare…
Note: This article contains discussion of medical abuse, murder and spoilers for “Gypsy’s Revenge” and “Mommy Dead and Dearest.” The story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard unfolds like a lurid true crime tale you see in tabloids. Girl meets boy online. Girl and boy form a toxic relationship filled with salacious sex and bad cosplay….
I recently watched a video by filmmaker and self-styled inspirational speaker Joey Papa offering “advice” on how to connect with someone with a disability or whose loved one has a disability. It was among the most offensive, ableist videos about disability I’ve ever seen, even though — or perhaps because — it was apparently made…
On Tuesday, April 25, two class action lawsuits were filed against New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), accusing it of systematically excluding people with disabilities due to a lack of accessible subway stations. Only 112 out of 472 stations — less than 25 percent — have elevators, making it the least accessible subway system…
Along with the rest of the world, I watched the recent video of a doctor being dragged from a United Airlines flight with horror. Horror, but not surprise. While the physical violence in this incident was egregious and unusual, similar incidents occur regularly at airports and on flights around the country. They happen to people…
an open letter to the Republicans in Congress Dear Republican Party, My name is Karin, and I’m just an ordinary citizen from Mike Pence’s home state of Indiana. But I’m writing to you today regarding the American Health Care Act, because my job, my home, my very life depends on you voting against this…
