The Voiceless Minority

D Above is a picture of a brown pen poised over a blank piece of paper, held by a hand.  Dear Mr. Zuckerberg, and other executives at Meta Platforms, Inc. My name is Jason Hahr. I am a 38-year-old disabled male who lives in Ocala, Florida. I have been active on Facebook since the early 2000s, yes, I am old. I’m writing to you today because, while I enjoy Facebook, there is one aspect of the platform that I think needs to be updated—and I’m not talking about the technology. Your platform is very intuitive and easy to use, even for someone as physically limited as me.  I have Cerebral Palsy, and I use a power wheelchair along with other assistive devices to function daily. Because of the nature of my disability, I use personal care services to perform everyday tasks that others can do for themselves, such as toileting, showering, eating, and running errands, to name a few. Because I require personal care assistance, I am not legally allowed to get married to my girlfriend, who a...

  Above is a woman with medium-length brown hair, glasses, pale skin, and a green shirt. The background of the photo is black. Today, I am writing to you from my living room with some exciting news to share. On April 6, 2025, I am scheduled to present at the inaugural US Autism Show in Oahu, Hawaii. The conference is hosted by Spire Autism & Da Vinci NCR Services LLC . The event aims to celebrate and support the Autism community in the USA, with its primary audience being the Autism community and clinicians. Neurodivergent Board Certified Behavior Analysts, like myself, will speak.   What inspired me to get involved in the event was recording an episode of Safe Space, the ABA Podcast with Daniel Zimmerman of Da Vinci NCR Services, LLC, about assent-based programming (to listen to the episode, click here ). Before recording, he told me about how they would host the US Autism Show in 2024; however, it was moved to April 2025 because they wanted to coincide the event with Au...

            Black and white image of a sign that reads sign 504 now. The "O" is made up of a wheelchair.  In “America in Danger of Going Backwards: If We Forget Our History, We Are Doomed to Repeat It” by Jason Hahr and Samantha Lebron, the authors discuss the lawsuit involving 17 states that attempt to overturn Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In today’s article, we will discuss what Section 504 is and why it’s crucial to maintain this legislation.   For those unaware, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. The core provision of Section 504 states: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall, solely because of their disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to di...

Image description: Above is a poster for Patrice, The Movie. It shows two people holding hands, a man in a wheelchair and a woman standing beside him. Patrice, The Movie is written in yellow above the picture.    Happy Tuesday, everyone. I hope your week started on a good note. Today’s article will be brief. The last several posts have dealt with the topic of disability and marriage. Apparently, our advocacy is getting some attention throughout the nation. On January 13, 2025, Congressman David Valadao of California and Congresswoman Susie Lee of Nevada reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would eliminate the “marriage penalty” for people with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income. I will link an article that outlines the proposed legislation at the bottom of this blog. The bill was initially introduced in January of last year. However, it has been reintroduced because of shows like Love on the Spectrum and Patrice: The Movie . The fascination with attention...

   I hope you are having a satisfying Saturday. Although we have made great strides, significant work remains to be done. Yesterday, I posted a blog about Patrice: The Movie . If you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, be sure to click the link at the bottom of this post. On the surface, one may think the movie is just about one disabled couple’s journey to get married, but it is about much more than that. While telling the story of Patrice and Gary, it also highlights the transportation crisis that disabled people face. For most people who have a disability, the inability to access affordable and reliable transportation is a barrier they have to overcome daily. I am lucky to have a support system that can provide me with my vehicle. While I do have to keep up with regular maintenance, I am very lucky because I didn’t have to buy it myself. I am eternally grateful to my parents for their generosity, but I also know what it is like to rely on the paratransit system becau...

Above is an image of a logo from a movie titled Patrice: The Movie. It is yellow and in large print.  Happy, fabulous Friday. Before I get into today’s post, I want to thank everyone for their support and amplification of my articles and the entire Voiceless Minority community recently. Your support and encouragement inspires me and all the other writers who have helped amplify the voice of the voiceless. Several years ago, I wrote a blog, which I will link at the end of this article. It is entitled I Can Write, But It Is Time for You to React. I am happy to report you have taken up that call to action in more ways than I could have imagined, and I am eternally grateful for your support. Okay, enough with inflating your head as you are reading this. Now, down to the fun stuff. Last September, Patrice: The Movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Shortly after, in October, it premiered on HULU. I will link an article written by Amy Kuperinsky for Disability Scoop that outlin...