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President Trump’s Personal Attacks Are More Impactful Than He Knows

  This past September, an article was published in a disability magazine known as Disability Scoop. Michelle Diament wrote the article. It highlighted an incident where former President Trump equated having a mental disability to poor job performance. He did so when he attacked Kamala Harris and Joe Biden at back-to-back political rallies. I will attach the original article to the bottom of this piece. The rest of this piece will not discuss that particular incident but use it as a jumping-off point to analyze the former president and his behaviors as a whole. I am political, but I am nowhere near a politician. In my 38 years on this planet, I would like to think that I have seen quite a lot and know a little something about a lot of things and a lot about a few things. Unfortunately, having a disability in today’s world means you encounter a lot of misunderstanding, ignorance, and discrimination. A recent incident with former President Trump highlights an overall problem that still
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Thank You, Alice: How Year of the Tiger Reignites a T-Rex’s Passion

This post is from Jason's literary corner. It discusses a book I recently read about disability and what it means to have one. I hope you enjoy it.  Thank You, Alice: How Year of the Tiger Reignites a T-Rex's Passion   I recently finished the book “Year of the Tiger,” written by Alice Wong.  I thought I would be reading another disability memoir, but I was wrong. Alice’s book was not a memoir. It was what I like to call an anti-memoir. Her book made me rethink the direction that my advocacy is meant to take. The rest of this piece will highlight key concepts of the book that I believe will improve how I advocate for people with disabilities.  Finally, it will serve as my version of a thank you letter to Alice for her tremendous honesty and bluntness. Her book is divided into seven sections. Each section follows a theme and comprises several essays embodying that theme. For example, all the essays in Origins describe how Alice’s activism began. Two essays in this section resonat
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Michelle Zeman Joins the Team and Becomes Another Voice for The Voiceless Minority

Times are crazy here at The Voiceless Minority. Over the last month and a half, we have had overwhelming support from both the disabled and the able-bodied community, and today, we continue that momentum.   Today is the beginning of a new era here at The Voiceless Minority. Today, we welcome our newest voice for the voiceless, Michelle Zeman. Michelle is an Autistic Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) living in Winter Springs, FL. She discovered the value of self-advocacy and activism through her career in behavior analysis and her time in Partners in Policymaking (PIP). She's a 2023 PIP Graduate, a FL SAND Fellow, and an advisor to FL SAND's MAGICAL self-advocacy group serving greater Orlando. Michelle is passionate about policy change in behavioral health services and disability training for all community workers. Below is Michelle’s first contribution to the blog. The content has not been altered. It has only been edited for clarity purposes. Thank you for joining the te
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Sad Times in Ocala, Florida Reflect Overall Poor Treatment of The Disabled Community in America Today

 The movie-going experience has been part of American life for decades now. At the same time, being disabled has also been a part of the human experience since the beginning of time. This piece will address the idea that although we are thirty-four years into the ADA era, movie theaters in Ocala, Florida, demonstrate how little respect people with disabilities have earned in thirty-four years. Over the weekend, I was treating my friend/caregiver, who I will call Jane, on a trip to the movies for her 24 th birthday. She was nice enough to not only drive my van for only the 10 th time since she started working with me but also because my power wheelchair broke several weeks ago and there was a delay in the delivery process of my new chair; she was willing to push me around. The first of many problems we encountered that day occurred when we got to the front door. It was only then we noticed that even though disabled people do go to places by themselves without caregivers or attendant
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Breaking Down Barriers. Ignoring Stereotypes; How Ana Victoria Espino is Making History.

 When this blog began 11 years ago, it was fueled by anger and restriction, but it has since morphed into a platform for disability advocacy. I started the voiceless minority because I was denied the opportunity to even attempt to teach because of some people’s short-sightedness and preconceived notions of people with disabilities. Even though that was almost another lifetime ago, the article I read on Thursday has me wondering if I let society cut me out of my dream. They say things happen for a reason, and I am not looking to go backward and redo my life, but the accomplishments of Ana Victoria Espino, a young lady in Mexico with Down Syndrome, make me wonder if I am really doing all I can to advocate for myself and others with disabilities. I will provide a short summary of the article in this post, but I recommend you click the link at the bottom and read the article about this outstanding young woman for yourself. Ana was born with Down syndrome. Down syndrome is caused by an
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The Wonders of Technology and Accessibility

On Monday, we posted a blog highlighting - Wandercraft, a company with game-changing technology that will hopefully allow many people with disabilities to experience what it would be like to walk or stand on their feet. Since we received such an overwhelmingly positive response, I figured it would make sense to continue the discussion. “Bionic technology continues to evolve rapidly, offering new hope and improved quality of life for people with disabilities. Recent advancements have focused on enhancing sensory feedback, neural control, and the integration of artificial intelligence, making bionic devices more intuitive and functional than ever before.” The above quote is from Bionics for everyone’s official website. It is their mission to raise awareness of the latest bionic technologies for people who have become amputees or lost neurological function in one or more of their limbs. Today’s post will give a basic overview of Bionics and the possibilities that come with them. It wi
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Wandercraft Is Bringing The Wonder of Mobility To The Masses

I have been in a wheelchair for the majority of my life. I even had one of those cool moms who would decorate my wheelchair and turn it into a rolling Halloween costume. So, in short, I have never known life outside of a wheelchair. Okay, so I may have fibbed a little bit. I used to use a walker and do the gimp shuffle around my elementary school, but for the most part, I have always sat on my ass. While I like the view from my chair, and my feet never hurt, I have always wondered what it would be like to move my feet like everyone else. Well, now there is a company that may one day allow me to experience what walking like a “normal” person is like. A company based in the United Kingdom known as Wandercraft has just received its second U.S. patent for an Exoskeleton that is completely hands-free and allows the user to move with the assistance of a trained companion. When I first learned about Atalante X, I was mindlessly scrolling on Facebook after posting an update on The Voiceless Mi
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