So, I was talking to a couple friends tonight and I realized
that I missed another episode of Speechless. For those who don’t know, Speechless is a show about a young boy named JJ with Cerebral Palsy. JJ cannot speak and
has a wonderful mom as a disability advocate. The cool thing about this show is
that as a few shows in the past, they actually use an individual with a
disability to play the disabled character. I wrote a blog early on in the
history of this blog that was relevant to tonight’s episode. Tonight’s episode
dealt with the idea of “inspiration porn”. I will not go into detail about the
episode as I have not watched it fully yet. Towards the end of this blog, I will
link the above-mentioned post. Why am I writing about it now? I am writing
because it is amazing that a major network like ABC is finally paying attention
to disability issues and portraying them fairly. Perhaps if this show gets
picked up for more seasons the perception of people with disabilities in
society may change in time. It is up to the mainstream media, people with
disabilities and their allies to help shape societies view of a minority long
silenced. When I contemplated writing this blog today, Speechless had nothing to
do with the topic but I realize now that it is a key part of why I need to
write the following: I am a Republican with a disability. Most people outside of
the disability community would ask, "Why to attach something political to a
disability?" Politics is a hard topic for people to swallow and so is a disability. Why combine such controversial topics? The answer is quite simple.
It is time that people with disabilities take more of a political stance and
fight for more of what they want, need, and desire. Anybody who read yesterday’s
post knows that I went to the Florida SAND conference last weekend. There was a
small political presence at this conference. But the number of attendees at the
conference was small in comparison to the number of people with disabilities
that need to be heard. I am writing today to not only complain but suggest a
solution. I am currently working on a radio show about disability advocacy. The
individual who gave me this opportunity put another idea in my head as well. To
have a political voice one needs to have voting power. Individual voices can
make noise but if a large portion of a population shouts the same message it is
more apt to be heard. In the recent election, this could be seen through Bernie
Sanders and Donald Trump neither candidate fit the typical mold and they didn’t do
things quietly. It is the time that people with disabilities make their voice
heard. I live in Florida and I am suggesting to any Floridian who is an advocate
orally that it is time to build a disability caucus in Florida. Below are the names of
all 27 Florida Congressmen and women, I am urging you to read the post I recently put up
entitled An Open letter to President-Elect Trump. In it, I discussed some
important legislation that is currently up for debate in the house. Read the
article and go and read the legislation known as the “Time Act” and contact these
congressmen and let them know that, to steal from your Florida SAND anthem “Our Voice Matters.”
Debbie Wasserman
Charlie Crist
Stephanie Murphy
Brian Mast
Llena Ros-Lehtinen
Carlos Curbelo
Mario Diaz-Balart
Ted Yoho
Val Demings
Frederica Wilson
Ron Desantis
Alcee Hastings
Kathy Castor
Ted Deutch
Darren Soto
Gus Bilirakis
Vern Buchanan
Francis Rooney
Bill Posey
Lois Frankel
Dennis A. Ross
John Rutherford
Matt Gaetz
Tom Rooney
Neal Dunn
Al Lawson
Daniel Webster
