The Voiceless Minority

What does it mean to experience intimacy? Are disabled people even capable of it? These are good questions, and hopefully this post will provide some answers.  There are several types of intimacy one can engage in during a relationship. However, intimacy is generally defined as “a feeling of close connection and deep understanding between two people” (Dictionary.com). For the purposes of this post, we will discuss the following areas of intimacy. Emotional, Physical, Sexual, Intellectual, Spiritual, Social. Seeing that I’m no expert in psychology, having taken only enough psychology classes to earn a minor in College, I will rely heavily on other resources for this piece.  The idea for this piece came about after reading an article in Rolling Inspiration magazine. It talked about how to maintain boundaries and intimacy after someone becomes disabled due to a spinal cord injury. The article, which I will link at the bottom of this piece, prompted me to think about my family’s ...

One aspect of traveling that has not always been disability-friendly is flying. In an article I wrote for this blog earlier this year, I highlighted a prototype of a wheelchair accessible seat on a plane. That post discussed what the future may hold for travel. Today's post will discuss how I envision us reaching our goal and the steps we can take to accelerate our progress. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to travel, but planes are not usually accessible to me. People with disabilities often struggle to navigate the aisle, as I noted in my previous article. We have been permanently grounded up until this point in history. However, one airline may be forced to help us spread our proverbial wings. Late last year, an article written by Michelle Diament for Disability Scoop shed light on the U.S. Department of Transportation finally stepping up and holding airlines accountable for their treatment of people with disabilities. The article, which I will link to at the bottom of this...

                                      Many years ago, I wrote a blog post entitled “Terminology Debate,” which explored the impact of language on society. Well, as they say, evergreen material constantly circles back around. The time has come to revisit the topic of language. We all know President Trump does not pull punches and is not the most sensitive or eloquent person. That being said, this blog has nothing to do with politics; instead, it addresses some insensitive remarks Trump made late last year. He used the “r-word” about former Vice President Kamala Harris. I am not only blaming President Trump for the resurgence of the “r-word; however, it cannot be denied that he has a large following and a great deal of influence. When political figures use such derogatory language, they make it seem acceptable. As an article written for Disability Scoop states, there has been an increase in the ...

  Happy, wonderful Wednesday, everyone. We hope you have enjoyed our recent articles. We would like to thank Samantha Lebron for her honest and raw piece from yesterday about her struggle with Hyperacusis. Your willingness to be so vulnerable is refreshing. We look forward to pieces from you in the near future. Today, we return to the frequent topic of politics. Late last week, the Trump administration removed a rule put in place by the Biden administration that would have ended the practice of paying some people with disabilities subminimum wages. Specifically, the rule would have put an end to sheltered workshops and C-14 certificates. What is a C-14 certificate? Essentially, it allows businesses that obtain one to pay people with disabilities significantly less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Indeed, sometimes workers in these establishments are paid between One to two dollars per hour. For several years now, there have been those in the disability community who...

It is the Fourth of July, the weather is nice with no rain in sight, and the sun has set a few hours prior. You are with friends and family at a local outdoor location to enjoy some fireworks. Before you know it, the sky is lit up with beautiful colors. Then you glance to the side and notice a young child sitting on the ground with their hands covering their ears. You do not think much of it. You figure the fireworks are too loud for them to handle, but what if this were a full-grown adult? Would you think differently? In the above scenario, I would be the full-grown adult covering my ears because I have a hearing disorder called hyperacusis. Hyperacusis is a rare hearing disorder that makes everyday sounds seem unbearably loud, painful, or frightening. The brain perceives sounds as loud regardless of their frequency, whether low or high. For as long as I can remember, sounds have always dictated how I go about my day. I was not diagnosed with hyperacusis until I was 25.  Before my...

Another week is beginning here at The Voiceless Minority. We hope you had a restful, enjoyable weekend. Now it’s back to the advocacy grindstone. Near the end of last week, we focused on several topics, including AI chatbots and their potential to assist people with autism. We also focused on an initiative put together by Wells Fargo Bank to change the way corporate America thinks about disability. Today, our focus is on something a little different. Last October, Disability Scoop shared an article that was first published in the Portland Press Herald. The article explored the notion that individuals under guardianship frequently lack access to legal counsel. The article defined guardianship for a person with a disability as the legal process that gives someone authority to make decisions for another person, often someone who has an intellectual or developmental disability. In most cases, it’s a parent seeking guardianship of a child once they reach adulthood, but there are many instan...

 Did you know that for the 4th year, law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp announced that entries are being accepted for the Design the Change competition?   It’s true! The firm invites UK students to design a product that helps make the lives of people with spinal cord injuries easier. The winner will receive £5,000, and the runner-up will receive £2,500. Last year’s Design the Change competition winners included Tom Baker, who created a state-of-the-art wheelchair buggy to help parents with spinal cord injuries safely and efficiently transport their children.   I love that this is a competition. I genuinely appreciate the work that Bolt Burdon Kemp is doing to promote innovation and inclusivity. By encouraging young minds to think creatively about solutions for those with spinal cord injuries, they’re making a real difference in people’s lives and showing how important accessibility is in design. This type of initiative raises awareness and inspires a future generation of e...

Your friendly neighborhood super advocate is back with this week’s Spectacular Saturday post. I must begin by thanking you for your overwhelming support for Thursday’s 100th post. Your continued support gives me the motivation, and the ability to advocate even when I am not feeling up to it. I can’t thank you enough for that support. I come to you today with a call to action. The Voiceless Minority is growing. Soon we will no longer be voiceless. Our Facebook page has exploded ever since I started posting five days per week. The amount of views amazes me every day. I am inspired by the overwhelming number of comments for my recent post. Even though I respond to as many comments as possible, some of them are anonymous and not signed by their author. Let’s keep the conversation going and use the power of The Voiceless Minority to further strengthen the voice of the voiceless. There are several ways to keep the conversation going. Firstly, if you see that I have replied to a comment you m...

Hello again, yes it’s me your friendly neighborhood super advocate. A warm welcome to all of my new readers who are checking out the blog for the first time. I want to welcome you to a friendly, engaging, informative, and sometimes funny look at anything and everything that has to do with disabilities and the disability community. To all my returning readers, welcome back. No matter which group you fall into, you’ve stumbled upon the Voiceless Minority on a very special day. Yes, it has finally happened after a decade of writing this blog - today marks the 100th post for the Voiceless Minority. I could not have done it without you. I started this blog as an outlet for my anger and the hurt I was feeling after being denied the opportunity to follow what I truly believed at the time was my passion. When I started this blog, I thought I wanted to be a high school history teacher and teach theater after school. I apparently didn’t know myself as well as I thought. They say that “things hap...

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed what you read on the Voiceless Minority last week. I know in Friday’s post I said that the next blog would be about the topic of when the right time to teach your children about a disability is, however, there’s something that came up over the weekend that has made me decide to move that blog until later into the week. I mentioned a little about how my faith journey was rekindled in Thursday’s post but as God often does He puts us right where we need to be and to hear the exact word we need to when we need it. On Sunday I was watching church online with Sam. The church is called The Crossing and is located in Tampa. I wish I could go to services in person but the online service will have to do for now. As I have mentioned several times before I was raised Catholic and for the longest time I considered myself a recovering Catholic, not because I did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, (I never stopped believing...

Hello again everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed yesterday’s blog on adaptive cooking and cookware. As my fellowship is coming to the end of the contract for my first year tomorrow, I felt it would be appropriate to give a nod to not only Florida SAND but my colleagues and the staff who trained us throughout this past year to thank them for helping my passion for advocacy grow.  I came into this fellowship at a weird time in my life. Before the fellowship, I had worked for Florida SAND as a per diem writer for their blog FSA Central. While this work kept the flame for disability advocacy alive and on life support, when I was presented with the opportunity to be a fellow, I immediately jumped at it. Thank you to Kelli Munn for the opportunity.  I would not be where I am today without your faith in me. However, my fellowship wasn’t as smooth of a journey as I had hoped.  About a month into the fellowship, I began to take it for granted. I had an ego bigger than the state of Fl...