The Voiceless Minority

  The emphasis on science and technology is more critical than ever before. The earlier children are exposed to science and technology, the more likely they are to develop a love for it later in life. However, in my experience, if you are a student with a disability, there is a lot less emphasis placed on these subjects. Late last year, the state of Pennsylvania joined an ongoing effort to bring students with and without disabilities together in a new way. Thanks to Andrew Fee, the vice president of strategic partnerships for Pennsylvania Special Olympics, students in Western PA not only got the chance to build cool robots but also worked together to create a robot with a student with a disability. According to an article published last September by Disability Scoop, which I will link at the bottom of this post, several counties in western Pennsylvania participated in a robotics program developed by Unified Robotics. The program partnered students in science and technology clas...

America is supposedly the land of opportunity. We toute ourselves as being the greatest country in the modern world, and for the most part, I am a proud American, and I tend to agree with this statement; however, did you know that even though we are just beginning 2025, it is still legal to pay people with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Let me say that again: it is still legal in the greatest country in the world to pay a group of our citizens less than $7.25 an hour. How is this possible? The rest of this article attempts to answer that question and shed light on the problem of "sub-minimum wage." People with disabilities have been a part of American society from the beginning. However, in this author's opinion, we only began to be seen as human in the late twentieth century. In 1938, there was a provision written into the Fair Labor Standards Act that allowed employers who employed people with disabilities to pay them, and I'm not ...

This post comes with a note to readers. This may or may not make complete sense. This post comes from a perspective of being stuck in my head. As much as I use this blog to teach and inform, this time, I am using it as a therapy tool as well. When I ask you, the readers, a question, please know that I am questioning you and my own subconscious. Now that I have said all of that, here we go. Initially, I was going to write a post about a movie I recently saw called “Conclave.” On the surface, the film has nothing to do with disability or disability-related issues. Still, if one looks deeper, one can see that the movie is about both self-acceptance and being accepted by others. I will not go into the movie's plot because, like I said, this is not a film review. I only reference it because it got me thinking. For eleven years now, I’ve been an outspoken voice for The Voiceless Minority, of which I am a member. However, I wonder if I have been an adequate advocate for people with disabi...

  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 st...

 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 atten...

They say things happen for a reason. They also say for those of us who are religious that God has a way of providing exactly what you need when you need it, even if you don’t know you need it. I am living proof that this statement is true. In the following piece, you will learn that one event, no matter how small or big, has the power to change you if you allow God to implement his plan in your life. For those of my readers who don't know, I am beginning the second year of my fellowship with an organization known as Florida Self-Advocates Network’D (FLORIDA SAND). They are a nonprofit, organization made up of 15 self-advocacy groups throughout the state. The organization aims to amplify the voices of individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) on a local, state, and federal level.  According to their website, their mission is… FL SAND is an independent 501(c)(3) organization formed to expand the self-advocacy movement in Florida. It works through the support ...