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After the Glance
When someone notices my walking poles, what have they learned about me, and what story have they already begun to imagine? A visible disability can draw attention before a conversation begins. Someone may notice a walking device or wheelchair. A limb difference,…
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The Space Between Access and Participation
The Americans with Disabilities Act changed how access and inclusion are understood in the United States. Thirty-six years later, the question is no longer only whether people with disabilities are included. It is also whether they can use public systems, influence how…
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The Trouble With What Used to Work
Looking back can be useful because distance sometimes reveals the beginning of a change, the importance of a decision, or the meaning of an experience that seemed unclear at the time. What once seemed routine may look different in retrospect. The preparation…
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Beyond the Flag: Thinking About Disability Pride
Every July, the same question returns. It has surprisingly little to do with disability itself. Instead, it centers on a single word: pride. Disability Pride Month commemorates the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990, while advancing the…
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The Decisions No One Sees
Several weeks ago, I underwent ulnar nerve transposition surgery after the ulnar nerve in my left arm was compressed at my elbow. To relieve the pressure and prevent further damage, the surgeon moved the nerve from behind my elbow to a new…
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A Different Language
By Kerry A. Wiley The smallest changes are not always the smallest. It began with a simple revision. Only the office, only the letterhead, only the hallway where the paperwork sleeps. The child remains. Only the room that claims them begins to…
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Before the Doors Opened
Several years ago, I attended a community event. Like most people attending, I arrived shortly before it started. Conversations had already begun by the time I found a seat. Materials were laid out on tables near the entrance, and a schedule for…
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Another Way
Last year brought me to Italy. Sitting at cafés watching crowds of people pass by and wandering through villages and cities I had only read about, it was difficult not to think about the path that had brought me there. The streets…
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What the Education Department’s Latest Changes Mean for Students With Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education has announced changes that will shift some special education and civil rights responsibilities to other federal agencies. Federal officials say the legal protections available to students with disabilities will remain unchanged, but the agencies responsible for administering…
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Balance Interrupted
The hardest part of recovery was not pain. It was discovering how much independence depends on balance, and how much balance depends on two working hands. The disruption started in small places first. Getting dressed became complicated almost immediately. Pulling on a…