Category: Uncategorized
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When Inclusion Must Be More Than a Word
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced adjustments to grants funded under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. More than 18 million dollars in federal funding had been supporting teacher training, parent resource centers, interpreter and Braille preparation programs, and…
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Section 503: A Law at a Crossroads
When the Rehabilitation Act was passed in 1973, it marked one of the first federal commitments to ending discrimination against people with disabilities. At the time, unemployment and underemployment rates among people with disabilities were shockingly high. The law’s Section 503 was…
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September Morning
I remember the morning of September 11th. The sky was clear, its blue suggesting an ordinary day, its calm offering the illusion of safety—even as the world was about to break. I was getting ready for another workday when the news broke,…
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Between Paths and Pages
Life is a rough draft—revised, erased, and rewritten amid the marks others leave behind. It is not a final draft but a living text, shaped each day by the course of experience. My name may be on the page, but the writing…
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Before And After
The paper on the exam table crackled sharply beneath me—too loud in a room where silence felt safest. I tried my best to stay completely still. My legs extended in front of me—straight and stiff, just as they always were. They did…
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A Vaction from the ‘isms’
Vacations are supposed to create distance. They offer space from work, from routines, and from the endless to-do lists that seem to govern the hours. Vacations suggest that rest is possible, that the body and mind can recover when placed in new…
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When The Signal Blinks Too Soon
A crosswalk chirps as a bus hisses to a stop. Somewhere, a sensor fails to trigger, and the door remains closed. A wheelchair user turns away while the light changes. A person with walking poles begins crossing but does not make it…
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Where Love Once Lived
Some things hold on longer than they should. They take in pressure, adjust to strain, and stretch to contain what was never meant to be there. They keep holding, reshaping themselves beyond recognition—until they can’t anymore. Then they break. The moment is…
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Learning to See in the Dark
“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”—Sarah Williams, The Old Astronomer to His Pupil (1868) A terminal hums with its ordinary mix of noise.…
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The Space Between Strangers
Curiosity can open doors, but it can also cross thresholds uninvited. It draws people together, closing the space between them. A question, a comment, or a glance that lands just right can bridge the gap between strangers and turn a silent moment…