Wiley’s Walk
Join the journey. Walk the path.
Writing by Kerry Ann Wiley about disability, adaptation, participation, and the difference between access and inclusion.
New on Wiley’s Walk
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The Hidden Costs of Belonging
Last week, the “Disability Squeeze Symposium” took place in New York City. This event brought together advocates, scholars, policymakers, and individuals with lived experience to examine the complex challenges underpinning the Disability Squeeze. The term “Disability Squeeze” describes describes the increasing economic…
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Guardrails in Question: Disability Protections Under Strain
I recently read an article in The New Yorker that has stayed with me. It told the story of Sara Fernandez, a lawyer and federal employee with dwarfism who built her career in the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights…
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Protecting Programs that Support Inclusion and Participation
As Congress works to finalize a budget to keep the federal government open, the future of programs that support people with disabilities and their families is once again under discussion. Earlier this year, proposals surfaced to eliminate or reshape funding for several…
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Where the Sound Doesn’t Settle
Distance begins with omissions:a question unanswered,a word withheld,a silence recorded but unacknowledged. Alone, they appear intact.Together, they fracture. Where the Sound Doesn’t Settle(a poem) By: Kerry Ann Wiley An opening without promise—forever ajar, forever closed. Inside, warmth ripples;voices flare and scatter,shards of…
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A Single Shot Should Never Speak
There are times when the world feels unsteady, when one act of violence reminds us how fragile both freedom and dialogue truly are. Speech is never perfect. It can be messy, uncomfortable, and even painful. Yet, it is the exchange that allows…
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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…