family-advocacy
Hi y’all! I’m Shannon Dingle. My family lives near the heart of Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina. I’ve spent my entire life in the southern U.S., including Florida and Texas. I’m a single widowed mom of six: Jocie, Patience, Philip, Rob, Joy, and
family-advocacy
There was a time while I was caring for Adonise as an infant in the NICU when people tried to apologize for things they did not understand about my son. The unknown and the undescribed. He spent 361 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where he received a
news
Hi! I’m Jenny McLelland and I’m the Director of Policy for Home and Community-Based Services for Little Lobbyists. My family lives in Clovis, a small city in the agricultural Central Valley of California. My husband is a physical education teacher, and I’m a retired police officer. We
medicaid
On August 26, 2024, the Care Can’t Wait bus tour kicked off its first event in Chicago, Illinois. "Care on Tour" would wend its way through nine cities in seven states. It was part of an ongoing national campaign by the Care Coalition that highlights the importance
A few weeks ago, I sat in a room in the White House, surrounded by disabled advocates, and listened to a man named Mychal Threets speak about library joy. He was a panelist at the event, the White House Disability Pride Convening I’d seen Mychal on TikTok before as
family-advocacy
My son Adonise is a second-generation Haitian-American who has a teacher and a technology professional for parents. Adonise is curious, rambunctious, funny, and intelligent. He’s a budding drummer, and he loves the playground and to wave the Haitian flag every morning. We call him Donnie, but I call him
family-advocacy
This spring, PBS aired Understanding Autism, a documentary by filmmaker Scott Steindorff, who was diagnosed with autism as an adult. Steindorff wants to reframe the conversation about autism by focusing on the incredible talents and personalities of autistic people. The film is a rewarding and refreshing look at neurodiversity. Little
family-advocacy
In July, the Care Can’t Wait Coalition sponsored several events on community integration in Washington, DC, including a panel at the White House, a Congressional briefing, and a Summit at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. Community integration is at the heart of disability rights, and is supported
medicaid
Did you know that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not ensure civil rights for people with disabilities? The Act “outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.” The Civil Rights Act does not outlaw discrimination based on disability. So how then are people with disabilities
101-series
Today, June 22, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark case, Olmstead vs. L.C., which affirms the right of disabled people to use their state Medicaid benefits to live in their communities, rather than in institutions. The suit was brought by Lois Curtis
101-series
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision, a landmark civil rights case for people with disabilities, marks its 25th anniversary this year! In 1999, the Court upheld the right to community integration in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Our disabled loved ones have the right to
federal-issues
“By removing barriers to health care and social services, this rule advances justice for people with disabilities who have for too long been subject to discrimination. No diagnosis should be missed because of an inaccessible mammogram, no patient should be left with questions about test results due to inaccessible websites,