Disability Deep Dive

Let's talk about Accessible Vote by Mail in the second episode of our new series, "Your Voice, Your Vote!"

In this episode, we talk with Doug Hall and Marsha Bukala, two Floridians with disabilities who have fought for and now utilize Accessible Vote by Mail. They discuss the history of accessible elections in Florida, how they advocated for accessible voting options, and what insights they have about casting a ballot as a voter with a disability.

Let's talk about disability voting laws in the first episode of our new series: "Your Voice, Your Vote"!

In today's episode, we talk with Michelle Bishop, the National Disability Rights Network's Voter Access and Engagement Manager. She has extensive academic and embodied knowledge about laws protecting disabled voters, voting accessibility, barriers set up against disabled voters, and where the current state of voting is for the disability community.

As we approach the 2022 Elections, we want to focus in on all things disability and voting. The disability community makes up a fourth of the population, making it a very powerful voting block! Even though this is a huge voting group, there are many structural and interpersonal barriers set up against them. These issues disincentive disabled voters from exercising their civil right to vote.

Despite these barriers, historically, the disability community has been incredibly resilient and fierce voting advocates. We talk with advocates who have made accessible voting possible in Florida, organizations that fight for the disability community and other marginalized communities’ access to vote, and folks who study the impact of the disability vote.

Please join us on September 22nd for our first episode, then each Thursday after that for five more great episodes.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we've seen huge repercussions for people's safety, health, access to medical care, and more. And we know that the overruling impacts people differently, depending on who you are. If you have marginalized identities, you experience more barriers to health care and, therefore, more barriers to accessing abortion and other reproductive-related health care.

To dive deep into how the overturning affects one marginalized community--the disability community--we invited four disabled activists on the You First podcast to discuss how this ruling affects them, the disability community as a whole, and other marginalized groups, especially in ways that you may not have ever considered. It's important to bring an intersectional lens to these conversations in order to fully grasp what the repercussions look like after a ruling like this. We talked with Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, Rebecca Cokley, Keith Jones, and Heather Watkins about what this ruling means to and for the disability community.

Please note that this conversation discusses heavy themes and references systems of oppression such as racism and ableism, infanticide, abortion, and forced sterilization. Listen or read the transcript at your pace and always feel free to pause and take time for breaks.

Links:

Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

• https://morenikego.com/
• https://twitter.com/morenikego

Keith Jones

• http://dasoultoucha.com/About/
• https://twitter.com/dasoultoucha

Heather Watkins

• https://slowwalkersseemore.com/
• https://twitter.com/hwatkins927

Rebecca Cokley

• https://rebecca-cokley.medium.com/
• https://twitter.com/rebeccacokley

Today on the podcast we have guest Neil Romano, a member and former chair of the National Council on Disabilities where he is serving his second three-year term. A former Communications Director at the White House, Neil was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy where he developed a series of outreach programs to help Americans and businesses understand the value of people with disabilities in the workplace. He also served as a member of the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, the United States Access Board and the Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled. We're thrilled to have Neil on today, and we will talk about employment for people with disabilities and the barriers, options, and hopes of employees with disabilities.

Before we get started, we want to review a few important terms relevant to this podcast:

• Sheltered workshop work centers: A segregated place where only people with disabilities work. People that work in sheltered workshops make less money than the minimum wage. (Source: Autistic Self Advocacy Network)
• FLSA 14c: FLSA stands for Fair Labor Standards Act. Section 14c of this law allows employers to pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage. (Source: The Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination)
• Supported employment: Support provided to individuals with disabilities before and during a job. Resources such as job coaching, accommodations, job training, and support keeping a job are all examples of supported employment. (Source: CIL workforce glossary)
• Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE): People with disabilities have the same right as people without disabilities to work at a job that pays them minimum wage or more, in a place that has people with and without disabilities working together and provides chances to get raises and promotions. (Source: Disability Rights California)
• Adult Day Training programs: Programs that provide adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities with activities that will support them in all parts of their lives. Example activities could include computer skills trainings, art classes, recreational activities, interpersonal skills, and more. (Source: The ARC of St. Johns)
• Transition planning: Transition planning is a process to help students with disabilities decide what they want to do after high school. The purpose is to help teens prepare to be independent young adults. (Source: Disability Rights Florida)

Links

• National Council on Disability website featuring Neil Romano's bio
• National Council on Disability website
• Employment Disability Topic on Disability Rights Florida website
• Videos on Competitive Integrated Employment
  • What is Competitive Integrated Employment? (English)
  • What is Competitive Integrated Employment? (English & ASL)
  • Qué es Empleo Integrado Competitivo? (Español)

We are excited to have Rua Mae Williams on the podcast to talk about accessible research. They are an academic researcher who studies how technology design, computing research practices, and Disability Justice interact.

They touch on a variety of concepts like: how to do accessible and inclusive outreach to communities of study, how we can offer other data collection options so people can fully and authentically participate, and how we can see the future of research in a different light.

Links:

• Rua Mae Williams' website

The fifth episode of our "Accessibility Outside the Box" series is about Video Gaming.

We chat with James Rath, a legally blind film director, accessibility advocate, and speaker. In his accessibility efforts, he provides video game and console accessibility reviews, acts as an accessibility consultant for video game companies, and drives the future of gaming in a positive direction.

In this episode, we talk all about accessible gaming, where accessible gaming was "back in the day" with the first consoles, where it is now, and the future of accessible gaming.

Links:

• Can I Play That?
• James Rath's YouTube Channel
• James Rath's website

The fourth episode of our "Accessibility Outside the Box" series is about Recreation.

Today we have two guests on the podcast to talk about various aspects of recreation, and how we can make recreation more accessible for all, including people with disabilities.

First, we talk with Ashley Richmond from Help Us Gather, or HUG for short, about their organization, beach accessibility, and how to make recreational events accessible.

Then we chat with Stacy Busch from No Divide KC, an arts and music organization in Kansas City that strives to make all of its events and performances accessible and inclusive, no matter who you are.

Links

• Help Us Gather: Accessible Beaches
• Help Us Gather: Mobility Mats
• We Include
• No Divide KC
• Stacy Busch

The third episode of our "Accessibility Outside the Box" series is about Fashion.

We've all struggled to find clothes that fit well, we feel good in, or are just right for the occasion we are going to. However, these are everyday struggles when you're an individual with a disability.

Our guest for this episode is Kathy D Woods. She is the first African American little person to create a clothing line designed by and for little people. She's leading the way in accessible fashion and pushing the fashion industry to be more inclusive.

Links:

• Kathy D Woods fashion line website

The second episode of our "Accessibility Outside the Box" series is about City Planning.

We interviewed Nora Libertun, a global leading expert on urban planning and design, sustainability, and social inclusion. Her work revolves around making everything in a city more accessible, including the layout, transportation, and recreation. She spoke about how cities need to be designed for everyone to utilize, especially people with disabilities.

Links:

• Nora's book, "Cities as Spaces for Opportunities for All: Building Public Spaces for People with Disabilities, Children and Elders"
• Nora's Blogs:
  • How to Plan Accessible Cities?
  • What does it mean to design an inclusive city?