The Right to Communicate| We are the (new) Experts

photo credit: HikingArtist.com The Right to Communicate| We are the (new) Experts In the early 90s, Rosemary Crossley, Annie McDonald, Doug Biklen and others shocked the world with new ideas about people with the labels of severe disabilities and autism being able to...

Dream Plan for Aaron: 1981 (Part 1)

Build a dream and the dream will build you. R. Schuller. What is Normalization? In 1981 when Aaron was 6 years old, my friend Debbie Wetzel and I drove to Louisville, KY to hear Wolf Wolfensberger give a presentation on “Normalization” or “Social...

Happy Birthday ADA| 22 Years of Progress

< Happy Birthday ADA Representative Tony Coelho shares the reasons he introduced The Americans With Disabilities Act in Congress in the late 80s. Tony Coelho also is a strong supporter of Partners in Policymaking. Tony Coelho had epilepsy and used his life...

“Telling Your Story”| Free App for Advocates

The Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities (MN DD Council) does remarkable work. On this blog, I often reference the Parallels in Time (history of people with disabilities) and their Partners in Policymaking Program. This week MNDDC announced a new...

The Disability Shuffle: Dancing on a wall | Part 10

photo credit: Mini D The Disability Shuffle: Two steps forward, one step back. OR, One step forward, two steps back…. The frantic drumming of time passing pounds in your ears as you shuffle and twist and beg others to listen and join in your dance of survival....