An opinion piece about the banning of plastic straws in different businesses and municipalities published in the Washington Post earlier this month caught my attention. Written by disability advocate Karin Hitselberger, the piece was brilliant at describing what the word “access” means in a pretty short sentence: Access is about the quality of life, and being able to have the same experiences and opportunities as a nondisabled person, with some adaptations.”

Karin Hitselberger lost me, though, when she claimed the efforts of businesses and municipalities to help reduce ocean pollution by discouraging the use of plastic straws is an accessibility issue. “This isn’t about straws,” she wrote. “It’s about access”.

I’d say it’s about both.

You regular Easterseals blog readers know that I’m a huge fan of the word “reasonable” when it comes to reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, but in my view, the “reasonable” part applies to both parties. How about we work together on this one so everybody wins? It doesn’t seem unreasonable to ask people who need plastic straws to bring their own. I have Type 1 diabetes and need insulin to be able to eat, and I bring it along when I eat at restaurants. I am blind and can’t tell if the packets at a coffeeshop are sugar or artificial sweetener. I suppose I could demand that packets be Braiilled for those of us who can’t see, but so few of us read Braille that this would seem an unreasonable request. So I just bring my own packets to make sure I’m getting what I need. People who need straws to eat and drink and bring their own along when they eat out will not only ensure they have what they need, but also know their efforts can help the environment by cutting down the number of people using straws when they don’t absolutely need to.

In her article, Karin Hitselberger points out how complicated life with a disability can be:

Living with a disability means having to worry about things on a daily basis that never cross other people’s minds. It means worrying about whether somebody will come to help you get out of bed in the morning. It means a morning commute completely derailed by an elevator outage. Living with a disability means only being able to travel to cities where accessible transportation is an option. Living with a disability takes a lot of planning and energy and learning how to exist in a world that is not made for you

I agree. Living with a disability takes a lot of planning and energy. Accessible transportation is a necessity. Accessible jobs, technology, education and civil rights are necessities. I also agree that learning how to live in a world that is not always made for people with disabilities can be a challenge. But asking us to bring an insulin pen or a packet of artificial sweetener or a straw along when heading out? That just doesn’t seem so challenging. To me, it doesn’t qualify as an unreasonable request.

What is your take on companies getting rid of plastic straws? Is it an issue of access? Let us know in the comments section.

by Wade Wingler

In 2011, Easterseals Crossroads in Indianapolis released the first episode of Assistive Technology Update, a weekly news program and podcast focused on assistive technology news and interviews.  Since that time, the affiliate has grown a small podcast network that includes three shows with a total of over 700 episodes and an international audience in over 160 countries.

Interviews and News

Easterseals Crossroads’ flagship podcast, Assistive Technology Update, is a 30-minute news and interview program that features the latest developments in the assistive technology industry and interviews with researchers, developers, and other assistive technology thought leaders.  The program hosted by Wade Wingler, Vice President of Easterseals Crossroads, has been in continuous production since 2011 and has become a weekly mainstay of news and information for individuals with disabilities and assistive technology professionals/service providers. Assistive Technology Update is the #1 podcast in iTunes on the topic and was listed as the #1 podcast for people who are blind at About.com.  Recent interviews have focused on Microsoft’s Translator and Soundscape apps, physical therapy vs. occupational therapy in assistive technology (PT vs OT in AT), video gaming basics for people who are blind or visually impaired, and the Brain Injury Technology Education and Support (BITES) program sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal.

Questions and Answers

Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions (ATFAQ) is a question and answer show hosted by Brian Norton, Director of Assistive Technology, and features a panel of assistive technology experts who respond to questions posed from listeners around the world.  Twice monthly, the show covers questions about which types of technology are appropriate, how to fix adaptive equipment, and basic through advanced features of assistive technology during this hour-long show.  Recent questions answered include the following:

• How can I read my iPhone in braille?
• What is the difference between Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple Home Pod from an accessibility perspective?
• What are some good apps for elementary students with learning disabilities?

Quick and Easy

Accessibility Minute is a weekly show hosted by Laura Medcalf, blogger and social media content specialist, that offers a minute-long glimpse into the world of assistive technology and accessibility.  Whether it’s a new app, a new service, or Laura’s personal insight into the world of assistive technology, Accessibility Minute will address the topic.  Recent topics include:

• Ring Doorbell
• Adaptive toothbrushes
• Adaptive clocks and sleep aids
• Smart phone adaptations

You can find each of these shows in Itunes, Stitcher, and wherever you listen to podcasts as well as at  Eastersealstech.com/podcasts.

We’re so proud to announce that Easterseals New Hampshire placed first in a video contest hosted by the National Home & Community Based Service Conference. When asked to submit a video, the affiliate jumped at the chance! They went above and beyond to showcase the joy, pride, and talent in New Hampshire.

Check out their version of the song “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman, performed by Dave Jenne.

Jenne, a local singer and Community Based Services client at Easterseals New Hampshire, will travel to Baltimore at the end of August to sing the song in front of 1,500 conference attendees and accept the award.

I am delighted to have Patty O’Machel back with us as a guest blogger. Patty is a writer, special needs advocate and mom. Her blog Parenting Outside The Lines collects and shares the stories of parents all over the world who are raising children with special needs, and her guest post today lets you in on another “Outside the Lines” project that launched earlier this month –just in time for the new school year!

by Patty O’Machel

Patty (right) and her daughter (left)

Ability awareness is a passion project of mine. This is where my heart lies, as the mother of a little girl with cerebral palsy and as an advocate for change and acceptance. I want to share Ability Awareness programs in schools all over the country and help to change perceptions in kids of all ages.

And so, earlier this month, I launched a new business called Educating Outside the Lines. This project stems from my core belief that “kids with disabilities are just kids.” I want the world to see what I see. I want them to see ability.

The overall objective of bringing ability awareness programming into the school system is to break down the barriers between children with and without disabilities, and to help erase the fear of differences.

Every kid with a disability is someone’s child, someone’s classmate or someone’s friend, and today’s schools include children with all types of disabilities or challenges. Every child who has a classmate or friend who is physically or developmentally challenged learns a lesson in acceptance and understanding that they will take with them into adulthood.

Schools are instrumental in breaking down barriers, fears and misunderstanding about disabilities. By celebrating and enlightening kids, school becomes the change agent the world needs to include and accept children with disabilities in every aspect of life.

I have been able to develop my Educating Outside the Lines program into several areas of focus, from assembly speeches to grade-level specific programming. With the help of many partners in the disability world, my passion has come to fruition.

A Chicago-based firm called Small Forces creates short documentaries that highlight the work of grass roots organizations and people making their communities better. As part of a grant project, Small Forces worked with Educating Outside the Lines to produce a video that completely encapsulates the impact of the program. The video launched on The Mighty Parents Facebook page on Friday, August 3 and had been viewed over 18,400 times in its first five days online. The beauty of the short video is in the voices of children with disabilities speaking from their own perspective about what this kind of education means to them personally.

I am so proud of this video and of the voices of the kids. The show stopper is one of Easterseals own, Ahalya Lettenberger, who with her brother Charlie served as the Youth Ambassadors for the Easterseals DuPage and Fox Valley Gala in 2017. Ahalya is an amazing example of “abilities” in every aspect of her life. While her disability doesn’t allow her to walk independently for long distances, she is a 16-year-old girl on the move. She competes internationally in paratriathlons, she is an above average student in high school, and is on her schools’ swim team. In the video, Ahalya speaks of her experiences with peers not always understanding her disability, and she shares her message with school-aged kids about how to fight back when life gets hard, and to achieve and strive for your own personal goals. Her message is of strength, acceptance and ability.

Ahalya Lettenberger

The video also highlights a 16-year-old high school hockey player with dyslexia who speaks about his experience with a hidden disability, and his peers’ misunderstanding of what he really must conquer each day sitting next to them in class. My 13-year-old daughter uses a wheelchair to get around her junior high, and she’s in the video, too. She speaks about her overall feelings of invisibility with her peers, and about the misconceptions about the true accessibility of her school.

Prosthetic legs, wheelchairs, and hidden disabilities can often be scary to kids. Our Educating Outside the Lines program lets kids experience these things hands-on and serves to demystify the differences. It erases isolation. It combats bullying. It stifles the urge to stare and exclude. It bridges the gap between fear and understanding, and there is nothing more powerful than that to teach our children.

I am so excited to get my business launched, and praying that our web site and video get noticed by parents, teachers and administrators across the country to help them understand the importance of ability acceptance programs in schools. Please take a look at our new Educating Outside the Lines web site and by all means feel free to email me at pattyomachel[at]gmail.com for more information on ways to bring ability awareness programming to your schools.

I am pleased to have Dr. Judy Shanley here with a guest post today. Judy is the Assistant Vice President of Education & Youth Transition here at Easterseals.

by Dr. Judy Shanley

Travel via school bus and school transportation involves much more than just being on the bus. It also involves getting to the bus, getting on the bus, getting off the bus and then getting from the bus to the school building. The National Association for Pupil Transportation provides supports regarding school bus safety. Each state has a chapter with its own unique activities, and you can learn about school bus resources in your state and community by contacting your state affiliate. In the meantime, here are some tips to help school bus riders wherever they live in the United States:

• Contact your school district to see if they offer support programs where parents/children can come to the school to tour a bus before the service starts at the beginning of a school year.
• Help your child understand and prepare for social situations on a school bus such as sitting next to classmates and responding to driver directions.
• Encourage your child to travel with a bus buddy, such as a sibling or peer. Consider setting up chairs in the living room to mimic a school bus (have a bus driver, have children sitting in seats imitating behaviors that a child might see, and so on) so the child can learn how to react in these situations.
• Encourage your child to contact you when they arrive safely at school, especially if you have concerns about their independent travel.
• Learn whether your school’s pupil transportation service has a bus tracking service so you can monitor the status of your child’s school bus as it travels to and from the school building.

Parents who think their child might need accommodations or specialized supports for school transportation (funded under IDEA) will need to speak with special education professionals to determine whether it is appropriate to have a travel/mobility assessment.  When a range of transportation options are available, I recommend parents consider the option that enables students to travel with their peers (with and without disabilities) in the least restrictive mode. Some school districts even have public transportation service available. For some students, this is an appropriate option.

And guess what? Many parents are considering developing new ride-sharing programs to support travel to after-school and community activities — kind of like Uber for kids. Programs such as Zemcar in the Northeast and HopSkip/Drive in California are programs started by parents that provide an alternative to traditional pupil or public transportation services.

Some of you reading this blog post are starting to think about your child’s transition to post-high school settings. For others, this new school year may mark the first time your child is traveling independently. Take advantage of resources and supports that your school district and others provide and use this opportunity as a teaching moment — you’ll be setting the foundation for future independent travel. By starting your child on a path to independent travel now, they’ll end up in a place where mobility won’t impede their success in any setting.

Just got word from a program called Have Dreams that I thought you Easterseals blog readers might want to know about. Have Dreams Academy is part of Project SEARCH Collaborates for Autism at Northwestern University. It’s a one-year business-based program for high school students in their last year of transition services. The goal of the program? Competitive employment.

The message I received said Spring/Summer graduates are currently pursuing competitive employment with support from Have Dreams. Graduates from previous years are employed at a successful Chicago retail store called The Spice House, at Amazon, and at Walgreen’s. The program credits its success to its emphasis on:

• using an autism-specific curriculum
• participation in three ten-week internship rotations on Northwestern University’s campus
• job development
• job placement
• follow-on services

The 2018-19 Have Dreams Academy begins on August 23, 2018. Space is still available, and they’ll continue accepting applications and conducting intakes through October 2018 or until the program is full. For more information on applying, contact Christine McQuinn at cmcquinn@havedreams.org. For general information about the Have Dreams Academy employment training program, contact Andrea Franckowiak at ajohnsen@havedreams.org or call 847.905.0702.

When I lost my sight in the 1980s, authorities set me up at a residential facility to learn how to use a white cane, read Braille, that sort of thing. All the students there were adults, and all of us had lost our sight fairly recently.

Well, almost all of us. Two of the students there were 18-year-olds who had been blind their entire lives. They already knew Braille, they had some experience with computers and assistive technology, and they were well trained in orientation and mobility. One thing they’d never learned in school? How to write with a pen. These two young women wanted to go to college, and in order to live independently, sign their names and dates on forms, write out rent checks and so on, they needed to learn penmanship.

But now, some 30 years later, the value of handwriting has diminished. In most of America, Common Core State Standards for public schools don’t even mention handwriting anymore. Most of us swipe or type on a keyboard rather than write.

A story in the New York Times reports psychologists and neuroscientists who are suggesting the links between handwriting and broader educational development should not be ignored, and that, “Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information.” From the article:

“Two psychologists, Pam A. Mueller of Princeton and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles, have reported that in both laboratory settings and real-world classrooms, students learn better when they take notes by hand than when they type on a keyboard. Contrary to earlier studies attributing the difference to the distracting effects of computers, the new research suggests that writing by hand allows the student to process a lecture’s contents and reframe it — a process of reflection and manipulation that can lead to better understanding and memory encoding.”

The article refers to studies that show how cursive writing can train self-control ability in a way that other modes of writing do not, which may help children diagnosed with ADHD or autism. Some researchers quoted in the article say that learning to write print helps students understand the reversal and inversion of letters (the difference between lower case “b” and Lower case “d,” for example) and may be a path to treating dyslexia. Learning cursive may be particularly effective for individuals with developmental dysgraphia (motor-control difficulties in forming letters) as well.

It all makes me wonder. School is back in session now. Are any kids taught to write by hand anymore? Does it matter? Those 18-year-olds I met at the facility for the blind decades ago struggled so much to learn handwriting — today, they are likely using their talking computers or SmartPhones to pay their bills online!

Ever been to an Accessibility Camp? Me, neither. I’d never even heard of such a thing until I got an invite to attend Accessibility Camp Chicago this Saturday. One look at (okay, with the help of my speech synthesizer, one listen to) the descriptions of the presentations – everything from “The Dyslexic Code” to #SUX: Some User Experience to Straws and Straw Men (about the costly argument against accessibility — I was hooked.

And how could I say no? After all, professionals who understand all facets of the digital space will be there Saturday, including:

• Web and Mobile Developers
• Visual and Interaction Designers
• User Experience Designers
• Researchers
• Quality Assurance Testers
• Content Producers
• Project Managers
• Product Owners

Best of all, presenters are coming in from all over North America, and many of them have disabilities and use accessible technology in their daily lives, just like I do. If you’re interested in joining my Seeing Eye dog and me at camp this Saturday, September 8, 2018, there’s still time to register online. Look for me there — I’ll be the one with the headphones on frantically typing notes into my talking laptop computer or using dictation software with my iPhone to link to accessible web sites and tweet to others there about the benefits of accessibility!

Before I went to Accessibility Camp Chicago Saturday, I had no idea that the two letters “UX” is tech shorthand for “user experiences.” Accessibility camp taught me a lot. Most importantly, I now know that there’s an acronym for user experiences that are not user-friendly for all users. That word is SUX.

SUX stands for “some user experience” as in user experiences that are designed for the majority of users but don’t bother ensuring they’re usable and accessible for all.

The term was coined by Billy Gregory, a presenter I heard at camp Saturday. He’s the Director of Training at an accessibility consultancy firm called the Paciello Group, and during his presentation he wondered out loud about how it is that so many designers and developers who talk about design and usability shy away from accessibility. “If your whole job is to design a user experience, why wouldn’t you want that first word ‘users’ to be more? Why wouldn’t you want more people to be able to use the stuff you worked so hard to design?”

He told us that the SUX idea came to him a couple years ago. “So many designs are so, so close to being fully accessible,” he lamented. “But then they stop just short of being usable by everyone, including people with disabilities.” Gregory called the “just short” phenomena some user experience. “So many more user groups could use the technology if developers just spent maybe another 10 minutes, or another hour, just planning it a little bit better.” Once Gregory realized that his term “some user experiences” could shorten to SUX, he went, where else? To Twitter!

His tweet, “When UX doesn’t consider ALL users, shouldn’t it be known as “SOME User Experience” or… SUX? #a11y.” When the tweet went viral, Gregory got to work gathering examples to share on Twitter. “I must have struck a nerve with a lot of developers,” he said. “They got behind it.”

And you know, I’ve been noticing the word “accessible” coming up more often in conversations about web sites and apps lately, too. Others I talked to at Accessibility Camp Chicago said they’ve been hearing more and more people mentioning accessibility when it comes to web design. “It’s not a dirty word any more,” one said to me.

I’m not exactly sure why that is. Maybe their legal staff is telling them to. Maybe they think it’s the right thing to do. Or maybe, just maybe, they understand that bringing more users to their sites – and keeping them there – is good for business.

“It’s not just people with disabilities,” Gregory pointed out in his talk. “I see my parents, as older users, needing more help surfing the web now.” His parents don’t really understand what it his their son does for a living, he told us, using a story about taking his parents out for dinner as an example. “When the menus came and it was time to order, my mom pulled out a magnifying glass and my dad pulled out a flashlight. These are two people that have no idea what accessibility is, but they’re both using forms of assistive technology,” Gregory said.

When he specifically mentioned his father’s frustration dealing with carousels on web sites, a collective groan came from the crowd. We felt his pain. Carousels. Ugh. “He uses an iPad now, his reaction time is slower than it used to be, and it’s tough for him when he sees something, goes to click and it changes. He ends up on a page that he doesn’t wanna be on. Then he’s gotta go back, and he doesn’t get it.”

Gregory urges developers to consider the aging population along with users who have disabilities when designing new sites. “Every person fortunate enough to live a long life will experience one change or another, and those kind of changes will leave them needing some sort of assistive technology,” he said. “That’s a lot of potential users out there.”

As my Seeing Eye dog Whitney guided me outside after Billy Gregory’s talk, I felt hopeful — and happy. “They understand us, Whitney!” I told her, giving her a scratch on the ears. “We’re not alone. Those people are with us.”

As I was scrolling through Instagram on my way home from work the other day (taking the train, of course! Don’t Instagram and drive!) I came across an ad sandwiched between photos of a dripping ice cream cone and someone’s baby.

The stylized Instagram pic featured a sleek, chic woman in an Adidas track suit, jacket draped over her shoulders in the effortless way I could never pull off. Sitting in a wheelchair, she had one leg crossed over the other, sporting red slip-on booties so cool you immediately daydream of the scenario in which you’d wear them.

The copy below the image advertised a new adaptive line from Zappos.com, and when I visited the page I saw keywords for browsing like “easy on/off shoes” and “adaptive jeans”, “magnetic closures” and “diabetic shoes”. The results for women’s selections clocked in at 823 items. Featured among the pieces are affordable and stylish staples like this black swing dress that’s sensory friendly and this four-way reversible scoop jersey top.

If you’re a regular on the Easterseals blog, you know that we’ve taken a keen interest in adaptive fashion over the past few years. It’s clear why: In today’s age of social media, we’re eager to express ourselves and our style. We want to wear clothes that tell the world how we see ourselves and how we want the world to see us. We want to feel comfortable and confident and clad in pieces that, well, look good. For people with disabilities though, sometimes finding clothes that are adaptive come at the expense of personal style. Maybe that’s why seeing this ad among the mishmash of my Instagram feed gave me pause; fashion and accessibility and style intersected in a way that felt authentic and cool.

As Erin Hawley, Digital Producer for Easterseals Thrive, shared in a previous post: “Modified clothing has been out there for some time, but the styles are usually expensive, hideous, in limited production, or a combination of all three. It’s hard to find items with magnetic snaps, comfortable seams, elastic waists, or sensory-friendly wear.” She adds earlier in the piece, “As an adult, I still have trouble finding age-appropriate clothing that fit my small frame and appeal to my personal style. I’m 32 years old, and I don’t want to wear Elsa and Anna t-shirts (even though I love Frozen).”

Don’t get me wrong: I work with and know plenty of people with disabilities who infuse their style into their everyday wardrobe. But when we look at the big picture, it’s plain to see that the fashion industry is at a crossroads when it comes to designing clothes with people with disabilities in mind. As we’ve discussed here before, there are companies making great strides towards progress (looking at you, Tommy Hilfiger and Target). But wouldn’t it be fabulous to see options in any mall store and big box retailer? We’re moving in the right direction, but we need to get there faster.

Stay tuned for part two!

This is part two of a post on disability, adaptive fashion and making style accessible to all. You can read part one here. Join us on social media and share your thoughts!

Last week was New York Fashion Week, and while I normally don’t pay too much attention to the fanfare, I was struck by one show in particular: Runway of Dreams FASHION REVOLUTION.

The show, presented by Runway of Dreams Foundation, showcased trends for Spring 2019 from designers like Nike and Target, and modeled by people with disabilities. The runway was fully accessible and, to top it all off, the show was hosted by actor RJ Mitte (you may know him from Breaking Bad).

Elsewhere in New York City, Mama Cax, a model-activist and amputee, walked in the Chromat show.

via ASOS

Seeing this news got me thinking about a “wheelchair-friendly” jumpsuit from online retailer ASOS I’d seen making the Internet rounds a couple months ago. The paint-splattered, pastel jumpsuit is fun, bold and makes a statement. Perhaps even more thrilling than the design is the story behind it.

According to Racked.com, BBC reporter and para-athlete Chloe Ball-Hopkins had to miss a much-anticipated music festival headliner because “when the weather turned, her options weren’t great: She could wear a plastic poncho that was difficult to wheel in, or carry an umbrella and have a friend push her”. Fed up, she contacted the design team at ASOS and got to work on collaborating on the garment. It was met with unanimous approval and enthusiasm, from both people with and without disabilities.

If NYFW and that cute ASOS jumpsuit are any indication, the tides are turning.  At Easterseals, we’re all about being the change and finding solutions. What do you think is the best way to get more retailers carrying adaptive, affordable and stylish clothing?

People with disabilities of all genders, races, socioeconomic statuses, and ethnicities have a history of making the world and our communities richer, better places. What potential do we then lose when we allow barriers to prevent our fellow humans from participating?

Some of the most groundbreaking inventions and innovations throughout human history have been inspired and conceived by people with disabilities. Some of these figures are household names: Thomas Edison, Temple Grandin, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci and Stephen Hawking. But while many of the contributions of people with disabilities are in the mainstream, their names are often left out of the history textbooks and out of the conversation.

I recently came across a New York Times article that told the story of the OXO brand; A husband and wife teamed up to create a product that would be comfortable for Betsy, the wife, to hold (she had arthritis). As a result, they came up with a line of kitchen products based on the philosophy of universal design. While I had seen the company’s products lining the shelves of many major department stores, the story behind it, and the fact that it was created for all hands, escaped me. According to the article, it has somehow escaped many people, too.  This is just one of the many stories of inventions born of necessity for people with disabilities but ultimately adopted by people of all abilities. See also: The typewriter, text messaging, and the talking remote.

Even with all these accomplishments, the movement towards an accessible and inclusive society continues. Is our notion of what it means to contribute to society even inclusive of people with disabilities?

Right now, society is at a crossroads. People are paying closer attention to social issues that are important to them, looking for ways to be more involved. However, for society to continue to improve for all people living in it, we must face tough decisions about our institutions. Finding and removing the barriers within those institutions will be a challenging process.

At Easterseals, one barrier that is in the forefront of our minds is health care. Threats to Medicaid are looming, and additional cuts or caps to Medicaid will severely impact the services we provide. In fact after past cuts to Medicaid, 62% of our clients surveyed (including individuals with disabilities and seniors) were unable to access services like employment and training programs due to a lack of community provider options. We grapple with this reality while still working with people with disabilities to overcome barriers, some of which are societal in nature. As a result, we support some of society’s most powerful change agents. What kind of society will they want to create?

Michael, 34, an Easterseals Thrive supporter and freelance writer, said, “Traditionally, if you ask someone what they do, they’ll talk about their job. A lot of avenues are closed to me due to my mental health and to a lesser extent my physical health. My depression has significantly hindered my ability to succeed in academics which has, in turn, closed a lot of doors for me to achieve gainful employment. This further exacerbates my depression.

“Individuals are capable of contributing in more ways than economically. Simply being a good friend or an emotional support for other people can be a means of adding to society. Being someone who other people can rely on when they’re having a rough time is a remarkably useful ability. I think that this form of emotional labor has been undervalued traditionally, but that it is finally starting to come around as a viable source of worth for one’s self and within a community.”

Election officials around the country are hard at work getting voters registered and registrations updated as the Nov. 6 General Election approaches. In some states, the deadline for early and absentee voting has already passed. That deadline doesn’t concern me, though. I always vote on Election Day, right there at the polls. Here’s how that works:

• I’m handed a headset, and a poll worker guides me to a special voting machine equipped with speech software
• That text-to-speech software translates the candidate selections on the ballot into spoken choices
• A special keypad enables voters like me, who are blind, to choose our candidates by touch
• Our selections are confirmed by voice again before the ballot is cast

Some friends are astonished to hear all I have to do to cast my vote. “Isn’t that a pain? Why don’t you just vote absentee?” I answer with a shrug. For me, there’s no substitute for the feel of a voting device in your hand, the sound of your vote actually registering.

And then there’s this: In the not-too-distant past people with disabilities did stay home, not just on voting day, but perpetually. We can never go back to those days, and voting publicly is one way to help ensure we don’t. I like to think it means something for other voters to see someone like me, a citizen with a disability, exercising the same basic right that they do, voting in private without public assistance.

Millions of Americans with disabilities share this ambition. We can’t let others forget about us. One way to do that: let them see us, out there with everyone else, casting a vote in November.

After the last post I wrote advocating that everyone with a disability make sure to get to the polls and be seen voting rather than voting absentee was published, I found myself feeling a little sheepish. Here’s why: I didn’t take it into consideration that many people with disabilities live far away from their polling place, and it can be difficult to get a ride there. I live right across the street from my polling place! All I need to do to get there is give my Seeing Eye dog the “Forward!” command. My last post failed to acknowledge that few people with disabilities have it that easy when it comes to getting to their polling place.

When I heard about Uber and Lyft’s respective announcements about offering free or reduced rides to polling places, you can imagine my excitement.

c/o Lyft

Lyft announced back in August that they’d be offering 50% discounts and free rides to people who face significant obstacles to get to the polls on November 6, 2018. In their announcement Lyft pointed out that “an estimated 15 million people were registered but didn’t vote in 2016 because of transportation issues,” and that statistic is what motivates them to offer free or discounted rides to voters.

And now Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has announced that on November 6, 2018, the company will partner with #VoteTogether and Democracy Works to provide free rides to the polls, too. A quote from Khosrowshahi explains:

“At Uber, we want to do our part, too–by helping voters register and get to the polls on Election Day.

Using our technology and resources, we can help make it easier for every Uber rider in the U.S. to get to their polling place at the push of a button. We’re also partnering with nonprofit organizations to register voters before state deadlines and provide free rides to the polls on November 6.”

Uber will also be inserting a “Get to the Polls” button inside its app on Election Day to help voters find their polling place and book a ride. Huge thanks to Lyft and Uber for going the extra mile to support our democratic process.

Election Day is just two weeks away, and all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election this year. Additionally, 35 seats in the U.S. Senate are up for election as well. People with disabilities can make sure their voices are heard in this election by using our checklist to help you keep in mind that voters with disabilities have the right to:

• Vote privately and independently
• Have an accessible polling place with voting machines for voters with disabilities
• Wheelchair-accessible voting booths
• Entrances and doorways that are at least 32 inches wide
• Handrails on all stairs
• Voting equipment that is accessible to voters who are blind or who have low vision
• Bring your service animal with you into your polling place
• Seek assistance from workers at the polling place who have been trained to use the accessible voting machine, or
• Bring someone you know along to help you vote.

We strongly suggest you print out our voting resource card and take it along to the polls. That way, if you have trouble accessing the polls, you can contact the appropriate number(s) listed on the card for help.

The month of October means embracing all things spooky; ghost stories are told, haunted houses are visited, and horror movies are watched in theaters and living rooms across the country. Whether you’re a fan of old school horror classics or anticipate new releases, chances are you’ve noticed some prevalent themes that span the genre, some of which are problematic especially as they relate to disability.

Easterseals Thrive hosted a Twitter chat to dive deeper into this topic and look at this staple genre through a critical lens. They asked questions about the portrayal of mental illness in disability fiction, disability-related tropes, and more. Check out the Twitter Moment below, or search for tweets using the hashtag #DontFearDisability.

#DontFearDisability Twitter Chat

There is something to be said about stepping away from one’s responsibilities – the sink piled up with dishes, the unmade bed, the unanswered emails awaiting in your inbox – and just taking a nice, steady stroll to nowhere in particular. The clouds up above and the sidewalk beneath you, you wind around your block; maybe to the park, maybe just a quarter of a mile in any direction.

Taking a walk is one of life’s simple pleasures, but it is an activity that is not necessarily available and/or accessible to everyone. That’s why the Every Body Walk! Collaborative is “committed to promoting walking and walkability initiatives, to empowering champions and to pushing for safe, accessible and inclusive places to walk.”

We at Easterseals love this mission and are so excited to be teaming up with the Every Body Walk! Collaborative and America Walks for a Twitter chat on Wednesday, November 6 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Join us to discuss the below questions using the hashtag #10MinuteWalk.

Question 1: What are some of your favorite places to walk to? #10MinuteWalk

Question 2: How do you define if something is accessible? #10MinuteWalk

Question 3: In what ways does a community benefit by making sure places are within a #10MinuteWalk?

Question 4: Why is it important to have school, work, play, parks, and more within a #10MinuteWalk?

Question 5: What things need to be in place to make a #10MinuteWalk accessible and enjoyable?

Question 6: What are some of the obstacles to creating accessible networks? #10MinuteWalk?

Question 7: How can we support creating communities that have a #10MinuteWalk to places people need and want to go?

Question 8: How can communities encourage the development of places within a #10MinuteWalk?Closing: America Walks thanks and wraps up chat

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions!

Anja Herrman at age nine with her dad

Remember the 9-year-old who wrote a post here for Valentine’s Day years ago about how much she loves her Dad? Anja is a teenager now, and she’s back with us as a guest blogger.

by Anja Herrman

Last month I went to review and to watch a show called Six Stories Up in Climate Change. This show was put on by a unique theater group called Tellin’ Tales, whose mission is to “shatter barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds” by bringing together children and adults from both communities to share their stories on stage. From the Tellin’ Tales web site:

“Tellin’ Tales exists to create a bridge between children and adults with disabilities and those without disabilities through the nurturing and innovative performances of people’s personal stories. This is achieved through mentoring and collaboration. A key goal is to bring together diverse populations all the while helping them to recognize commonalities and build a strong sense of community in Chicago.”

“Six Stories Up in Climate Change” was a fictional story about six kids working to save the planet in two parallel worlds: A fantasy world ruled by an evil, destructive raven (my personal favorite character because she’s so ruthless) and our world, where a greedy developer is looking to build a complex on rare forest in Alaska. The protagonists had to rebuild the climate totem pole before the raven took over the world and the developer built the complex.

The show had some humorous bits and I appreciated that children directed and starred in the production. As a young theater critic, I did make the following notes:

1. Why only cover environmental climate change? In the world of climate and disability there are many other climate topics that I would have like to have seen from a disability perspective such as political climate, accessibility in the world climate, equality climate and so on.
2. I didn’t see personal stories from every kid. Considering that TT’s mission is to “break down the barriers between disabled and non-disabled worlds through personal story” I thought it was interesting that only 2 of the kids fulfilled that requirement.

Maybe I’ll sign up for the TT newsletter to keep up with future events. If one sounds interesting, I might try attending a show there again.

It has become something of a Halloween tradition here on the Easterseals blog to feature a post from contributor Bernhard Walke, whose daughter, Elena, dons a creative, clever and cute costume year after year. In the past, she has been a bulldozer, money bag, lobster in a pot, Cinderella, and a Ratatouille-inspired chef. Here’s Bernhard with a description of Elena’s costume this year, one of our all-time favorites.

Elena did an expert job of selecting her princess costume last year, but Halloween 2017 was inauspicious to say the least. Elena was in the midst of declining health back then, and after Christmas she spent two months in the hospital.

In the months since her discharge, she’s been in great health, in great spirits, silly, and even tested at grade level. Suffice it to say, these days we are enjoying her good health and her delightful company.

So yes, she has been doing well on a daily basis, but still my wife and I are apprehensive. At any time, things could take a turn for the worse. As a result, we tend to edit ourselves and place undue pressure on our daughter.

And so, when it came to Halloween this year, we tried to create a simpler costume for Elena. That way, if things went South, we wouldn’t resent our daughter for the amount of work we’d put into the costume. One of the greatest things Elena has taught us is adaptability. If things don’t work out the way we want them to, we always have a plan B, C, or even D.

This year, we all decided that Elena would be Frida Kahlo for Halloween. Why? We have a few reasons:

• Elena is Hispanic on her mother’s side and European on her paternal side, just as the artist was;
• Despite the physical limitations of their bodies, both Frida and Elena are very creative;
• It was a rather easy costume to put together (see above, about being ready in case things don’t work out).

Our local school district hosts an annual parade for Halloween. Students strut around the school playground class by class to show off their costumes. This year’s parade boasted Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, the Notorious RBG, and various Marvel characters. But where was Frida Kahlo? Something must have happened.

Perhaps Elena’s body was tight? Elena wasn’t in the mood? Or then, there’s this: Second graders like the nurse’s office. Maybe Elena wanted to hang out in the nurse’s office instead of being part of the parade.

My wife and I have learned not to be disappointed by things like this. We want Elena to know that she isn’t obligated to perform for others. She isn’t the class mascot. She is not required to show others what she can do. We want her to do things on her own terms.

After the parade was over, Elena emerged with her physical therapist. Our daughter was visibly upset. Seeing me there with her grandparents didn’t help. She started crying. Clearly, this girl was not willing to be paraded around the neighborhood. Unlike her extroverted father, who won’t speak to a crowd smaller than 500, Elena is a bit more introverted.

Instead of parading around that day, Elena knocked off a little bit early from school to spend time with her grandparents, picking flowers in the alley.

And so, instead of forcing our daughter to go trick or treating, we let her do what she wanted: she gave out candy to the friends who came by to visit. Those friends were so kind: they greeted Elena, said they liked her costume, and doled out a few high fives.

When Elena’s cousins arrived, together we managed to go with Elena to each house on the block. We were flattered to discover that several houses had put aside candy that they knew Elena could eat. When steps prevented Elena from getting up walkways to the door of some of our neighbor’s houses, the neighbors walked down the steps themselves to greet Elena on her level. That, or Elena’s cousin Carmen would march up the walkway and skillfully pick through the goods offered to choose candy appropriate for Elena.

And so, okay. The parade was a bust. But who cares? Elena taught us how to respond — rather than react — to a situation. We had a great Halloween.

November is Assistive Technology Awareness Month, and to remind everyone the important role assistive technology plays in the lives of people with disabilities, Northern Illinois University student Alicia Krage is sharing an assistive technology journal she kept on a recent Tuesday at school. Interested in sharing your assistive technology journal? Let us know in the comments!

• 8:00am: I ask Siri to open Spotify as I get ready for my morning shower. I then swipe on the screen until VoiceOver (the speech synthesizer that comes with iPhones at no extra charge) announces “favorites,” the name of my playlist, and I double tap that. I swipe again until it says “shuffle” and I turn on the music.
• 8:25am I’m back in my dorm and I say, “Alexa, good morning.” Alexa announces upcoming events on my calendar, the weather, and then plays music.
• 8:35am: I use Voiceover to read any unread text messages I might have. I then swipe through my messages until I come across Joe’s name, then type out a brief text message. VoiceOver calls out each letter as I touch them, and when my finger finds the letter I’m looking for, I use “direct touch typing,” which essentially means all I have to do is tap on the screen where the letter is, just like a sighted person would text. In this option of typing, my phone says the word after I hit “space” so I can hear errors and fix them before sending. My morning note is usually short and simple: “Good morning, how’d you sleep?” or something of that nature.
• 8:45am: I swipe through my apps until VoiceOver says “Uber.” It automatically knows my pickup location as “school” (I programmed that in), so I swipe through until I hear “Dunkin Donuts.” It keeps a list of frequently visited places. I hit “request Uber X.”
• 8:47am: VoiceOver reads the text I have dictated to the driver before I send it: “Just so you know, I’m blind so I won’t see your vehicle pull up. Please come get me when you arrive; I’ll be waiting outside.”
• 8:55am: VoiceOver announces messages from the app. It tells me to “meet driver,” so I go outside.
• 9am: As I’m ordering my coffee, I swipe through my apps until I hear “Dunkin.” I open the app and hit “pay” so I can pay from my card on my phone.
• 9:05am: I’m seated by the door and go back to the Uber app. It says, “How was your trip?” I swipe through and rate the appropriate amount of stars for the trip.
• 9:10am: My coffee is in front of me (the employees bring it to me). I plug in a set of earbuds into my laptop and use JAWS (the speech synthesizer I use with my PC) to connect to “Dunkin Donuts Guest” wifi.
• 9:12am: I use the arrows to navigate through my documents until JAWS reads the correct title. It’s usually a document containing parts of a paper I need to finish.
• 10am: My paper (or other assignment) is usually done by now, so I continue to use my speech synthesizer to navigate to Twitter and Facebook and catch up on social media.
• 11am: I use VoiceOver to navigate through the apps on my phone until I find Uber. It knows my current location, so I navigate through my “saved places” until I hear “school.” I double tap and then hit “request Uber X.”
• 11:02am: I paste the message into the text field for my Uber driver. It’s the same one I used earlier.
• 11:05am: Voiceover announces to “meet driver” so I go outside and he calls out to me to let me know where he is parked.
• 11:15am: Once back in the building, I use voiceover to rate the trip the appropriate amount of stars.
• 11:17am: I use Voiceover to navigate through my messages until I hear my boyfriend’s name. I text Joe a brief message catching him up on my day and ask how his day is going so far. We text back and forth while I head down to the dorm cafeteria to eat.
• 12:30pm: I’m done eating lunch and this is my time to decompress. This usually involves watching reruns of some of my TV shows. Sometimes I use JAWS to navigate websites like nbc.com to watch “This Is Us” reruns, or Netflix to find something to watch on my phone.
• 2pm: It’s back to work for a little bit. Most of the time it’s studying, so I use my Braille Note apex to open a document containing my class notes. Sighted people need a screen to see what they’re typing and to use the internet, but I don’t. My Braille notetaker is essentially a screenless laptop, so as I type into my Braille Note, the words appear on a Braille display (a rectangular device with rows of pins that are raised and lowered to spell out letters in the braille alphabet) and I can just trace my finger over the dots to read my notes.
• 3pm: I use VoiceOver to swipe through my messages until I locate one of my friends that I feel like calling. This is the easiest way to find them, rather than scrolling through my contacts.
• 4pm: Before I head down to the dining hall, I do one more check of emails. I have the Outlook app on my phone, so I swipe through until I get to it. If it doesn’t say I have “new items,” it means I don’t have any emails – same for the default Mail app.
• 5:10pm: It’s time to leave for my night class. I don’t use technology during dinner. As I am waiting for the elevator, I swipe through messages again to find Joe’s name, then press the “call” button. We chat briefly before I leave for class – a quick catch-up and ending with “Good luck in class” on his end. We make plans to talk later that night.
• 6:00pm: Class has begun, and I will spend the next 2 hours and 40 minutes taking notes on my Braille note apex (I’d have to put on headphones to take notes using JAWS or VoiceOver, and that would make it hard to listen to the lecture!) Class is usually done at 8:40pm and I get picked up at 9pm. If we get out early, I use Siri to text the PACE bus driver on their mobile business phone to cancel my 9pm ride and a classmate drives me back.
• 8:40pm: Class is done and I spend 20 minutes catching up on texts, Twitter and Facebook notifications, and respond to any emails I got in the last few hours.
• 9:10pm: I’m back at the dorms and I navigate to my Spotify playlist again. I listen to music while I get ready for bed.
• 10pm: I either use siri to “call my boyfriend,” or he calls me and VoiceOver announces his name while his ringtone plays. We talk for an hour – or at least try to keep it to an hour. I need sleep and have a somewhat early day tomorrow.
• 11pm: I tell Alexa to set my alarm for 7:30am. She confirms with, “Your alarm is set for 7:30am tomorrow.” I make sure my phone is set to “do not disturb” and that it is charging. And then I call it a night.

Interested in reading more about assistive technology? Check out these articles:

• Three Assistive Technology Podcasts To Listen To Today
• What Happens When User Experience Leaves Out All Users?
• Thankful For Online Friends and the Technology That Connects Us