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Empowered and Disabled: Why I Don’t Like ‘Special Needs’
Erin Hawley After reading Ellen’s post on the Love That Max blog about her son Max’s declaration that he does not have “special needs,” I thought about my journey with identification and how it changed...
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Fashion’s newest frontier? According to the New York Times, it’s people with...
Erin Hawley talks fashion. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a fashion designer. I’d draw the kind of dresses and chic ensembles that I wanted to wear — outfits that I would probably never see...
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Letter to my high school self: What the doctor should’ve said
As promised in my previous post last Wednesday, I submitted a letter this week to the Letters to Thrive blog. The site is easy to access, and it even has a What Should I Write About? link for those...
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Women with disabilities write to their past selves
Easter Seals has been supporting mentorship programs for many years, and in 2012 we helped launch a mentorship program focused on young women with disabilities. The program is called Thrive, and the...
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Resourceful, opinionated, strong and wise
If you read my post about the THRIVE program and my attendance at its Capstone Event in Boston, you’re going to love this one written by the true magic maker of the event. Sandy Ho is the Program...
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7 Things to Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
Credit: Elisha Knight Happy Thanksgiving, 2019! It can be too easy to get down in the dumps this time of year. There’s so much going on, so much to do, troubles in the world, troubles on the news,...
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Now, here’s what I call accessibility!
A little shout-out to my alma mater, University of Illinois. Yesterday morning my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I took a train from Chicago to Champaign to give a guest lecture there, and on the way down...
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Service dogs for Veterans with PTSD? The Rest of the Story
A Veteran’s Day story on NPR about service dogs and veterans caught my attention this morning. The story was only three minutes long, and the title made the issue sound black and white: “Advocates Say...
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Daylight Savings Time Without Sight
The conversation during a walk home in the sunshine with friends Saturday centered on Daylight Savings Time. “This time tomorrow, it’ll be dark already,” one friend moaned. We reminded ourselves to set...
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Why My Daughter Isn’t Wearing a Costume for Halloween this Year
It’s no secret around the Walke house that I love Halloween. Perhaps it’s because it’s the last few days of decent weather, before the stress of the winter holidays sets in, and the last few days of...
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Imagine If There Were More Stories Like This Around Disability Employment
It was such a joy to share Alicia Krage’s posts here about her finding a job she likes so much — a story we don’t hear nearly enough from people living with disabilities. If you haven’t read it yet,...
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A Sense of Belonging: Looking for Employment – Part 3
Before reading, be sure to catch Part 1 and Part 2 of this story! The interview questions were precisely the ones my parents had asked when we were practicing. I had a question I wanted to ask them,...
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Disclose my Disability on the Application Form? Looking for Employment – Part 2
Before reading, be sure to catch Part 1 of this story! A question on the application made me wonder whether I should mention my blindness or not. I can’t remember the exact wording of the question, but...
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It Takes Work to Get Work: Looking for Employment – Part 1
Credit: COD Newsroom The blind community talks a lot about how to get from place to place, and I’m no exception. A lot of my previous posts here have centered around travel – traveling on campus and...
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Here’s a Great Opportunity for Writers with Disabilities
Great news! Brevity Magazine just announced they plan on publishing a special issue dedicated to disability, they’re looking for essays by and about disability, and they’ll be paying the writers!...
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Beth’s Blind Date with Mr. Bates: A Downton Abbey Diary
The long-awaited Downton Abbey film is scheduled to be released in the United States today, September 20, 2019, and that gives me a perfect opportunity to share the story of my blind date with a tv...
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Educating Outside the Lines: The Importance of Learning about Disability...
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...
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Life can be scary when you can’t see the bad guys
Earlier this year I wrote a post about an ongoing Martial Arts Self-Defense course offered by Easterseals Massachusetts. Now I’m thinking more seriously about taking a course like that. Let me explain....
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Don’t Miss Out on these Discoveries During IEP or Parent Meetings
I am delighted to have Patty O’Machel back with us as a guest blogger. Patty is a writer, special needs advocate and mom. Last year Patty launched a business called Educating Outside the Lines, a...
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When the Unexpected Happens While Using an Uber with a Disability
Sometimes I like to share my travel stories with other blind individuals. It gives us a chance to laugh off the mishaps that occur in day-to-day life — or, alternatively, it gives them permission to...
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