Author Archives: Deborah Dietz
Making Schools More Inclusive
School is important for everyone, including students with disabilities. Every student should have a chance to learn and feel welcome at school. It is important for students with disabilities to be included in the classroom and in school activities.
Disability Voting Rights Week
Disability Voting Rights Week (DVRW), September 14-18, 2026, is a nonpartisan movement hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities’ REV UP campaign. DVRW is about advocating for accessible futures, celebrating community, and building power.
Style is for Everyone
Fashion is about expressing yourself and feeling confident. Everyone deserves the opportunity to experience that, regardless of their abilities. Brands like Tommy Hilfiger and JanSport are showing that accessibility can be incorporated into stylish, everyday products without sacrificing quality or personality.
The Primary Is Over, and Now It’s Time to Make Your Voting Plan
Making a voting plan early can help you avoid last-minute problems. This is especially important if you need accessible voting equipment, transportation, assistance at the polls, or an accessible vote-by-mail ballot.
Employment Support for People with Disabilities (Benefits 26-09)
Employment networks are available to provide vocational training, job readiness training, resume writing classes, and other vocational services to SSDI and SSI beneficiaries. Some ENs specialize in providing services only to people with specific disabilities (such as developmental disabilities), while others serve all beneficiaries irrespective of the nature of their disabilities.
The Next Step: Introducing Dislaw Consulting
Dislaw Consulting is the next step in bringing all that work together: protecting rights, strengthening cases, supporting other lawyers, advising organizations, and helping ensure that people with disabilities receive both effective advocacy and meaningful access to justice.
A New Adventure: Real Estate and Livability
The phrase Thoughtful Living for Real Life captures what I hope to build. I believe people are the experts in their own lives and should have the information and support they need to understand their options and choose their own path.
Accessibility Shouldn’t Be Rare
Overall, accessibility in the beauty space shouldn’t be rare, it should be the standard. Everyone deserves products that are thoughtfully designed, easy to use, and high quality.
Inclusion Aboard Icon of the Seas
By: Andrea Chavarriaga My name is Andrea Chavarriaga, and I am a high school sophomore sharing my experience aboard Icon of the Seas and how accessibility helps create a more inclusive travel experience for everyone. When I recently went on a cruise on the Icon of the Seas, I noticed how much cruise ships… Read More »
Get Ready to Vote: The Florida Primary Election
Florida’s Primary Election is happening this month! Election Day is Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Even if you do not have a party primary race on your ballot, you may still have important nonpartisan races or local questions to vote on.
Building Assets Through Work: How WIPA Help? (26-08)
Working and building financial security should go hand-in-hand. That’s where the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program comes in. Through WIPA, we help you understand how working can help you build lasting savings without putting your critical cash benefits or Medicaid coverage on the line.
Celebrating the ADA: Then & Now
The ADA is more than a law. It represents the voices of advocates who refused to accept barriers and believed that disability should never limit opportunity.
Your Vote Starts with an Informed Conversation
Get information directly from the candidates on the issues that matter most to our community, including housing affordability, transportation, economic opportunity, public safety, and quality of life, before casting your ballot in the August 18 Primary Election.
2026 Miami-Dade County Voting Information
A particularly important priority is ensuring that voters with disabilities can cast their ballots independently, confidently, and with dignity.
Representation in Musicals + My Recommendations
More than anything, this class taught me to look beyond whether disability is simply present in a story and instead ask how it is represented.
A Playground for Everyone
That is why accessible playgrounds are so important. They are made so that more kids can play together. Some have ramps instead of stairs, swings with extra support, sensory toys, and smoother ground. These changes help more kids join in, instead of being left out.
36 Years of the ADA: Why It Still Matters
As we recognize this anniversary, we should also remember that the ADA only works when it is understood, respected, enforced, and upheld. Its protections affect real people in real ways every day. The ADA establishes the minimum standards required by law, but our goal should never be to do the bare minimum.
Benefits 26-07
Public benefit programs for people with disabilities, especially Supplemental Security Income (SSI), are not aimed at increasing assets and independence for people with disabilities, as a result individuals with disabilities often have very limited income and few, if any, assets. The intent of asset building initiatives is that as individuals develop assets, they will be able to move out of poverty and remain out of poverty. Many asset building services for people with disabilities will NOT cause loss of critical SSI disability cash payments and essential health insurance such as Medicaid and Medicaid waivers.
Get Ready to Vote: Check Your Registration for Florida’s Primary Election
Even if you have voted before, it is a good idea to check your registration information now. If you moved, changed your name, or need to update your signature, taking care of it before the deadline can help prevent problems later.
The View From Here (26-06)
Behind the Wheel – Part 1 By: Justine Chichester “The road to success is always under construction.” – Lily Tomlin For many people, getting behind the wheel of their car is something they hardly think about. They grab their keys, start the car and head off to work, the grocery store or dinner with… Read More »
