Recent Blog Posts
How life can change in the blink of an eye.
Today, I’m still finding ways to stay involved with my passion for sports. Since I can no longer physically play baseball the way I used to, I have been focusing on sharing my story and giving motivational speeches to teams and athletes.
Martin Richard, Recreational Sports, and Community Building
I have played sports all my life, and they have allowed me to make some of my best friends. Recreational sports are such a great community building outlet which is why I wanted to remain involved once I entered college. At the University of Miami, I now play on a Special Olympics Unified team and compete against other schools playing alongside individuals from my community that I would have never met otherwise. It has truly been such a great experience, and it is all thanks to my hometown.
Miami Inclusion Alliance (23-03)
We have come a long way over the last 100 plus years but there is still much to be done to ensure a fully inclusive system of care for battered women. We still need the Battered Women’s Movement. We still have work to do.
The View From Here (23-02)
Balancing our work and finding time for family and friends…and, most importantly, finding time for ourselves. It doesn’t have to take a person who is recovering from a disability to experience that. We all struggle with finding a work and life balance.
Black History Through the Lens of Disabilities
As we have seen, there is a large intersectionality between being Black and having a disability. These two identities are not separate, rather overlapping entities that can help to raise awareness and equality for one another.
Miami Inclusion Alliance (23-02)
According to the last U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking In Persons Report, persons with disabilities are one of the groups most at risk of being trafficked.
Disability Resources Focus on Federal Tax
ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged accounts which are funded by family members to cover qualified expenses for the disabled individual.
Accessibility & Awareness in Architectural Design
Provisions for accessible elements should not just stem from mandates, but precisely be the result of careful thought and awareness. Only then will that stylish, hip restaurant recognize accessibility as a positive and incorporate its elements not simply as an afterthought … but as a jeweled accent in its overall brand design.
The under-reporting of sexual assault
The crime of sexual assault is under-reported. This is particularly true if you are a victim with a disability.
Parenting with a Disability
We are now 29 years after the passage of the ADA, and Buck v. Bell has never been overturned, and several states still have some form of involuntary sterilization laws on their books.
The Importance of making a Safety Plan
One of the most important things for any victim of abuse to consider is their safety and the safety of their children and pets. That is why it is important to make a safety plan.
The hidden nightmare of sexual violence on and at the borders (23-01)
This is a time to speak up and out for these women.
The View From Here (23-01)
I bring all of this up to hopefully highlight the obstacles we, as people living with disabilities, face every single day. Not just the obstacles, or the excess costs, but the sheer frustration of having to retrofit our lives just so that we can be independent.
The View From Here (19-09)
I never realized how little I knew about Cancer until I was told I had it.
The View from Here (19-11)
I think it’s important to share my story to encourage other women to stop putting off your screenings.
Do I still have a claim? – Effects of Cummings v. Premier Rehab on the future of claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504
By Matthew W. Dietz .pdf version On April 28, 2022, the United States Supreme Court, in Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C., 142 S. Ct. 1562 (2022), found that damages are unavailable for discrimination without a physical injury in all federal disability laws (such as the ADA and Section 504), and some sex and… Read More »
What happened to the COVID-19 case about immunocompromised children with disabilities in public schools in Florida?
In this matter, the development of vaccines and boosters are winning the race against the mutations of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, next time, science may lose to the application of bleach, horse medicine, and ultraviolet light treatments, and our schools and state would be willing to sacrifice children and persons with disabilities in a pyrrhic victory for parental rights to avoid inconvenience for their child.
Reclaiming my Deaf Lineage
It is important to recognize and understand our ancestors and the struggles that they may have had as being part of a minority population that has been stigmatized and hidden in the shadows of family trees. By reclaiming and retelling our family stories and including, and being proud, of what they had to go through, whether they were queer, disabled or otherwise marginalized, like putting a stone on their headstone, it honors their lives and blesses their memory.
Sign Language Interpreting Fund for Community and Family Inclusion
One of the collateral benefits of a suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act is to build awareness of the needs of Persons with Disabilities. Unfortunately, most settlements are confidential, so this benefit is limited, and the only entity improving their polices or accessibility are the defendant in the case. However, that was not… Read More »
National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2021 – “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion”
As a disability rights lawyer who represented persons with disabilities for the past 25 years, I am often asked by persons with both visible and invisible disabilities about best practices in attempting to find a job and to keep a job. So, for National Disability Employment Awareness Month, I will share my top 10 points.
