ilivewithadisability.com

Colleen is a disability rights leader, advocate, and visionary. Her passion for assisting The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, which assists amputees in developing countries, is evident by her commitment to raising money and awareness for the 100 Miles in 100 Days campaign.

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The news is full of our “leaders” who want to cut benefits, institutionalize us or ignore our basic human rights altogether.  These stories can really get you down, if you let them. We always hear about the legislation and the negative stories, but you rarely see any of the positive news. Read the rest of this entry →

“We’ve tried cripples before and it didn’t work.” This was the response from the University of California at Berkeley to Ed Roberts when he applied for admission in 1962. This was not the first rejection that Ed received. In 1961, he was considered so severely disabled, that he was labeled “unemployable.” Roberts was significantly disabled, but he knew he could be an Read the rest of this entry →

Last week in Oakland, CA, I attended the Professional Development of Consumer and Family Member Staff Seminar put on by Working Well Together, which is a collaborative between four organizations, including NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness). Read the rest of this entry →

Justin Dart (August 29, 1930-June 22, 2002) is known for being the “Father of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the “Godfather of the disability rights movement,” and the “spiritual leader of the IL [independent living] movement.” Read the rest of this entry →

Centers for Independent Living (CILs) are organizations run by and for people with disabilities. All CILs offer four core services as well as a host of other programming to assist people with disabilities. Read the rest of this entry →

People with disabilities should have the same civil rights, options and control over choices in their lives as do people without disabilities. This is the core concept that set the Independent Living Movement in action nearly fifty years ago. Read the rest of this entry →

The other day I had a conversation with Ron Bercume (ILWAD co-founder) about what it means to be an advocate. He asked me, “Would I be Read the rest of this entry →