Lynn Pedotto interviews Katie Frank about sexuality education for children with disabilities.
16:37 min
CLEAR ALL
What I’m hoping to do here is help portray the incapacitated form in an optimistic light and defy the labels enforced upon us by society.
Based on the historic New York Times series, About Us features intimate, firsthand accounts on what it means, and how it feels, to live with a disability.
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Jean Oelwang, president and CEO of Virgin Unite, spent fifteen years interviewing sixty-five prominent pairs, including Ben and Jerry, Leah and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Rosalynn and President Jimmy Carter.
When disability isn’t disclosed, we create an invisible layer of additional work for the individual which will affect their productivity.
“If you’re trying to get home and the bus keeps passing you up because you’re in a wheelchair, you have to scream out.”
Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn’t always been the case. Born with cerebral palsy, her greatest desire used to be normalcy and refuge from the steady stream of self-hate society strengthened inside her.
“If I didn’t fight, who would?” Judy Heumann was only 5 years old when she was first denied her right to attend school. Paralyzed from polio and raised by her Holocaust-surviving parents in New York City, Judy had a drive for equality that was instilled early in life.
In the beginning, it was difficult to let myself rest, even with the ultimate doctor’s note. I felt like I still had to push past my (extremely limited) capabilities. I had to practice slowing down and allowing my frailties to become visible even when I had the choice to hide them.
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.” ~ Bruce Lee The premise of his philosophy was efficiency—complete and utter efficiency of the soul.
The reality of being a disabled person on Medicaid is far more complex and nuanced. Many people do not even know the difference between Medicaid and Medicare and simply consider them “entitlement programs,” as if tax breaks and corporate subsidies aren’t entitlements by another name.