Accessibility for All

YAI

Listen to this Article YAI has been providing innovative services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) since its founding in 1957, at a time when institutional living was the norm for people with I/DD. The nonprofit was launched in February of that year out of a small school in Brooklyn, New York. Initially staffed by co-founders Bert MacLeech and Pearl Maze MacLeech alone, their pilot program served just seven people.

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Matthew Walzer

By Fred J. Maahs, Jr. Listen to this Article From writing an open letter to becoming a disability advocate I had the pleasure of meeting Matthew Walzer a few years ago when he was being honored with a Catalyst Award at the Annual Convention for The Arc.  On that night, Matthew took the podium to

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Blind IT Instructor, “See me first as a person who is blind and not as a blind person.”

Listen to this Article Information Technology (IT) is his passion, and at his job with the Trinidad & Tobago Blind Welfare Association, Kerryn Gunness gets to do what he loves every day. He is an IT instructor, teaching the visually impaired how to use various forms of technology. Be it computers, mobile phones or tablets,

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Ryan is making a difference

Listen to this Article When Ryan was in middle school, he was diagnosed with a non-verbal learning disability (NVLD). Growing up, this neurological condition marked by academic and sometimes social difficulties resulted in many challenges.  He received occupational therapy and accommodations in the schools he attended, with assistance from many tutors, counselors, and academic advisors.

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What should I say?

Listen to this Article Should I say ‘disabled person’ or a person with a disability? Author: Mary Ann McColl Professor, Queen’s University, Ontario Recently, an Alberta woman with an obvious physical disability was asked to leave a grocery store and not come back because she could not pack her own groceries quickly enough. According to

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Jo Joshi’s DMCFinder

Listen to this Article Written by St. Cloud State University student Taylor Mulcahy, B.A. in Psychology DMCFinder can be used by people with disabilities as they plan their travel Jo Joshi grew up in Nottingham, United Kingdom, and attended De Montfort University in Leicester. Her parents are her biggest inspiration who taught her that: “life is

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