Disability Belongs™ Staff

TV Writer

The 16th Annual “VIRTUAL” California Disability Advocacy Conference inspires, educates, and empowers attendees to become advocates for Californians with developmental disabilities. The conference is presented by The Arc of California, Easterseals and United Cerebral Palsy. Each year, the conference features nationally-known speakers who have been trailblazers for promoting policies that improve the disability system, enabling [click to continue...]

RespectAbility was pleased to partner with with Katriel Nopoulos, Fellow Noah Strauss, and OneTable to celebrate Shabbat in ASL. Shabbat in ASL featured music, community, storytelling, light, food, and conversation. RespectAbility’s Senior Director of Faith Inclusion, Shelly Christensen, joined Katriel and Noah as we welcomed Shabbat together.

Read transcript Advancing opportunities means that we take down barriers to education, employment, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement and create pipelines to enable disabled individuals to lead the lives of their choosing. Watch the recording of this fireside chat and learn from members of our Staff and two of our key partners about our work in [click to continue...]

WIN Summit is a unique opportunity to develop negotiation skills to better equip women to advocate for themselves and their companies. RespectAbility SVP Lauren Appelbaum moderated the panel “Strength in Authenticity: Negotiating with a Disability.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZP4fk2yS4 Cameron S. Mitchell returns to the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge for his third year with “Kryptonite,” starring Grammy-nominated R&B singer Shanice and Switched at Birth actor Ryan Lane. In this emotionally charged film, old flames Imani (Shanice) and Alex (Lane) reconnect at her concert after being estranged for two years. One has a secret [click to continue...]

In honor of March being Women’s History Month, RespectAbility reached out to our Entertainment Lab alumni network and asked them to share their favorite TV shows or movies featuring authentic portrayals of Disabled women, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals. If you’re looking for something new to watch, check out their list of recommendations below – [click to continue...]

Read transcript Hear directly from RespectAbility’s President and CEO Ariel Simms and Chairman of the Board of Directors Ollie Cantos, as they celebrate the achievements of RespectAbility’s first decade as an organization, including achievements in developing leaders, changing policy, ensuring authentic representation, and creating more accessible and inclusive communities. They discussed their vision for RespectAbility’s [click to continue...]

https://vimeo.com/805553571 This past Saturday, Judy Heumann, a legendary changemaker and advocate for disability rights, passed away after a brief time in the hospital. Judy’s website shared the news of her passing and highlights of her life’s work: “Judy was at the forefront of major disability rights demonstrations, helped spearhead the passage of disability rights legislation, [click to continue...]