Trigger warning: depression, mention of self-harm and suicide

Author’s Note: My depression and dissociation comes and goes. In any given year it can happen once, multiple times, or not at all. I am not a medical professional and therefore, my advice is only a suggestion. I understand not all advice or shared practices work for everyone, but they may help someone. If it helped me, as someone who has depression and dissociation, then it may help someone else. I write this to reach out to anyone who may find this supportive of their experience. The tone is strong and I understand everyone experiences their depression and dissociation differently. As such, everyone has their own way of coping and navigating through these experiences. [continue reading…]

Shelly Christensen

No one does this alone. No one.

More than twenty years ago, I was directing a program aimed at faith communities to raise awareness and guide them to include people with disabilities in communal life. I did a lot of public speaking in this role, and occasionally an audience member would approach me after my talks, waiting a bit nervously until everyone else had spoken with me. Often, the question that they wanted to ask was, “does the inclusion work you do include people living with a mental health condition?”

I felt uncomfortable answering this question. I saw hope in peoples’ eyes. I didn’t want to disappoint them, but the truth was, I stayed as far away from mental health in my talks as possible. Somehow mental health was completely different than disability inclusion. [continue reading…]

Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and Fig in a scene from “Mickey Mouse Funhouse”

Los Angeles, CA, May 13 – Fans of Mickey Mouse who use ASL to communicate will be seeing themselves represented by a new character, Fig, a gnome friend who is deaf.

Fig made his debut in Disney Junior’s “Mickey Mouse Funhouse” Friday. A drummer and music enthusiast, Fig and his sister Olive help Minnie and Daisy understand how he communicates. “The Music of the Seasons” will re-air throughout the month of May and beyond and Fig will appear in additional upcoming episodes alongside Mickey and his friends.

RespectAbility Vice Chair Delbert Whetter and his brother Jevon Whetter, who are both deaf, consulted on the development of this character.

“Jevon and I feel so privileged and honored to connect young deaf and hard of hearing children with such iconic characters as Mickey and Minnie using ASL, a language that is visually accessible to them,” said Delbert Whetter, who has more than 20 years of experience in producing animated feature films. [continue reading…]

At 19 months old, I was put on a medication called phenobarbital, which was “older than Moses.”

My first cognizant memory of being on medication is when my friends asked me, “what does it taste like?” “Cherry.” And so, my fate was sealed. I’d always be the first one asleep at every sleepover.

The very hours I was supposed to be awake, I found myself sleepwalking through life.

“And the seasons they go round and round…”*

Fast forward to middle school, where Aaron Seglin became my voice, knew the questions I wanted to ask and did. He was my clairvoyant. [continue reading…]

Shelly Christensen, Senior Director of Faith Inclusion

Counting the Omer is a reminder that, in addition to counting the days, we also must reflect on who is counted in our communities.

Everyone Counts.

Ask yourself: How do people with disabilities and mental health conditions and those who love them actually count in your community? When I was the Program Manager of the Minneapolis Jewish Inclusion Program for People with Disabilities, I gave a presentation about the program to the boards of Jewish organizations. It was a stirring presentation to raise awareness and introduce how we could work together to create communities of inclusion and belonging. “Everyone counts,” I concluded. “It’s time to count everyone in.” That was twenty years ago. [continue reading…]

Transcript

Hi everybody! My name is Ollie Cantos and I’m Chairman of the board here at RespectAbility. And I am excited to have this opportunity to join with others in celebrating Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This is a really wonderful time of year for us to celebrate the accomplishments, in this particular context, of members of the AAPI community who also happen to have disabilities. [continue reading…]

Ariel Simms (they/them or she/her)

Washington, D.C., May 10 – As the disability community continues to feel the transformative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disability advocacy nonprofit RespectAbility announces that Ariel Simms (they/them or she/her) has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Ariel will foster new growth and opportunities, as part of a renewed vision to deepen RespectAbility’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

“I am incredibly excited to join RespectAbility as its next leader, building on the powerful work of the organization’s co-founders, board, staff, Fellows, and Apprentices. As a diverse, disability-led nonprofit, RespectAbility has advocated to increase opportunity and decrease marginalization of individuals with disabilities and the stigma that persists in every facet of our society. I am eager to renew partnerships and build bridges, ensuring that RespectAbility centers those within and across the disability community who face the most barriers. Coming into RespectAbility at this critical time, we are undergoing transformational change inside and out to become a more just, equitable, and inclusive organization, and one that is deeply trusted by the communities we serve,” Ariel said.

A social justice advocate, leader, and educator, Ariel has worked to promote equity, justice, and meaningful inclusion of marginalized communities throughout their career. Ariel has been a life-long member of the disability community, growing into their first disabilities in childhood, while also supporting disabled family members. As a multiply disabled person, Ariel understands firsthand the challenges faced by those whose disabilities are not always readily apparent. [continue reading…]

Riccardo Ricciardi

The summer after my first year in college, I went to Switzerland to visit my relatives. When I got there, I recognized my great aunt Rebecca. She was visiting from Bolivia. This was a wonderful surprise. She possessed an aura of warmth and love for all of us, and that is something I take with me to this day.

I had flown in from New York just in time for Friday night dinner, as I promised the host, my cousin Marcia and her family. The dinner setting was typical: two loaves of bread covered with linen and two candles sitting on the table. Before dinner, we read Psalms. After dinner, my cousin and I decided to question my great aunt, “the keeper of the family secrets,” on her knowledge of the ins and outs of the strange bag of Addams Family type mysteries which had been our childhood. For example, not being allowed to eat pork or shellfish under any circumstance. We also had questions about reading Psalms before having a meal, never mixing dairy and meat, and the most bizarre of them all, how they used to take it upon themselves to eat a ram’s head once a year. After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and said with solemnity, “somos Judios. We’re Jews.” The second I heard that, I felt as if I were struck by lightning. [continue reading…]

As I was reading Shelly’s introductory note, I couldn’t help but reflect on the deep significance of building a house of worship that draws everyone into belonging. I think many of us have probably noted the inherent dichotomy between the Torah’s exclamation that we were all designed in the image of God, with the observable range of difference of humanity. Growing up in a post-Enlightenment Reform household, we were taught that this referred to the best parts of our natures, our love, our altruism, our morality and nobility.

It wasn’t until I got to college that I studied a rabbinic discussion about the treatment of the body that had been executed in a judicial proceeding that I realized that for them the image was quite literal. It begs the question then: how can this be both literal and true? [continue reading…]