On Sunday I was waiting to pick up my grandsons, Eli and Isaac, from Hebrew school at our synagogue. I listened as their classes were practicing the Four Questions in the sanctuary. Like their dad and their uncles before them, they would officially lead the Four Questions at our seders this year!

The passage of time and attention to inclusive Jewish practices have focused on the creation of accessible haggadot and Passover materials. These remarkable resources, developed by educators and inclusion practitioners, appeal to the diversity of knowledge acquisition, leading to participation and a sense of belonging for people with disabilities of all ages.

What is so important about inclusive materials and programs is that they are meant for all people to use. The resources listed below were developed to include everyone at our seder tables, and provide just a snapshot of what is available. Wishing you a joyful Passover! [continue reading…]

Every year, as spring comes and the boxes of matzah appear on grocery store shelves, my social media feed fills with reminders to start cleaning early. Memes about flourless treats abound, pictures of the perfect Seder plate crop up, and my stomach twists into knots.

Our cycle of holidays is a back and forth of feasts and fasts, giving rise to the old mantra, “they tried to destroy us, they failed, let’s eat!” While I deeply enjoy many of these holidays, I must admit that I feel less than thrilled about Pesach, especially when compared to the others.

This stems from the fact that there is no easy way for me to walk into a Seder, be it hosted by a friend or my community, and admit my uncomfortable truths. I have struggled with anorexia and other eating disorders since elementary school and, despite five plus years of recovery, the Seder table feels less like a symbol of liberation and more a personification of my neuroses around food. [continue reading…]

Dennis Tran

Los Angeles, CA, April 8 – Growing up Vietnamese American to a family with disabilities and unhealed intergenerational trauma was something very eye opening for me. In my experience, mental health and disability are rarely discussed in our Vietnamese American cultural upbringing, and they are often seen as shameful. In fact, they were portrayed as a curse or bad luck. On my dad’s side of the family, showing any sort of emotions or opening up about our struggles would be seen as either a weakness or a threat. I have observed many comparisons and slights that my dad experienced for being disabled and different from his own relatives and siblings.

This was something very common among kids with immigrant parents, especially in Asian families. The stigma surrounding mental health and disability has been around for decades. The society we grew up in didn’t really prioritize or support mental health and disability. There was a lot of injustice, inaccessibility, and inequity to resources and opportunities. News and entertainment media at the time didn’t help to destigmatized this. Instead, it contributed to toxic masculinity and the idealization of physically strong looking male figures while continuing the narrative that anyone who looks or seen as different should be shamed upon or ostracized. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, April 7 – “Being Michelle” is a powerful and emotional documentary film that follows the life of a Deaf woman with autism who has survived numerous instances of abuse and injustice at the hands of the U.S. incarceration system. The film had its world premiere at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival this week, and will soon screen at the Florida Film Festival as well. At its core, “Being Michelle” is a story about hope and resilience in the face of adversity due to one’s family upbringings, circumstances, and the ableist injustices of the U.S. incarceration system. No matter what you are going through, you are not alone, and this documentary is a reminder of that through the story of Michelle’s journey as she continues to be that ray of sunshine for others despite what she has gone through. Her story matters and is an example for others to be able to learn and take up space.

Throughout the film, audiences learn that Michelle experienced an abusive family dynamic growing up; a pattern and experience that unfortunately followed her into the incarceration system, where police officers were quick to condemn her due to a lack of understanding of her disabilities, and without really trying to understand her or why she was acting or behaving a certain way. The documentary really brings to light how society is quick to judge and make assumptions about someone without getting to know them, as in the case of Michelle, who was misunderstood and could not articulate what she wanted to say and express her emotions due to a lack of means to communication between the Hearing officers and prison employees and herself as a Deaf woman. [continue reading…]

Selfie of Eric Ascher in the spin room at the CNN Democratic Debate in Des Moines Iowa

Rockville, Maryland, April 7 – I remember when my parents first told me that I was on the autism spectrum. I was in high school. They gave me a document with typical characteristics of what was then referred to as “asperger’s syndrome.” I clearly fit the bill. For example, I am passionate about a small list of things. I have trouble making friends, and I am socially awkward.

But I’m ashamed to admit that I remember not wanting to call myself autistic. I knew other autistic kids at school, and how they “acted out.” I didn’t want to be associated with them. As a 16-year-old, I was the exact type of person who might have used the phrase “differently-abled” or some other euphemism to describe myself, had I known that euphemisms were an option. I’ve previously written about how I was bullied throughout my school years, and how the harassment literally kept me in the closet. I wanted nothing more than to be “normal,” to not be different.

But more than a decade later, I’m proud to be on the autism spectrum. I’ve been exposed to the perspectives of autistic people that I follow on social media and other autistic people that I’ve befriended over the years. I’ve learned that it’s not a bad thing, it’s simply who I am. I know there are some things I’m never going to be as good at as my neurotypical peers. I can’t give an impromptu speech to save my life, and networking events are super uncomfortable for me. But there are other areas where I excel. I know everything about Apple products that any one person could reasonably know. I do a great job managing websites and precisely editing videos. [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., April 4 – RespectAbility is pleased to announce two new awards in honor of Justin W. Chappell and Steve Bartlett, both key contributors to our work. Nominations for the first-annual awards are open now and will close on May 15. Winners of the awards will receive $1,000 and will be recognized in a ceremony.

Justin W. Chappell

The Justin Chappell Memorial Award honors a former or current Apprentice of the National Leadership Program who demonstrates a strong commitment to the advancement of the disability community in policy, entertainment, or philanthropy. This award honors Justin W. Chappell, who devoted his life to human and disability rights and passed away on September 9, 2021.

Steve Bartlett

The Steve Bartlett Award recognizes and honors an individual in the private or public sector who demonstrates a strong commitment to using the political system to advance public policy in support of people with disabilities. The award recognizes local, state, and national leaders who advocate policies that help to advance opportunities for people with disabilities in different areas including economic growth, educational excellence and achievement, sustainability, workforce and employment, and equity. This award is in honor of Steve Bartlett, former Chairperson of RespectAbility, former member of Congress (1983-1991) and former mayor of Dallas. [continue reading…]

Building on Momentum as Capacity Grows, New Hires Pave the Way for Greater Societal Impact

Los Angeles, April 3 – RespectAbility, a diverse, disability-led nonprofit that works to create systemic change in how society views and values people with disabilities and that advances policies and practices that empower people with disabilities to have a better future, continues to expand its scope with five new hires across the entire organization.

The new team members – who collectively bring more than 50 years of experience in fields such as adult education, the entertainment industry, and corporate fundraising – include:

Jacquill Moss, Entertainment Media Program Coordinator; Graciano Petersen, Senior Director for Training, Culture, and Leadership Development; Theresa Soares, Media Business Development Associate; Joy St. Juste, Director of Marketing and Communications; and Wally Tablit, Director of State Policy.

These new hires will ensure RespectAbility is able to continue its mission of fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. [continue reading…]

Setting the theme of ‘Connection,’ RespectAbility and more than 1400 companies and organizations will drive calls to action to address the surge of loneliness and isolation felt by millions as a result of the pandemic

Learn more at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org 

Los Angeles, April 1 – RespectAbility announces today its participation in the second-annual Mental Health Action Day held on Thursday, May 19 with more than 1,400 other leading companies, brands, nonprofits and cultural leaders globally.

As the global conversation around mental health continues – including the White House’s new unity agenda strategy to address mental health in the United States – finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Convened by MTV Entertainment Group, Mental Health Action Day was created with an open-source model that has effectively united and galvanized brands, organizational leaders, and cultural leaders to seamlessly integrate the message and spirit into their existing branding and voice. [continue reading…]

RespectAbility’s message testing shows us that, in general, people prefer a message that says that we are a stronger community when we are welcoming, diverse, and respect one another, and that everyone should have an equal opportunity to fully participate in our community. 87 percent of respondents in our 2021 survey of the Jewish community felt that this message was highly persuasive, while only 27 percent felt that a message that promoted inclusion because it was commanded by the Jewish tradition was most powerful.

However, one of the great things about Jewish law is that, with the possible exception of the Holiness code, our laws make sense. After almost 25 years of learning the Jewish teachings on disability, I can safely say that the Rabbinic approach is premised on the notion that everyone should have an equal opportunity to participate. Therefore, these are not actually 2 separate messages, but the same message.

For me, this highlights one of the challenges that I’ve noted throughout my decades of Jewish inclusion work. Because people don’t always know what Judaism has to say about disability, many think that disability inclusion is a topic separate from, if not foreign to, a Jewish worldview. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. [continue reading…]