It started with a tweet. ‘Honestly when I get scouted/discovered by a modeling agency it’s OVER for y’all,’ wrote Aaron. ‘By y’all I mean the WORLD! ‘It’s real inclusivity/diversity hours folks, get into it!’ That tweet, along with two photos of Aaron in her wheelchair, quickly racked up more than 24,000 retweets and 89,000 likes. That was back in November. Now, Aaron’s appeared in ASOS magazine, posed in H&M’s pride collection, and has been featured by everyone from Paper Magazine to Them. Basically, she’s taking over the fashion world. That’s a big deal, because Aaron (pronounced A-ron) Philip is not the standard model we’re so used to seeing. She’s 17 years old, she identifies as a non-binary transgender girl and gender non-conforming femme (her pronouns are she/her or they/them), she’s black, and she uses a wheelchair. ‘I was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy from birth,’ Aaron tells Metro.co.uk. ‘CP affects my fine motor skills and general movement, hence my muscle spasticity and depending on my motorised wheelchair to get around. To read more on this story, click here:Meet Aaron Philip, the Trans, Disabled Model Shaking Up the Fashion Industry
For seventeen years of my life I was "lazy", "clumsy", "slothful" and a "neurotic hypochondriac". I was the child teachers rolled their eyes at. "What’s wrong now?" was the most common response to me raising my hand. I was probably deeply annoying. Then I was diagnosed with a genetic disability. Suddenly, I was "inspirational". How had I managed to get out of bed? They marvelled. How brave, how amazing, how… inspiring! To read more on this story, click here:Why Not All Disabled People Want to Be Seen As ‘An Inspiration’
Champions for Employment Colton Channon needed just 90 minutes each day. Every morning for about a month, in training designed for him, the high school senior with an intellectual disability practiced making steel brackets for trucks at a Des Moines factory. The skill took more than a few tries to master. But his co-workers, he said, cheered him on. A supervisor stayed close, showing him how to pack the parts neatly into boxes that would ship to Ford, Honda and General Motors. And the effort produced something the 20-year-old once deemed distant: A job offer he could see turning into a career. As the nation’s unemployment rate nears the lowest point in 50 years, sinking in May to 3.8 percent, companies are searching more widely to fill vacancies. Advocates say the labor shortage, coupled with growing openness to workers with mental and physical limitations, has brought record numbers of people with disabilities into the workforce — and it has also pushed employers to adopt more inclusive practices to support the new hires, such as longer and more hands-on training. To read more on this story, click here:She Cleaned for $3.49 an Hour: A Gas Station Just Offered Her $11.25
The theme park, based on the classic children's TV series - Sesame Street, is the first to be designated as a certified Autism center. The park is located in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania and aims to meet the needs of children with Autism. In addition to creating a sensory guide ranking each ride and establishing quiet rooms, staff members have undergone extensive training to help meet the needs of children on the spectrum. To read more on this story, click here:Welcome to Sesame Place - The World’s First Ever Autism-Friendly Theme Park
Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2018\ Time: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Location: RCM of Washington, Inc. 64 New York Ave NE, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20002 On Wednesday, July 25th from 5:30-6:30 PM, join us at RCM’s Main Office for a Book Club Interest Event. You will learn about our upcoming club, see a demo and enjoy refreshments amongst friends. We are recruiting four to eight club members and a team of facilitators. The club is slated to begin Wednesday, August 1st and will meet bi-weekly from 5:30 – 6:30 PM at a metro accessible community location. RCM of Washington recently became an affiliate organization for Next Chapter Book Club, an global inclusive book club model for adults with IDD and other community members. Learn more about the Next Chapter Book Club at www.nextchapterbookclub.org We are excited to announce that RCM’s affiliate club will be the first Next Chapter Book Club in DC! We need your support to make this a success. The club is for anyone with IDD, not just people supported by RCM. People do not need to be able to read in order to join. We are also looking for volunteer facilitators! What does a Facilitator do? Each club meeting has two Facilitators. They guide the members in making book selections and other decisions about the club. They are knowledgeable about our Standards of Practice and have learned strategies for engaging readers of all levels, including those who cannot read at all. RSVP’s are appreciated. Open to all! On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/207840700065047/
Are you a person with a disability? Do you have a right to make choices in your life? Are you under guardianship? Does your guardian make choices for you that you don’t want? Do you have the supports that you need to make decisions about where to live, what to do, how to spend money, or when to see a doctor? Have you been advised to seek guardianship of your child? Are you looking for alternatives to guardianship? Do you wish that there were better alternatives than the ones you’ve seen? If you’re wondering about any of these questions, our new guide will help. This guide helps people with disabilities understand decision-making laws. You will learn about different kinds of support you can use to make choices. You will also learn about how people in different countries have changed their laws to help people with disabilities make our own choices. Freedom to make our own choices is a human right. To read more on this story, click here:The Right to Make Choices: International Laws and Decision-Making by People with Disabilities
