The “Special” Load of Laundry
By James A. Cates, Jr. “Jake” was a small boy for 15 years of age. It was difficult to imagine the severe emotional disturbance that led to his placement in a residential treatment center,...
Category: Disability Advocacy
Messy Edges
By Vina Mogg I remember the first time I held a watercolor brush in my hand. There was something therapeutic about the weight of it between my fingers, the shape of the brush tapering...
The Creative Tension of Mental Illness
By Bernie Sheahan I’m Bernie Sheahan. I’m creative…and mentally ill. There are many categories of mental illness; I’m an expert on just one. The novelist William Styron called it “darkness visible” in his best-selling...
The Limitations of Welcome: An Interview with Amy Jacober
By Melanie Springer Mock Amy Jacober remembers well the anger she felt when, in her early 20s, she saw a first-grade girl get kicked out of her church’s youth choir. The girl, a daughter...
Disability and the Forgotten “Ism”
By Matt Curcio People with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the US. As many as one in five Americans have a permanent and life-altering disability. Yet, more often than not, we...
Where Heaven and Earth Intersect: Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago
By Elrena Evans In 2014, lifelong friends Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray completed the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile pilgrimage across northern Spain. Justin has a degenerative neuromuscular condition known as Multifocal Acquired Motor...
The Right to Work
By Matt Curcio The United States is in the middle of an employment crisis—one that will probably never be covered by Fox or CNN. Politicians are super proud of being able to get that big scary...
The Gift of Fragility
By Jean Vanier The founder of L’Arche shares how living in a community based on weakness leads to friendship with God. I have been living for 42 years with people with disabilities. It has...
Help Children With Special Needs Feel Welcome at Your Holiday Party
By Gillian Marchenko The holiday season typically means people get more of everything; more food, more gift giving, more parties and visits. For families who have children with special needs, the holidays usually mean more challenges...
Some Voices are Still Voiceless
By Matt Curcio If you haven’t heard yet, Donald Trump will take office in January 2017. Some of those reading this voted for him, some of you are still reeling from his win. I...
