News

Ollie Cantos, RespectAbility Vice Chair, with his triplet sons who are Eagle Scouts, along with RespectAbility Vice Chair Vivian Bass, Calvin Harris, Chair Emeritus and CEO Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

As part of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities’ COVID-19 Coordination Cohort, we have been helping lead the united efforts of more than 110 disability groups on Capitol Hill. We at RespectAbility are grateful to join so many other national disability organizations in standing with our community when we were needed most. Quite simply, we are family, and THAT is what families DO.

When COVID-19 began to ravage our own by threatening the lives, livelihoods and physical and mental health of our friends, colleagues and loved ones, we quickly activated all our assets at every level. We leveraged an “all hands-on-deck” approach to make a difference on multiple fronts. As has been true since our inception, we called upon thousands to get involved. True to who we are, we rallied like never before: [continue reading…]

Nicole Homerin

The RespectAbility National Leadership Program gave me an opportunity to learn and collaborate with experts in the field of disability advocacy and inclusion. I was able to learn about how my experience in the field of special education intersects with other areas of work that advance opportunities for individuals with disabilities. During my time in the National Leadership Program, I worked alongside a team of talented Fellows and staff with wide-ranging expertise to create an Educational Resource Guide to support distance learning for students with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of your support, our guide was extensively covered by national press, including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The guide also was downloaded more than 5,000 times via RespectAbility’s website, helping parents of children with disabilities and special educators cope during this pandemic. This experience allowed me to hone my research skills and collaborate with others to ensure the guide was accurate, accessible and user-friendly for individuals with and without disabilities. [continue reading…]

Randall Duchesneau

This year RespectAbility played a critical role in protecting people with disabilities during the pandemic in many ways, including economically. In March, when the pandemic took hold in the United States and the federal government prepared to respond, RespectAbility was on hand to help elected officials understand how their actions might help or hurt people with disabilities.

Over the course of my career, I have advocated for people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities. Last spring, I saw the effectiveness of RespectAbility’s work in advocacy in action. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, Dec. 16 – “Our view remains back by the crash site, watching as they venture out across the permafrost in the gloomy ice tunnel. With the child tucked in his arm, Mando follows the labyrinthian path as it winds around frosty kraggs, lit softly in a blush tint by sunlight that finds its way in through intermittent gaps above. The infant’s wide, curious eyes take in the sublime, arctic environment.” – Audio Description (AD) from Episode 2, Season 2 of The Mandalorian

That is just a small taste of the fantastic audio description for Season 2 of The Mandalorian. Season 1 of the show received an award from the American Council for the Blind for their outstanding audio description in July of 2020. Season 2 kept up the quality of the audio description and is genuinely vivid and beautiful. [continue reading…]

With the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine starting, RespectAbility reminds elected and healthcare officials that medical rationing that harms people with disabilities is illegal and wrong.

Washington, D.C., Dec. 16 – Hospitals across the country are being overwhelmed by new coronavirus cases, with data showing more than 200,000 new cases daily. A new report from NPR’s All Things Considered highlights how the lives of people with disabilities are in the balance and medical professionals are denying equal access to care. The disability advocacy nonprofit RespectAbility reminds elected and healthcare officials that not only does medical rationing harm people with disabilities, it is also illegal and wrong. [continue reading…]

L-R Back Row: Sharon Pierre-Louis (ASL interpreter), Lauren Appelbaum (RespectAbility Vice President, Communications and Lab Program Director), Delbert Whetter (RespectAbility Board of Directors), Jonathan Murray (RespectAbility Board of Directors), Stephen Simon (City of Los Angeles Department on Disability), Diana Elizabeth Jordan (Actress and RespectAbility Volunteer), Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi (RespectAbility President), Harvey Reese / Front Row: Matan Koch (RespectAbility Director of California Office), Tatiana Lee (RespectAbility Hollywood Inclusionist and Lab Program Associate), Josh Steinberg (RespectAbility Program Associate). Credit: Nasreen Alkhateeb, 2019 Lab Alumna

While growing up I rarely saw people with disabilities on television or in movies. When they did make an appearance, it was usually as a character that needed saving or someone that the audience was meant to pity. This lack of authenticity in disability representation and portrayal in media leads to unfortunate caricatures or whitewashing of stories that demean, stigmatize and diminish our existence in society.

We believe that the world is ready for a more uplifting and aspirational narrative—one that authentically depicts people with disabilities as they deserve to be portrayed, as multi-dimensional characters with hopes, flaws, and dreams who are capable of being fighters, heroes, villains and champions in the stories that Hollywood puts on our screens.

Thankfully, the tide is beginning to turn, and we are beginning to tell our own stories. [continue reading…]

Janet LaBreck

I have spent my career advocating for people who are blind or have low-vision or other disabilities, and my work with RespectAbility continues along this path. Over the years, I have learned the value of listening to people with disabilities and key stakeholders to drive change. Leveraging partnerships and innovative strategies to transform systems to reflect the authentic voice of the disability community has led to more inclusive approaches to identifying and implementing potential solutions that we in the disability community can create. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 10 – The Sound of Metal is a film that will hit home for anyone with a disability of any kind. The film is about a drummer named Ruben in a punk rock group who suddenly loses most of his hearing. Ruben, portrayed beautifully by Riz Ahmed (The Night Of, Venom), is forced to confront the loss of hearing head-on and struggles to deal with the fallout. He despairs at the involuntary cancellation of his group’s music tour and desperately tries to find ways to get his hearing back. He soon begins to live in a Deaf community led by Joe, a Vietnam veteran who, like Ruben, experienced the sudden loss of his hearing as an adult. Joe is played by Paul Raci, a hearing actor who grew up with Deaf parents (sometimes affectionately referred to in the Deaf community as a “CODA,” meaning a Child of Deaf Adults) and who remains active within the Deaf community both in his professional and personal life. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, Dec. 10 – It’s that time of the year again – the holiday season, and that means Christmas Movies. But there is one in particular that stands out from most.

Lifetime Networks’ “Christmas Ever After” tells the story of romance novelist Izzi struggling to write her popular book series’ newest installment. A Christmas vacation to her favorite bed and breakfast turns into a getaway to spark inspiration to clear her writer’s block.

Tony award-winning actress Ali Stroker makes history again as the first woman in a wheelchair to play the female protagonist in this Christmas romance film. The best part of the movie is her disability. Her disability wasn’t the film’s focus or even mentioned; everything was accessible and seamless for the starlet. They even showed her driving a car with her chair in the passenger seat; as a fellow wheelchair user, that was so relatable. No one asked her if she needed help. Others never questioned her competence and ability to accomplish her goals. She was quite supportive and helpful to everyone around her as well. [continue reading…]