Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Park City, Utah, Jan. 25 – The cutting reality that your life has been forever formed by a series of self-made choices hits deeply with most experiences of being human. But the real slap occurs when you foster space to explore the decisions that were made on behalf of you. Ella Glendining suspends this theme above the heads of her audience with the documentary Is There Anybody Out There?, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, January 22. In her feature doc, Glendining sets out to explore disability and the urgent desire to find a mirrored image among her fellow humans.

Glendining, born with no hip joints and short femurs, evaded surgical intervention during her childhood to change her image. Her condition is quite rare. However, through the course of her film, she interviews a group of disabled folks who share her diagnosis. As she guides the conversations, she poses the same quandary to them: should disabled people change their disability? Glendining seems to think not, at least – for her condition. At the emotional apex of the film, Glendining confesses her position to the mother of Charlie, a little boy with the same disability. “He’s perfect,” Glendining tearfully proclaims. [continue reading…]

Last year, former RespectAbility Apprentice Christina Lisk interviewed Roy Payan, the first-ever recipient of the Justin W. Chappell Memorial Award. Nominations are now open for the 2023 Justin Chappell Memorial Award and the 2023 Steve Bartlett Award – learn more!

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Park City, Jan. 19 – With one-in-five people having a disability in the U.S. today, the lack of representation – just 2.3 percent of characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2019 and 8 percent in family films – means that millions of people are unable to see themselves reflected in media.

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival (January 19 – 29) will provide an opportunity for audiences with various disabilities to see themselves represented – both in-person and virtually.

This year, several films feature disability in the plot, including Is There Anybody Out There?, Sometimes I Think About Dying, Slow, The Eternal Memory, The Tuba Thieves, To Live and Die and Live, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Fairyland, Chanshi, Take Me Home, Well Wishes My Love, Your Love, By Water, and Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie, among others. [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., January 19 – RespectAbility is pleased to announce that nominations for the second-annual Justin Chappell Memorial Award and Steve Bartlett Award are now open and will close on April 14th. Award winners will receive $1,000 and be honored in a public ceremony celebrating RespectAbility’s ten-year anniversary.

“As we launch the celebration of our tenth year of advocacy on behalf of and with the full diversity of the disability community, we are excited that these awards are returning to honor the work of incredible advocates who have helped make full participation in the community possible for more disabled individuals,” said Ariel Simms, RespectAbility’s President and CEO. “In 2022, for our inaugural awards, we had the distinct privilege of honoring two incredible advocates in the field, and we cannot wait to review nominations for the current cycle!” [continue reading…]

Over the course of the last decade, self-employment and entrepreneurship have become increasingly recognized as an employment strategy for people with disabilities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people with disabilities are self-employed at a rate nearly twice that of their non-disabled peers. As of the 2019 American Community Survey, more than 700,000 workers with disabilities were self-employed.

Posited reasons for these facts range from a lack of discrimination when you work for yourself to the ability to accommodate flexible work schedules. Regardless of the reason, entrepreneurship is a key element to successful vocational rehabilitation (VR). RespectAbility has launched a three-part project to help VR and others equip entrepreneurial jobseekers with disabilities for success: [continue reading…]

In the closing days of the last congress, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was passed. The legislation incorporated many different priorities, but one major one for the disability community is the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which adjusts the eligible age of disability onset to open an ABLE (A Better Life Experience) account from 26 to 46 starting on January 1, 2026. This represents a major victory on legislation that was moving through the Senate but had stalled in committee in the House, and it will enable more people with acquired disabilities to achieve and maintain financial independence.

If you already know about ABLE accounts and just haven’t gotten around to opening one, stop reading right now and visit the website of the ABLE national resource center, which will have a link directly to your state. If you do not already know, ABLE accounts are savings accounts designed specifically for people with disabilities and their families to aid them in financial independence. Enacted in December 2014, the ABLE Act provides tax-advantaged savings accounts for people with disabilities and their families. Through ABLE, a person with a disability can save up to a significant sum of money per year without compromising their benefits for qualified disability expenses such as educational costs, housing expenditures, and payment for transportation. This applies to any type of disability. [continue reading…]

Hawaii Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke speaking at the 2022 CSG National Conference

In December 2022, hundreds of state legislators from different states gathered at the Council of State Governments (CSG) National Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. They shared legislative priorities, including workforce shortages, the aging workforce, interstate compacts, and Western state emergency response.

At each discussion, I had the opportunity to educate these leaders on the disability dimensions of their most pressing issues, while advocating for solutions incorporating the needs and talents of people with disabilities. The five days of meetings were an opportunity to educate, learn from, and build relationships with the policymakers that I will engage with all over the country this year. [continue reading…]

Ben Bond

When I was offered the Faith Inclusion and Belonging Associate position at RespectAbility, I felt I was coming home. The intersectionality of faith inclusion and disability is at the heart of my calling, woven through the very fabric of my being.

I have lived with dyslexia my whole life (what an ironically hard word to spell). When I was in high school, I sustained a physical injury which caused severe constant, chronic, and debilitating pain. The obstacles I encountered with a physical disability made me become intimately and undeniably aware of the physical manifestations of ableism.

As an undergraduate major in religious studies receiving disability accommodations I investigated the connections between disability and spirituality in a multifaith context. I continued that journey at Yale Divinity School and began asking questions about disability and Christian traditions. I was both disheartened and encouraged. I was heartbroken as I came to terms with the ways Christianity was instrumental in constructing the current systems of ableism which are pervasive in western society. I was also curious about ways Christianity could be a site of liberation and transformation for disabled people, faith communities, and institutions. [continue reading…]

New York City, Jan 12 – Heartwarming, witty, and wonderfully sweet, An Irish Goodbye conveys the nuance of two characters caught in the middle of grief while also tackling what some people would consider an unusual brotherhood. Lorcan, played by James Martin, is taken aback by his mother’s death but also is afraid he will lose his brother Turlough. Meanwhile, his brother, played by Seamus O’Hara, struggles to find a way to care for his brother who has Down syndrome. Turlough wants to send Lorcan off to his aunt so he can return to London and just move on.

It is no wonder that this short film has been shortlisted for the BAFTA Film Awards and the Academy Awards. It manages to explore so many complicated subjects in such a short time while also delivering truly charming characters. It can be hard to find honest and well-meaning portrayals of “inter-abled” relationships. So many films show a caretaker who outshines the character with a disability, who is only defined by their struggles. Often, characters like Lorcan would be reduced to tropes surrounding Down syndrome. However, An Irish Goodbye changes everything by making sure that the core of the story is a relationship between brothers.

James Martin as Lorcan in An Irish Goodbye

Lorcan feels like such a wonderfully fleshed-out character, even when people misunderstand him. He is mourning for his mother but also for the previous relationship he’s had with his brother. He also has a memorable personality of his own: he is easily the funniest character and approaches everything in an honest and sweet manner. Turlough finds that maybe he underestimated Lorcan and hasn’t opened himself up to seeing him as he is. Seeing both brothers slowly understand and laugh with each other, in their unique way, will make anyone fall in love with these characters.

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