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Activism and Advocacy

Educating the world about disability is how we make progress toward change. Take some time to learn about the advocacy issues that matter most to the disability community, the different approaches to activism, and what issues drive activists to continue fighting.

Ask to Vax!

COVID-19 Vaccines for Youth with Disabilities #AskToVax
DREDF, YO! Disabled & Proud, and Rooted in Rights have joined together to help disabled California Youth learn more about COVID-19 vaccines for children aged five and up. Children and youth with underlying
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A fair-skinned, dark-haired person holds a megaphone to their mouth. They're joined by out-of-focus protestors in the background.

It Doesn’t Get Better: Online Activism and TMAU Awareness

A parent with the odor-related medical condition trimethylaminuria (TMAU) recently drew attention to an episode of the NetFlix series Word Party titled “The Search for the Stink Monster.” It reportedly teaches children “You’re never stinky as long as you have …
Artwork. A gold plaque has the following written on it in black text: "This institution has failed to provide disabled individuals with an accessible evacuation plan. In the case of an emergency, this is where my people will die. Please remember us. Please remember me."

In the Stairwell, We Will Die

During my sophomore year of college, I wrote my will. That year was filled with trauma. I’d noticed a constant ache in my lower back that soon trickled down my legs and into my feet. They started to look like …
Two younger, dark-haired people with long hair - one brown-skinned, the other fairer skinned - in a living room. The fairer skinned person, wearing blue scrubs and a stethoscope around their neck, is standing beside the couch where the other person is seated. They're both smiling at the camera as the standing person passes a wooden tray with a white bowl of food and a glass of orange juice to the seated person.

A List of Demands: A Living Wage for Home Care Aids Supports Disabled People

I am angry—angry that Fair Pay for Home Care was not fully funded in New York’s budget in January 2022. And angry that the small pay increase that was approved won’t solve New York’s severe shortage of home care workers. …
A row of curved mirrors that distort reflections.

Too Disabled? Or Not Disabled Enough?

Imposter syndrome–the feeling that you are pretending to be someone you aren’t–slowly devours me from two sides. On the one hand, I feel “not disabled enough.” My first time voting, I couldn’t reach or see up to the tiny tables…
An empty room in a nursing home with a bed, chair, desk, and window.

An Account of Being Sentenced to Life in a Skilled Nursing Facility

Content notes: toileting, neglect, isolation, institutionalization This morning I watched my roommate eat her breakfast on a bedside commode that had been full since yesterday. Again. I don’t really know which stench was worse, the potty or the shame. If…
A pattern of of illustrated speech bubbles that have different emoji indicating harassment.

The Harms of Perpetuating “Illness Fakers”

I had not long been a part of the online chronic illness community when I discovered the Illness Fakers page on Reddit. I only saw it because someone I followed was being harassed, and their content being taken apart on…
2021 International Week of Deaf People logo - a circle made of two hands surrounding a rainbow of stars

Without Meaningful Allyship, Hearing People are Doomed to a Never-Ending Cycle of Poor Deaf Awareness

Deaf people exist, and if you’re a hearing person and are aware of that fact, then you win – though I don’t have any stickers left, and there’s no way for me to know that you are aware of my…
Malvika Padin standing in a well-lit hallway wearing black-rimmed glasses, shoulder-length dark brown hair left loose, clad in a black top, jeans and a grey coat with her hands in her coat pockets.

The Cultural Implications of Being Disabled in India

It’s been eight years since I began experiencing debilitating flare ups of a chronic condition, and despite having a parent who is a doctor, it never crossed my mind that what I was struggling with could be considered a disability. …