Author: Carl Sigmond

Voters Sue 3 Alabama Counties for Failure to Provide Accessible Absentee Voting Methods

Today, we turn to Alabama, where people with disabilities are suing three counties in that state for failure to provide an absentee voting option that is fully accessible for blind voters and other voters with disabilities. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month by four individuals and the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama, alleges that the counties are violating the rights of blind voters and other voters with disabilities by failing to provide them with accessible means to mark and return their absentee ballots.

We’re joined by two guests. Dr. Eric Peebles is one of the named plaintiffs in this Alabama lawsuit. He currently serves as executive director of Accessible Alabama, an organization that works to increase accessible housing options in communities for people with disabilities and those facing growing limitations as they age. He has a PhD in rehabilitation from Auburn University. Eric has spastic cerebral palsy because of an oxygen deprivation during birth. This trauma has severely limited his motor skills to the point of functional quadriplegia.

We’re also joined by Bill Van Der Pol, senior trial counsel at the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. Bill is one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the absentee voting lawsuit.

Click here to listen to the interview and/or read the transcript.

2022 Berkeley City Council Candidate Michai Freeman

We are joined today by Michai Freeman, a Systems Change Advocate at the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, California. When she was young, Michai developed a neuromuscular disease. Originally from New York, she spent her formative years in Brooklyn and had to be bussed to a community two hours away from her home to attend a school for the disabled. At that time, in the 1970s, children with disabilities were not admitted to the school closest to her home.

In 1989, Michai came to California to attend the University of California Berkeley. She studied abroad for a year in Egypt and then received her master’s in Holistic Studies with a specialization in nutrition from John F. Kennedy University. She ran for Berkeley City Council in 2022. While she did not win in that election, she continues to advocate for the disabled in her communities.

Click here to listen to the broadcast version of this interview and/or read the transcript.

Embodied Inclusion with Andrew Golibersuch

Today, we’re joined by Andrew Golibersuch, an artist, activist, dancer, and founder of Embodied Inclusion, a project designed to help organizations, communities, and institutions become more inclusive and welcoming to all. In our interview, Andrew shares his journey as a disabled dancer and how his experiences in dance led him to create his Embodied Inclusion workshops, where participants learn what each of us needs to feel comfortable inhabiting space with themselves and others. Andrew is a mental health counselor and art therapist based in western Massachusetts.

Click here to listen to the broadcast version of this interview and/or read the transcript.

The Future of Robotics in Disability Aides

On today’s show, we’re joined once again by Dan and Viola Dwyer, creators of the YouTube channel, The Ginchiest. We invited Dan and Viola back to discuss personal care and how they see robotics playing a role.

Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.

Social Security Increases and Medi-Cal Expansion

In October, the Social Security Administration announced that it would institute an 8.7 percent increase in all Social Security cash benefits and Supplemental Security Income. This cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, which takes effect this month, is meant to counter the soaring cost of everyday expenses due to inflation. For people on fixed income, as many people who receive Social Security or SSI are, this increase will help them continue to put food on their table and pay their bills. This is Social Security’s largest COLA increase since 1981 and it will impact over 72 million Americans.

This got us thinking about other government benefit programs here in California that are either increasing benefits and services for people with disabilities and older adults or expanding eligibility criteria to enable more people to qualify.

Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.

Read More “Disability Rap – January 2, 2023”

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the First Center for Independent Living

On today’s show, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Independent Living Center in the world, founded in 1972 by UC Berkeley students. Joe Xavier, Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation, tells us how California is leading the way in creating a more accessible, equitable workforce, and why that matters to people with disabilities across the state. Former US Congressmember Tony Coelho talks about how growing up with a disability led him to sponsor the ADA. And we hear voices from the Independent Living Street Festival in Berkeley on October 22.

Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.

Samuel Habib’s ‘My Disability Roadmap’

Transitioning from high school to adulthood is a big deal – even more so for young people with disabilities. Not content with merely trailblazing an accessible future, Samuel Habib decided to create a documentary film about his journey. On today’s show, we hear from Samuel and his co-director, Dan Habib, about their film, My Disability Roadmap, and their hopes for the future.

Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.

Voting Access Across the Country

With the midterm elections five weeks away, we spend today’s show looking at voting access for people with disabilities across the country. People with disabilities make up one fifth of the US population, or roughly 66 million people, and yet only 17.7 million people with disabilities voted in this country in 2020. While that was a significant increase over 2016, we wanted to find out what some of the main barriers are that people with disabilities face when trying to exercise our right to vote. We’ll look right here in California and also look at Texas and Wisconsin, where recent laws and court orders have restricted access to the ballot box for voters with disabilities.

Read More “Disability Rap – October 3, 2022”

CalOES’s Vance Taylor on Emergency Preparedness

As we enter fire season here in the Sierra Nevada foothills, we spend today’s show with L. Vance Taylor, who leads the Office of Access and Functional Needs in the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. We invited Vance on the show to talk about how the increasing risk of wildfire and other natural disasters here in California is impacting people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs. We’ll also hear what CalOES is doing to support our community before, during, and after emergencies.

Read More “Disability Rap – September 5, 2022”

Celebrating Disability Pride

July was Disability Pride Month, and to celebrate, we bring you a conversation between two women executives with significant disabilities at the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). Ana Acton, the former Executive Director of FREED and former Disability Rap host, is now DOR’s Deputy Director of Independent Living and Community Access Division. Last month, she sat down with Kim Rutledge, the Deputy Director of Legislation and Communications at DOR, for a wide-ranging conversation about disability, disability pride, and self-acceptance. This month on Disability Rap, we air an extended version of their conversation.

Read More “Disability Rap – August 1, 2022”