I have no idea how the cuts in the Department of Education will impact students with disabilities, but I expect current students will not have the educational opportunities and special education services I received. The Department of Education helps make sure that more than 7 million students with disabilities get the special education services they’re… Continue reading Terrible IDEA!
This is not an easy list. So many things happened that could have been the most memorable of the decade. Well, there are the DBS surgeries, I think they’ve had a huge impact on not just me, but my whole family. But, I want to focus on non-medical, non-traumatic moments. April 14th, 2016 My first… Continue reading Top Moments of the Decade
The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a short story about a 19th century woman who probably has depression due to having a baby. She is forbidden from socializing, writing, pretty much doing anything by her “psychiatrist” husband who prescribed a “rest” cure. Mental health treatment in the 19th century sucked! So she is forced… Continue reading My Yellow Wallpaper
My brother’s graduation My brother is a high school graduate and I couldn’t be prouder…oh, wait, that is what my mom would say. I truly am proud of my younger brother for graduating. My younger brother is awesome and I am proud to call him my friend. Through nerf sword fights and surgeries, he has… Continue reading Summer
In the 2018 fiscal year, 16 percent of Minnesotans with disabilities who received state services worked in the community alongside people without disabilities. Chris Serres, Star Tribune, 3/16/19 How is this real? That number needs to be a hell of a lot higher than 16%. I am NOT one of the 16% by the way… although I… Continue reading Barriers to Inclusion Part 3: Employment
On Monday, I got to go hang out and volunteer with my young friend, Roa, who also has cerebral palsy. He’s in elementary school and reminds me of me when I was that age. I remember playing hide and seek in those same hallways during recess when I was his age. In the winter, when… Continue reading Hope. Grace. Kindness.
Justin Smith Writes 