Disability Rap

Hospitals don’t generally sue patients for trespassing, but that is what happened to Alexis Ratcliff. Alexis is 18 years old and has lived in a hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina since she was 13. Last year, the hospital sued Alexis for trespassing to try and force her to move out. Alexis wants to leave the hospital, too, just not where the hospital wanted her to go. Alexi

In honor of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month this March, FREED Center for Independent Living partnered with the California Department of Rehabilitation to host a live recording of the Disability Rap radio show and podcast. The show featured a panel discussion focusing on the transition from youth to adulthood for people with cerebral palsy. Our panelists shared their stories

On this Valentine’s Day, we’re joined once again by Dan and Viola Dwyer, creators of the YouTube channel The Ginchiest, for a conversation about what makes their relationship work, how they’d like to see disability and relationships portrayed in popular culture, and what still needs to be done for greater media representation and disability marriage equality.When Dan was nine

In honor of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month this March, FREED Center for Independent Living is partnering with the California Department of Rehabilitation to host a live recording of the Disability Rap radio show and podcast. The show will feature a panel discussion focusing on the transition from youth to adulthood for people with cerebral palsy. Our panelists will share t

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Michael Alexander, retired Chief of Rehabilitation Services at the A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Alexander has a long history at duPont, starting when he first set foot in the hospital as a patient at age 12 after contracting polio. As a teenager, he spent summers as an inpatient at the duPont Hospital, forming relations

Today, we continue our coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic and the long-term impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on people’s health and everyday lives. We speak with two contributors to a new anthology by and for the Long Covid community.We in the disability community know that the pandemic is far from behind us in the United States. Although the numbers have significantly decreased from 2020 an

We're joined today by Ms. Wheelchair California 2023 Candis Welch. Much more than a beauty queen, Candis is on a mission to bring equitable inclusion to all communities. In our interview, about her work as an advocate, her advice for disabled people pursing a college education, and her favorite disability representation on TV.At 18 months, Candice was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular

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 right

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 1970

We are joined today by author Jennifer Gasner. At the tender age of 17, Jennifer was diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare progressive neuromuscular disease. In her new book, My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis, she delves into what it was like to start college with this new diagnosis and how she initially coped with her changing body. Turning to alcohol