A little description of our trip to Washington, D.C., for an event held by President Biden at the White House honoring professional care workers, family caregivers, and advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Autism and IDD: Caregiving, Advocacy, Community, and Love
We need to step up our support, recognition, and advocacy both for autistic and intellectually disabled people and for the caregivers—both support workers and caregivers—who love and care for them.
Poem: Those Who Remember
A new poem from Ray Hemachandra: “Those Who Remember”
A Letter about IDD Advocacy in North Carolina
What we lack most centrally in intellectual and developmental disability work and advocacy in North Carolina is the fierce urgency of now, to use and insist upon the meaning of the famous and essential phrase by Dr. King.
You’re My Son
My son Nicholas is autistic, and he has echolalia. But what he says in repeated speech can carry as much meaning—and sometimes even more feeling—as the “right” words.
Community Inclusion and IDD: Prioritizing and Empowering Choice for the Disabled
Should policy-directed “best outcomes” from government officials and advocacy groups reduce, rather than enhance, choice for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)—and sometimes trap them in unsafe, hostile environments?
Autistic Isolation, Connection, and Joy: Never Miss Dessert
Autistic adults, like adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities more generally, are not often seen as agents of love, joy, connection, relationship, and meaning for others. That’s because they’re not often seen at all.
Poem: My Father’s Hands, in memoriam
A new poem by Ray Hemachandra: “My Father’s Hands, in memoriam”
Working for Just Community: Now, Then, Always
Going through an old box yesterday, I came upon a yellowed, frayed 9.5-by-12-inch certificate issued in 1950 to my grandmother,…
The Value of Disabled Lives and Organs
Why might an autistic, intellectually disabled Black boy with Down syndrome be so much more valuable in death than in life? Because his parents made him an organ donor.
Ray Hemachandra at Golden Moon Circles 