Author: Ray Hemachandra

Ray Hemachandra is a management and messaging strategist and consultant for businesses and organizations. He works with leaders and teams on effective strategic vision, analysis, and planning; holistic brand identity and integrity; audience-centric perspective and communication; staff development and well-being; and authentic realization of inclusion and diversity in organizational policies and culture. Ray emphasizes values of community, connection, belonging, and respect in his work. He serves on numerous organizational and government boards and advisory groups, with much of this work centered on social justice, autism, disability, and mental health, and also serves on several nonprofit and government grant-review committees. He speaks at colleges, universities, and conferences, especially about autism and intellectual and developmental disability. Ray has been a magazine and book editor and publisher and has written for newspapers, magazines, and online platforms. Ray lives with his son, Nicholas Hemachandra, in Asheville, North Carolina.

A White House Visit and Event for Care Workers, Caregivers, and Advocates

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.

October 2022: Ray Hemachandra and Nicholas Hemachandra at the parklet in Asheville, North Carolina, at the Center for Craft, created in conjunction with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

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?

Nicholas Hemachandra on a mountaintop wearing a shirt that says, "If you can be anything, be inclusive."

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, … More

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.