Disability rights are under attack in 17 states!

There’s a lawsuit trying to get rid of Section 504, the law that protects disabled people in schools, workplaces, and public spaces. If they succeed, it means:

Schools wouldn’t have to provide accommodations (no extra test time for ADHD, no wheelchair access, no diabetes care in class).
Workplaces wouldn’t have to adjust for disabilities (no remote work, no flexible scheduling, no accessibility requirements).
Public spaces could ignore accessibility needs (buildings, buses, and services wouldn’t have to be usable for disabled people).

These 17 states are trying to gut 504 protections:
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia.

If you live in one of these states, contact your state reps & governor! If this lawsuit succeeds, other states could follow, or it could reach the Supreme Court and hurt everyone.

More details here: https://dredf.org/protect-504/

Please share this! More people need to know.

#Protect504 #Save504 #DisabilityRights #DisabilityJustice #StopTheRollback #AccessibilityMatters #EqualAccess #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #DisabilityAdvocacy #CripTheVote #ADAProtections #CivilRights #HumanRights #Alabama #Arkansas #Georgia #Indian #Iowa #Kansas #Kentucky #Louisiana #Mississippi #Missouri #Nebraska #Oklahoma #SouthCarolina #Tennessee #Texas #Utah #WestVirginia
#AlabamaPolitics #ArkansasPolitics #GeorgiaPolitics #IndianPolitics #IowaPolitics #KansasPolitics #KentuckyPolitics #LouisianaPolitics #MississippiPolitics #MissouriPolitics #NebraskaPolitics #OklahomaPolitics #SouthCarolinaPolitics #TennesseePolitics #TexasPolitics #UtahPolitics #WestVirginiaPolitics

A number of executive orders are going to cause direct harm to the disabled community … but please don’t miss this order which will harm non profits & advocacy orgs.

Apparently non profits can now be punished for attempting to correct misinformation - because the corrections infringe on Freedom of Speech.

These organizations need to be able to counter disinformation in order to ensure patient safety.

We are experiencing record rates of disability and punishingly long wait times for healthcare.

Not all conditions are well understood even by the medical community, so patients turn to social media and advocacy organizations for help

There’s already many harmful lies and misinformation swirling around about chronic illness, and if we put orders in place that punish those who seek to correct the information, it’s the patients who will suffer

They will be left with nowhere to turn, especially in the event that the doctor they see also repeats harmful misinformation.

They could end up enduring setbacks or permanently altering their baseline as a direct result of bad information disguised as “help”

We appear to be careening into an information blackout, where all someone will be able to access will be misinformation & disinformation.

Consider who that benefits & who it harms, and then help us fight back. Get on the phone and tell legislators you vehemently disagree

https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/files/media/documents/2025/chart-executive-orders.pdf

Hello, caneandable.social! I'm Lanie, a 33-year-old #Christian woman from Pipe Creek, TX. I'm #aroace, #TotallyBlind, #ActuallyAutistic, and living with multiple #ChronicIllnesses. I've just moved over from tweesecake.social, so I'm excited to meet new people and reconnect with familiar faces!

A bit about me:
- I live with my mom and stepdad, who are my caregivers
- I have a Miniature Pinscher named Squeaker
- Currently studying programming on freeCodeCamp.org and codecademy.com and Braille proofreading through the NFB
- I work as a usability tester and aspire to become an #accessibility consultant
- My goal is to create a nonprofit for people with multiple #disabilities

My interests include:
- #Gaming (especially accessible games like incremental/idle games, word games, puzzles, RPGs, roguelikes, and MUDs)
- #Technology and #Cybersecurity
- #RareDiseases and #DisabilityRights
- Reading (sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, mysteries, and nonfiction)
- Swimming
- Gardening (planning to start soon!)

I'm passionate about #accessibility and creating a more inclusive digital world. I run online groups for people with multiple disabilities and am active in the #DisabilityCommunity.

Some of my #health conditions include occipital neuralgia, intracranial hypertension, Empty Sella Syndrome, fibromyalgia, hidradenitis suppurativa, GERD, gastroparesis, IBS, sleep apnea, migraines, and non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder.

I use various devices to navigate the digital world, including a Windows computer, iPhone, Android tablet, Fire TV, Echo Dot, Apple Watch, wireless headphones, and a Braille display. #AssistiveTechnology

I'm always eager to connect with others who share similar experiences or interests. Feel free to reach out, especially if you're into #AccessibleTech, #DisabilityAdvocacy, or if you just want to chat about books, games, or life with multiple disabilities!

Navigating the Future: A Journey with Technology, From the 80s to 2025 and Beyond

In 2025 I will have spent a lifetime as a blind person living in a sighted world . I learnt very early on that one thing that would help me was technology . That has led to a forty-year love and hate relationship with Access/Assistive Technology .
Technology has changed a lot since the mid-80s, but perhaps not as much as in the past two years . Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, nothing has been the same – with talk of end-of-the-world ‘doom’ or a new ‘golden’ age fighting it out for the headlines every day. But while the world deals with these existential questions, blind people have been enjoying the benefits of the new technology .

I am hoping to take delivery of one of the new Glidance mobility devices next year . With it, I’m planning to stroll up to my local coffee shop ️ for brunch with a girlfriend. I’ll have my phone with me, of course, an iPhone 17 Pro . Because I am a ‘cool cookie’ , I’ll be wearing sunglasses , even if it isn’t sunny – the next version of the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses by then . When I was learning to use a long cane forty years ago I had nothing but the benefits of being a teenager . The benefits of being a teenager are not to be underestimated when it comes to mobility – if for very little else.

So, what will it be like? Walking the streets in 2025 with Glidance, an iPhone 17, and wearing Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses 2? And what will it be like in 2035? Will I make it to fifty years in the dark? Will the world? Perhaps that question is too dark to answer here , so tell me, what do you expect from Assistive Technology in the next ten years?

I often remind people that the progress we have made, be it rights we have won or technology that is accessible, has come about because brave advocacy pioneers knew that blind people are worthy, that we do not choose to be second-class citizens. That being able to maximise our potential is a human right.
Sometimes, people don’t believe we can change anything, so figure we may as well suck it up and accept the status quo.
Well, a few weeks ago, a group of blind leaders took on Vision Australia, after they said they weren’t going to advertise externally for their CEO. This significantly constrained the pool of blind talent from which the Vision Australia Board could pick. And make no mistake, we need more blind people leading the organisations that serve us. Lived experience matters when you’re a minority. And it certainly isn’t right that capable blind people are too often passed over for leadership roles in our own organisations. It is with great pleasure that I pass on the following message from Emma Bennison.

Victory for Blind Leadership!
United Blind Leaders is excited to announce a major step forward in our campaign! Thanks to the incredible support of 1,408 signatories, Vision Australia has revised its CEO recruitment process. The Board has confirmed that lived experience of blindness or low vision will now be a desirable attribute for the new CEO, and the search will be conducted externally with a focus on removing barriers for blind and low vision applicants.
This is a huge win, but our work is far from over. United Blind Leaders will keep pushing for blind and vision-impaired representation in leadership roles at all levels in Australia and globally.
Join our movement! Stay connected by joining our mailing list and be part of our future campaigns: https://UnitedBlindLeaders.org
Together, we’re making a real difference! #UnitedBlindLeaders #BlindLeadership #Inclusion #DisabilityAdvocacy.

That is Emma’s message. Congratulations to all involved. And to all reading this, never doubt, you can make change when you stand up for what is right. Know your power, and use it for good.

For this week's meetup, starting Friday at 1 PM EST, we will be talking all about accessible air travel and we have some insights for you along with a few questions to better understand the accessibility you have experienced while flying.

Join in the conversation and lead the way to an accessible future!

Registration link - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_tMDDKqMxEHAvNFiCEPmgXdwrdbVauyZwj4QieRJXYxct8A/viewform?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3QKsBAXJgPtf3aiIdHAazmMOIqksB4eAhmGvn9u9sDEjR-lzBpiYhQuhA_aem_ZWdAf1Uc5gDY6hld91lzlw

Hashtag Intro.
Click here to expand.
The Proverbial list Evolved:

#InvisibleDisabilityRights #IDR
#LandBack #Indigenous Kahnawá:ke Nia:wen kowa

Behind and beside: #CivilRights #MentalHealth #EndRacism #LGBTQIA #BLM #WomenRights #EqualPay #StopViolence #StopAsianHate #POC Eater of clean foods Anti-AntiSemitic #EndBigotry for #everyone
#BeYou #BeKind #BePatient
#UnityConquers #TearDownTheWall :solidarity: union.place

Focus:
#DisabilitySolidarity #DisabledCommunity #EndAbleism #StopAbleistHate #DisabilityAdvocacy #passionate #DisabledVoicesUnite #CrossDisabilitySupport #inclusion #ListeningEar #Here4All #NeurodivergentThinking #neurodiversity
#ConcussionAwareness #TBI #ABI #AnoxicBrainInjury #BrainInjury #SpineInjury #fibromyalgia #LimbDifference #ActuallyAutisic #OrthopedicDisabilities #SticksAndStones #BrokenBones #NaturesPharmaceutical #DisabilityAcceptance #EndAbleistHateCrime #StopAbleistSlurs #DisabilityEconomicJustice #CripTheVote #DisabilityLobby #HumanInterest #NonPartisan #research #Education #Knowledge
#UnityConquers #TearDownTheWall
:solidarity:

Un peu de moi?
Je ne parle pas couramment Français. I like using #HashtagsNobodyWillEverSearch
#FilmMaking #Writing #poetry
Ex-#musician #Songwriter Passé
⚘ #GardenCreator extraordinaire. #FlowerGardens #PhotorealisticImagination
Et Bien plus encore.

, , , :solidarity: #accommodation for "" with #InvisibleDisabilities
Just like many of us, this list is incomplete and still evolving. (he, him)

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