Year2021

Posted December 1, 2021 Writing Advice

Disabled Writers on Pitching

Disabled writers speak from experience with pitching advice for new writers, from the germ of an idea through distinguishing between a topic and a story and into writing a pitch that will grab an editor’s attention.

Image Description: A light-skinned woman of Brazilian heritage is standing outside and smiling at the camera. Her eyes twinkle at you, framed by dark and bold eyebrows. Her dark brown hair is pushed back by a pair of sunglasses, tendrils of hair fanning out around her face. Tactile Description: Cristina Hartmann has small, smooth hands that move deliberately and precisely, often punctuating her thoughts with a wry pinky wriggle-laugh. Her most distinctive tactile feature is her hair, soft and coconut-scented, which she keeps pulled back into a twist. She leans comfortably to the side as she chats with someone, always a bit askew.

Posted November 15, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

Why We Need to Stop Making Movies about Helen Keller

Helen Keller’s Shadow: Why We Need to Stop Making Movies about Helen Keller Cristina Hartmann I had my first run-in with Helen Keller when I was 11. My … Continue Reading Why We Need to Stop Making Movies about Helen Keller

Graphic with a black background featuring a photo of Rachel, a white femme-presenting person sits in front of a pride flag. She has brown shoulder-length hair, and is wearing bronze earrings, black clothing, and black rimmed glasses. A little red piece of wood dangles from a thin silver necklace chain around her neck. She is sitting on a grey couch and rests her chin in one hand with one elbow on her knee. She grins slightly at the camera.

Posted November 14, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

Reflecting on My Experiences as a Homeless Youth with Disabilities

Youth Homelessness, Disability and Institutionalization: Reflecting on My Experiences as a Homeless Youth with Disabilities this National Runaway Prevention Month Rachel Litchman Content notes: sexual abuse, violence, trauma, … Continue Reading Reflecting on My Experiences as a Homeless Youth with Disabilities

Posted November 11, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

How CBT Harmed Me: The Interview That the New York Times Erased

How CBT Harmed Me: The Interview That the New York Times Erased Alana Saltz In August, I was contacted by a reporter writing an article for the New York … Continue Reading How CBT Harmed Me: The Interview That the New York Times Erased

Graphic with a black background and a photo of Maya-Camille Broussard, a young Black woman with curly black hair who is wearing gold hoop earrings. She is wearing a bright red top with ruffled short sleeves and a denim apron. She is holding a white ceramic cake stand with a pie that has a golden crust.

Posted November 2, 2021 DVP Blog Posts and Essays

Interview with Maya-Camille Broussard

I love pies and any kind of baked goods. Below is my interview with Maya-Camille Broussard, the founder and creator of Justice of the Pies, a bakery based in Chicago. … Continue Reading Interview with Maya-Camille Broussard

Posted November 1, 2021 Writing Advice

How I Balance My Career With My Mental Health

Nylah Burton on managing work-life balance as a mentally ill journalist, and finding her way through the freelance world.

[left] Book jacket designed by Angela Carlino of DISABILITY VISIBILITY: 17 First-Person Stories for Today adapted for young readers edited by Alice Wong. The cover has thin vertical gray lines with overlapping geometric shapes in green, blue, magenta, yellow and purple. [right] Photo of Alice Wong, an Asian American disabled woman with a mask over her nose attached to a tube for her ventilator. She is in a power wheelchair and wearing a gray sweatshirt with a tiger and leopard-print red and black pants. Behind her are bamboo trees. Credit: Eddie Hernandez Photography

Posted October 26, 2021 DVP News and Events

Disability Visibility anthology for young readers

I’m delighted to share my new anthology adapted for young readers, DISABILITY VISIBILITY: 17 First-Person Stories for Today, available now from Delacorte Press. This book has 17 edited pieces from … Continue Reading Disability Visibility anthology for young readers

$Graphic with a leaf green background. Left: A white woman with short hair and an occluded cataract on her right eye wearing purple hearing aids and a pearl necklace, looking with raised eyebrows at camera between trees. Photo credit: Lis Mitchell, 2021. Right: Cover image of Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson. From the letter “I” in “BEING,” the color of Elsa’s cataract refracts in a rainbow-colored prismatic effect over a dark background. “Deafblind” is emphasized with light.$

Posted October 24, 2021 DVP Blog Posts and Essays

Q&A with Elsa Sjunneson

Congratulations on your first memoir, Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism, available October 26, 2021 from Simon and Schuster! How are you feeling right now in … Continue Reading Q&A with Elsa Sjunneson

Marilyn Golden [left] in her manual wheelchair with brown curly hair, wire rimmed glasses, purple shirt, conference name tag, a briefcase in her lap, seated next to Diane Coleman [right] in her motorized wheelchair with gray and blond bobbed hair, wire rimmed glasses, blue patterned dress with white sweater, tapestry shoulder bag and slim briefcase to her side. Both are smiling and leaning toward each other. The year is 2014.

Posted October 24, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

Marilyn Golden: An Unforgettable Legacy of Wisdom, Dedication, and Results

Marilyn Golden: An Unforgettable Legacy of Wisdom, Dedication, and Results Diane Coleman There’s been an incredible, powerfully moving and profoundly deserved outpouring of love and gratitude for Marilyn … Continue Reading Marilyn Golden: An Unforgettable Legacy of Wisdom, Dedication, and Results

Text reads “Andraea LaVant in conversation with Dr. Keisha Blain. November 3rd, 2021, 5:00-6:00pm EST. Live captioning & ASL.” Below are headshots of Andraea LaVant, a Black woman seated in a motorized wheelchair wearing cateye glasses, and Dr. Blain, a Black woman wearing black framed rectangular glasses. Centered is the cover for the book “Until I Am Free”, featuring a photo of Fannie Lou Hamer.

Posted October 24, 2021 DVP News and Events

3 Online events celebrating the life and work of Fannie Lou Hamer

The Disability & Intersectionality Summit and the Disability Visibility Project invite you to a series of three free online conversations about the life and work of Fannie Lou Hamer, a … Continue Reading 3 Online events celebrating the life and work of Fannie Lou Hamer

Graphic with a black background with a photo of a Black female with dark brown complexion, close cropped black hair, wearing a wide smile, clear plastic glass frames and sweater with a geometric pattern in eggplant, sky blue, white and light peach colors.

Posted October 13, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

Accessibility and the Lack Thereof in the Film Industry

Accessibility and the Lack Thereof in the Film Industry Carolyn Hinds Being a Black woman means there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t worry that … Continue Reading Accessibility and the Lack Thereof in the Film Industry

Aubrie on a film set in front of a green screen and with a boom mic pointed at her. She wears a teal blouse, white lace skirt, and black glasses. She rides a power wheelchair.

Posted October 12, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

20 Questions for Disability-Inclusive Employers

20 Questions for Disability-Inclusive Employers Aubrie Lee We deserve better We deserve the best We deserve to get out of bed We deserve to rest We deserve to work … Continue Reading 20 Questions for Disability-Inclusive Employers

Graphic with a light purple background with a photo of a middle aged mixed race Sri Lankan, Irish and Romani femme, diagonially, in front of a wild river with lots of rocks. Leah has violet, brown and silver curly hair, peachy tan sand colored skin and red lipstick (Stila Stay All Day lipstick in Beso, aka "the lipstick AOC wears.") Their clothes are mostly not visible except for a blue denim vest. You can see their sleeve of tattoos, including cosmos flowers, a motherwort plant and letters in Tamil. They are smiling with bashful pride and satisfaction."

Posted October 3, 2021 Guest Blog Posts

How Disabled Mutual Aid Is Different Than Abled Mutual Aid

“We were maybe not going to save the world, but we were going to save each other.¹”: How Disabled Mutual Aid Is Different Than Abled Mutual Aid Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha … Continue Reading How Disabled Mutual Aid Is Different Than Abled Mutual Aid

Posted October 1, 2021 Writing Advice