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Matt Iseman Issue

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Entrepreneurs Bring Deaf-Centered Tourism to Safaris

In Uganda, where tourism is one of the country’s most celebrated industries, Deaf travelers have long been left out of the experience. National parks, safaris, and cultural excursions are rarely designed with Deaf accessibility in mind. But two innovators, Denis Ssebayiga and Simone Pabsch, are changing that. Together, they founded SS Sign Language Tourism, a … Read more

Mindful Libraries: The Power of Accessible Reading

Mindful Libraries was established on the idea that accessible reading is a human right, essential for maintaining self-concept, routine and connection. The program is a collaboration among three different organizations, Nana’s Books, Mirador Magazine, and Resense Register, that produce publications for an audience of people living with cognitive changes from injury, stroke or age related … Read more

Sophia Dunn-Walker—Raw, Uncomfortable and Necessary Stories

For filmmaker Sophia Dunn-Walker, disability is not a limitation on artistic vision—it is a lens through which that vision has been sharpened. Living with cone dystrophy, a rare degenerative eye condition that affects visual acuity and color perception, she has developed a distinct visual language rooted in bold choices, heightened emotion, and a willingness to … Read more

Beyond the Obstacles: Matt Iseman on Hosting, Humor and Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Matt Iseman, a physician who specialized in internal medicine, took a break from the stress of his first year internship working in an intensive care unit. He ended up in comedy and never looked back. Catching the “comedy bug” led Iseman to a completely new career that now spans Emmy-winning television, live comedy, and some … Read more

Feet Freeze Before Bridges

It was a last minute decision. Every year for the last twenty years, 500 or more hearty motorcyclists converge on the Stagecoach Cafe in Stockton Alabama on December 30th for what is called, The Annual Last Ride of the Year. A loosely organized event billed as a ride-to-eat, where folks from all corners of the … Read more

The Fight for Rare Disease Research Including Charcot-Marie-Tooth

For families facing ultra-rare diseases, the diagnosis is often just the beginning of a much harder story: years of uncertainty, high treatment costs and a race against time for parents. When Terry Pirovolakis’s youngest son, Michael, was diagnosed in 2019 with SPG50 (Spastic Paraplegia Type 50), an ultra-rare, progressive brain disorder that primarily affects children … Read more

Bob Kafka’s Legacy: Organizing Power, Expanding Rights, and Mobilizing the Disability Vote

Bob Kafka spent more than forty years transforming disability rights in the United States. Known as a strategist and policy wonk, Kafka was just as comfortable in a suit at the negotiating table as he was wearing a “rabble rousing” T-shirt at a disability rights protest. His work blended insider expertise with unwavering grassroots pressure, … Read more

Jodi DiPiazza – A Call to Music

For Jodi DiPiazza, music came before language. She was singing before she could speak, using melody as her earliest form of expression and communication. By the age of four, she had taught herself to play the piano by watching a light-up keyboard, beginning a lifelong relationship with music that would eventually take her from formal … Read more

How Being Robbed Helped Me Stay Under $2000

I was so worried about how I was going to stay under the $2000 SSI resource limit this month, and then all my problems were miraculously solved when I got robbed! Sometimes the solution really does come from where you least expect it.  Now, I’m actually best friends with the person who robbed me because … Read more

What Happens When Advertising Stops Expecting Disability to Inspire?

There is nothing advertisers love more than an “inspirational” story. And many disabled people are tired of seeing advertising use them to inspire others. Apple’s recent campaign, “I’m Not Remarkable,” pushes back against that familiar script by centering actors, singers, and performers with disabilities who insist on something radical in its simplicity: they are not … Read more

Matt Iseman Issue Crossword Puzzle

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