by Annette Jett As social beings, we need others to survive and thrive. For many of us, friendships are formed naturally with little effort. We meet someone and connect through our common interests. After discussing our likes and dislikes, wants and needs, desires, hopes and dreams, we decide over time whether we will form a […]

by Danielle Komis Palmer It nearly broke Raquel Covarrubias’s heart when the pediatrician told her the news. After all, the nurses at the hospital had said her newborn baby Erick was fine. But here she was, three weeks after his birth, faced with the news that her baby had Down syndrome, and she didn’t know where […]

The first time Kim Whittinghill-Smith dropped off her daughter, Sophie, at The Center for Courageous Kids summer camp, she was convinced that Sophie wouldn’t stay. Then, 12, Sophie had never been away from her parents. Because of a loss of oxygen at birth, Sophie has cerebral palsy, moves around in a power wheelchair, has impaired […]

The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated its 25th anniversary in the summer of 2015, but the fight for this landmark legislation began long before 1990. The disabilities rights movement consisted of action as well as the idea that people with disabilities should no longer be pushed out of sight and ignored. Activists wrote thousands of […]