Dr. Rita James and Dr. Neelam Sodhi believe that working toward equity and justice for people with disability in India must extend beyond family members and professionals in the field. Each of them work within organizations to make change, and Asha Kiran School in Bengaluru as well as Ashirwad in Ludhiana are fine examples of...Read More

Janaki Amma loves hosting, making chai, and doting on her daughter. She is a woman with cognitive disabilities, with a frame frail and a great sense of humor. As we sit down for tea, she wants us to see her new shoes and clothes that she has folded with great care. She insists we have...Read More

Relationships and a sense of belonging fuel our lives, and give it meaning and a desire to thrive against all odds. However, in the lives of many people with disabilities, freely given, unpaid relationships are few, if at all. And this wound can shake the very core of one’s being.Read More

For many people with intellectual and developmental disability, especially those in segregated programs, waiting often becomes one of life’s most frequent activities. Waiting for someone to listen, waiting for the next activity, waiting for a family visit, waiting for the next meal, waiting for someone to assist you. For Sumitra, institutionalized for over a decade...Read More

What does it mean to carry a mindset that disability in society is a gift that we cannot live without? That people experiencing disability and those gifted by fullness of presence of such people in their lives carry important skills, lessons, and technique that have benefit to all people? This bit of beautiful work illustrates...Read More

Grief is a universal human experience as beloved elder family members pass from this world. Mukund, a young man living in Lucknow, experienced just such a loss this past year. He, along with his brother, grew up with his “Amma” at the center of his life, as she took care of him and his brother...Read More

Valued social roles often lead to very good things in life – important things like belonging, freedom, a decent reputation, and a positive self-image. This is theory – simple facts that might be very useful when supporting people with disability to live full lives.Read More

Dr. Rita James and Dr. Neelam Sodhi believe that working toward equity and justice for people with disability in India must extend beyond family members and professionals in the field. Each of them work within organizations to make change, and Asha Kiran School in Bengaluru as well as Ashirwad in Ludhiana are fine examples of...Read More

The artisans and craftspeople of native places know that their art and craft carries the knowledge of those that have gone before; the honed skills of producing something beautiful, meaningful, and useful with your hands; and the knowledge that a created object is more than its form and shape.Read More

Aratrik is a nineteen plus—almost twenty—young man. If you took a peek at his official records, including his government disability certificate, it would tell the story of a young man with significant and even so-called ‘catastrophic’ disability.Read More