accessibility

As summer approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I want to move my children into a new house. We could use another bedroom, as I have three little boys now, and my youngest, Kylan, who’s 7 months old, will be ready to transition out of my bedroom soon.

As if we hadn’t had a busy enough summer with all of our bowling trips and arcade outings, we decided to plan another day of fun-filled activities last week. My boyfriend, Frankie, and I loaded up the car and headed to Hershey, Pennsylvania, with my two kids, Cayden,…

House hunting isn’t easy, especially when you’re searching for an affordable wheelchair-accessible home. But thankfully, we managed to find a beautiful one that fits our monthly budget for rent, and drumroll … it’s wheelchair accessible! We’ve been planning to move for quite a while. My 6-year-old son, Cayden, isn’t…

My 6-year-old son, Cayden, loves to spend time outdoors, especially at the new accessible park in our town. He also likes to blow bubbles, paint rocks, and throw a ball. He basically enjoys everything that most children his age like to do. Cayden has never been able to walk…

Back in May, I wrote about searching for a more accessible playground for my 5-year-old son, Cayden. My wish seems to have come true, and I couldn’t be happier! A few weeks ago, our town finally reopened one of its biggest playgrounds, which had been closed for a long…

Before I was diagnosed with Pompe disease, I had never previously thought about accessibility. I had never pondered what accessibility means, why it is important, or what I would do if I ever had to deal with it in my lifetime. Then the year 2018 hit me…

I’m sure most people in the U.S. have heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination in all areas of life. It became law in 1990, and its sole purpose is to ensure that people with disabilities are…

When Dwayne Wilson found his career to be too physically demanding with Pompe disease, he had to change trajectories. But now, he says, he finds freedom in a cubicle.

Typically, when we think of playgrounds, we envision children running around, having the time of their lives. But this isn’t always the case. For my 5-year-old son, Cayden, it’s a bit hard to enjoy the playground. Cayden is in a wheelchair, so sometimes he has trouble accessing playground equipment.

Sometimes I wonder who designed spaces that are labeled accessible. Were the engineers or architects disabled? Did they actually understand the needs of wheelchair users, or did they simply do the minimum needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? Was a disability plaque attached just for…