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Reposted by LadyOtheFarm

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 12h

Welcome, new Bluesky users! Please check out the thread below for tips on setting up your account, making your feed more interesting, finding old Twitter friends, search, privacy, stats, and more (and please ask questions if you have them)

(I'll have to rewrite & update the thread soon!)

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · Oct 17

🦋 WELCOME TO BLUESKY! I recommend exploring our custom feeds, which are a little like hashtags but more interesting. We have them for academic and professional subjects, sports, cities, hobbies (e.g., gardening, baking), and many more. Search them in the sidebar under Feeds. 🧵

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Be visible friends. Our lives are meaningful and amazing. A mask doesn't hide that, it enhances it and gives us a better chance to lead another day into the future.

Be bold. You are loved.

LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Hey, every politician: DO YOU HAVE A DISABILITY ADVISOR IN YOUR CAMPAIGN AND IN YOUR STAFF IN OFFICE? Yes, even if you are disabled, I want you to have staff that can call you out when you bow to the pressures of norms that don't take us into account.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

"Exploit tech for Good in order to enhance equity!" I can stand with that.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Maine is trying to expand Early Intervention, but from the place of a completely broken system.

In Colorado, we did get EI services beginning in the NICU with Speech, OT, and feeding services. It was a huge help!

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Yeah, OCR wouldn't help, neither would my state Disability Rights legal resource. They said understanding the risks of airborne infection was too hard, so if I was willing to let my kid die, and then file a lawsuit, they might take on our case.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Funding! Fund special education as promised! Do it! 40% would mean that every kid will get what they need to thrive and the benefits will pour across the school!

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Careful with AI. It has opportunity, but also many potential harms.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

We need to enhance virtual access to education. At the very least, it helps us handle emergency situations, but also it helps improve access for students who cannot access in person curriculum for whatever reason.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

I am on my local school board. My local school refuses to provide the accommodations my kids need, so I stay because I ran on supporting students with disabilities and other marginalized groups. I have literally spent the last 2 weeks fighting for the state to uphold its own law in schools.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

ROI is another rant. Art is of massive benefit despite it's poor funding and pay. Art is also incredibly important to disabled folks. Go support a disabled artist. Right now. Go!

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

This convo about schools is something I could rant on. We need clean air in schools at a bare minimum. Even more, we need to stop infecting and disabling our kids. When they realize that their lives were shortened because we couldn't bother to care, be prepared for the consequences.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

I guess I heard part of this last one, but got pulled into conversation as it started. Go Jasmine!

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

I guess I had finished that middle panel. I just hadn't heard the actual goodbye.

If you came back and caught up, a reminder that I am watching the @newamerica.org event called "Bridging the Gap in Disability Policy"

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Everyone should have access to all the medical care and life essential supports they need to not just survive, but thrive. Everyone.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 12h

Our lives are valuable. We shouldn't have to justify it. It might help if they taught history using a disability lens whenever possible. Pick your favorite item in your house or job that makes life easier. I bet it was made in the context of disability and/or by POC.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 13h

Sharing our stories is a burden. It can be a relief if we get to tell our stories to someone who will actually help us lift and make a better world. Before you demand to know our stories, plan on changing your world view to help us. Each story just highlights how you might help.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 13h

Sorry, for the gap. I got pulled into work stuff.

Emergency plans for every location and at every level NEED TO INCLUDE DISABLED PEOPLE! This means that we are part of the planning, not just "considered". Nothing about us without us, ever.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 15h

Many states and localities are failing to fulfill the requirements of the ADA and other disability policies that were supposed to be put in place a decade ago.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 15h

Thank you panelists! @newamerica.org

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 16h

We now know near 9% of students have developed Long Covid. Schools need to improve air quality and ventilation and normalize masking and other precautions, just like they did with seat belts and anti-smoking campaigns.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 16h

The one change I would ask for is Mirror Masking in all public spaces, but most essentially in medical care and schools.

If a patient arrives in an N-95, you should don an equivalent respirator. There is no need for you to cough in the patient's face and ask if they want you to mask. Yes they do!

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 16h

I started a Disability ERG at my workplace because I wanted my workplace to acknowledge disabled employees and our value and increased challenges without accommodations. It has been a hard road, even here where I think they genuinely mean well.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 16h

I also developed Long Covid after getting infected at one of her presurgical appointments. I never recovered. I must fight constantly to have doctors acknowledge my diagnosis and to get them to take basic precautions even once they acknowledge the lives of myself and my child are on the line.

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LadyOtheFarm @ladyothefarm.bsky.social · 16h

I have a child with Down Syndrome. When we lived in Colorado we still experienced challenges in medical care, but I now see those as minor in comparison to the challenges of living in the medical desert that is Maine. We need to drive 6 hours to Boston for almost all care.

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