Author: dredf

In Memory of Talina Jones 1980 – 2022

January 13, 2023
On December 27, 2022, we lost Talina Jones, a passionate advocate for disabled children and their families and an activist and scholar working at the intersection of ableism and racism. We share in the grief of her family, friends, and colleagues, and send our deepest sympathies to all her loved her.

Disability Rights Advocates Issue Demand to City of St. Louis to End Discrimination Against Custodial Workers with Disabilities

January 5, 2023
Today Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and the ACLU of Missouri (ACLU) delivered a letter demanding that on the mayor and aldermen of the City of St. Louis and judicial leadership end and remedy overt and unlawful disability discrimination against the custodial workers who clean and service the court building.

California Disability Community Demands More from State on Abortion Portal

November 29, 2022
Today a coalition of disability organizations led by Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) called on the state of California to do more to make its high-profile abortion portal accessible and relevant to disabled Californians. The group made its demands by letter to Governor Newsom and Secretary of Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly, M.D.

Disability Coalition Letter re California Abortion Portal

November 29, 2022
We are organizations and networks representing people with disabilities who may need information about abortion or abortion services through California’s abortion portal. We include blind people, deaf people, people with intellectual, developmental, and learning disabilities, people with mobility disabilities, and people who are higher weight.

Addressing Disability and Ableist Bias in Autonomous Vehicles: Ensuring Safety, Equity and Accessibility in Detection, Collision Algorithms and Data Collection

March 9, 2023
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to transform access to transportation and related infrastructure for people with disabilities. AVs and new technologies also come with significant risks of embedding and perpetuating bias and discrimination that permeate society. This brief considers bias within pedestrian detection and collision behavior algorithms, lack of disability representation in the datasets used to train and test AVs, and the need for ethics frameworks that give full recognition to disabled people’s humanity and fundamental rights. Policy measures to mitigate the identified risks are proposed.

DREDF Condemns the Unabashedly Ableist Response of Mainstream Journalists and Politicians to NBC’s Recent Interview With John Fetterman

October 14, 2022
DREDF is outraged by the ableist criticisms directed at Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman in the wake of his recent NBC interview. During the interview, which aired on Tuesday’s “NBC Nightly News” and Wednesday’s “Today” show, Fetterman used closed captions to answer questions in real time. Rather than focus on Fetterman’s ideas and ideologies on topics like access to health coverage and prescription drug pricing, coverage of the interview has almost exclusively zeroed in on Fetterman’s use of closed captioning, claiming that his use of such technology indicates “brain damage” and an unfitness for office. This offensive coverage has infuriated disability rights advocates. […]

Proposed Rule on Nondiscrimination in Health Care Needs Public Comment

September 22, 2022
The Biden Administration proposes a stronger nondiscrimination rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. DREDF has written template comments that can be used by disability organizations and groups who want to support the proposed rule. People who want to share their specific experience can also directly submit a comment through an individual comment portal. You can also look at other template comments written from specific view points such as people of color, limited English speakers, and LGBTQ+ persons. […]