I Thought I Knew It All

Moxie and Meriah

by Meriah Nichols

I really thought I knew disability. I thought I knew what it feels like to have a disability; I thought I knew how it is to navigate a world that often does not understand or appreciate the presence of disability. I thought I knew the feelings that a disability can bring with it: the hurt, the pain, the joy, and the delight. I really thought I knew it all.

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Deaf-Blind Projects Support Accessible, Virtual Connections to Transition

NOTE: October is Blindness Awareness Month

Teresa Coonts

Written by: Teresa Coonts, Project Director of Nebraska Deaf-Blind Project with input from Susan Brennan, Iowa Deaf-Blind Project

Deaf-blindness is one of the lowest-incidence of all IDEA disability categories; however, supporting students with deaf-blindness often involves a wide array of team members in many areas of expertise! To help meet the unique needs of these students, OSEP funds 53 State Deaf-Blind Projects, assisting districts, schools, and families in all States and territories as well as the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). Collaboratively, we work to improve educational results and quality of life for children who are deaf-blind and their families. The Center and projects’ efforts include a national count of children who are deaf-blind as well as development and sharing of resources, strategies, and events.

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Self-Worth, Encouragement, Times of Value: These Kept Me Going

NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.Kayla Queen

By Kayla Queen, a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council of the National Center for Learning Disabilities


When attempting to draw conclusions as to why I have been spared from many of the unfavorable statistics encountered by large percentages of people with learning disabilities, I have been able to explain it in part by the self-worth I was taught to have for myself and the times I have felt valued in school.

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Youth with Disabilities Experience Better Outcomes Thanks to Vermont’s Efforts to Advance Transition Services

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

A teacher and students studying at a desk

Original News item posted at Mathematica.

This blog is a cross-post from Mathematica and the Vermont Linking Learning to Careers project, which was made possible by a Disability Innovation Fund grant from OSERS’ Rehabilitation Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Education.


Youth with disabilities face many challenges as they transition from high school to adulthood. Compared with their nondisabled peers, a greater share of youth with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty, health issues, service needs, dependence on benefits, and poorer academic performance, and they face lower expectations for their education and employment achievements. More inclusive attitudes and policies, such as those promoted in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, recognize the value of continued education and work experience for youth with disabilities, and evidence has shown that they can succeed in the workforce with proper supports. As a result, federal and state agencies have bolstered their efforts to better serve youth with disabilities during this critical transition.

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17 Things I have Learned in 17 Years

NOTE: October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Emir, Eliana and Ayelen

An OSERS Guest Blog post by Eliana Tardio, a mother with two children with Down syndrome. She also wrote a Guest Blog about her and her children in October 2016.

Leer en español.

17 years ago, I was blessed to give birth to my first child, Emir. He was diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome but it was not until the moment that I held him in my arms that I realized one of the most powerful truths I share with new parents of kids with Down syndrome: He was simply perfect, and even though, I tried really hard to see the syndrome, all I was able to see was the most beautiful child of the world: my child.

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17 cosas que he aprendido en 17 años

NOTA: Octubre es el mes de concientización sobre el síndrome de Down

Emir, Eliana y Ayelen

Una publicación del blog invitado de OSERS por Eliana Tardio, una madre con dos hijos con síndrome de Down. También escribió un blog invitado sobre ella y sus hijos en octubre de 2016.

Read in English.

Hace 17 años, tuve la suerte de dar a luz a mi primer hijo, Emir. Le diagnosticaron síndrome de Down en el útero, pero no fue hasta el momento en que lo sostuve en mis brazos que me di cuenta de una de las verdades más poderosas que comparto con los nuevos padres de niños con síndrome de Down: era simplemente perfecto. Y aunque me esforcé mucho por ver el síndrome, todo lo que pude ver fue al niño más hermoso del mundo: mi hijo.

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Voices From the Field: Interview with Paulette Tattersall

Paulette Tattersall

Paulette Tattersall is the Northeast Director of Prevent Blindness, a national organization whose mission is to prevent blindness and preserve sight. She is also Co-Chair of Children’s Vision Massachusetts (CVMA), a 70-member coalition of parents, health professionals, educators and organizations who work together towards building a statewide systematic approach to vision care for Massachusetts children.

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Commemorating The ADA and Announcing a New Resource to Support Students with Long COVID

Cross-posted from the Office for Civil Rights Blog


July 26, 2021

ED Seal - OfficialThis week, we celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a watershed civil rights law that mandated the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.

Since its enactment in 1990, the ADA has played a crucial role in expanding protection against discrimination in education. Schools across the country—serving students from pre-K through graduate school—must make their offerings available and accessible to all students, including those with and without disabilities.

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ED Welcomes Katherine Neas

Katy Neas

OSERS Acting Assistant Secretary Katherine Neas

The U.S. Department of Education welcomes Katherine “Katy” Neas as the new deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

“The pandemic has been hard on all of us, but children with disabilities and specially those of color experienced great challenges. I am over the moon to be at the Department of Education at this historic time and to be part of the team of individuals who are working to ensure all students succeed in the upcoming school year.”

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Voices From the Field: Interview with Deborah Jackson

Desmond Jackson

Desmond Jackson

Deborah Jackson is the proud mother of Desmond Jackson, a member of the 2021 USA Paralympic Track and Field Team for the 100m event and the long jump. Desmond was born with a congenital birth defect, which resulted in an amputation when he was nine months old. He was the first above-knee amputee to run on a high school track team in the state of North Carolina. Desmond encourages other individuals with physical challenges to “get off the sideline and into the game!”

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