With summer around the corner, commercials for all kinds of colorful clothing are popping up on any screen I happen to look at. And every once in a while there will even be a model with a disability showing off some great clothes—an increasing phenomenon I spoke about with model Shaholly Ayers a few months ...
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“Google it” has nowadays become the go-to response to questions we actually don’t know how to answer. But imagine you or someone you love, have just become paralyzed, due to an injury or a disease and you find yourself learning how to use a wheelchair, or wondering whether you could still be a parent. Google ...
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The Ruderman TV Challenge

February 16, 2017 / 0 Comments 0 Comments

The Ruderman TV Challenge was designed to continue our work in Hollywood and advocate for greater inclusion of performers with disabilities. At a time when the discussion around the need for greater diversity in Hollywood is garnering great attention, disability is still being left out. But disability is a fundamental part of the human experience and needs ...
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The year may still feel new to many of us, but to expecting parents it is absolutely the same old by comparison to the newness of their coming baby. What is also relatively new for expecting parents is the availability of prenatal testing. Around 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended that ...
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Reflecting on Inclusive Design

December 22, 2016 / 0 Comments 0 Comments

Ah, the holiday season is upon us. It’s a time of celebration, but also of reflection and as we reflect over the year, we at the Ruderman Family Foundation wanted to highlight and share one of our favorite messages of this year. Elise Roy explains so perfectly why designing the world with people with disabilities ...
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Mental Illness as a Moral Failing

December 15, 2016 / 0 Comments 0 Comments

On December 5, there was yet another shooting of an unarmed, black, and mentally ill man at the hands of law enforcement, this time in Arkansas. As of the time of this writing, Gary Johnson is hospitalized and is in critical condition. This is sadly not uncommon. It is estimated that anywhere from 25%-50% of ...
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The Ruderman Family Foundation has announced the winners of its fifth annual Ruderman Prize in Inclusion, five grants totaling $250,000 awarded to companies and organizations that operate innovative programs and provide services that foster the full inclusion of people with disabilities. This international recognition celebrates inclusive models that can be replicated elsewhere and ensures that resources are ...
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The advertising and modelling industries have long been under fire for unrealistic portrayals of the human form—particularly of women, though men have not been immune either. Seeing countless depictions of impossibly tall and thin models has been linked to low self-esteem and anxiety to flat out eating disorders in girls and women trying to emulate ...
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A Disability Journey Off the Rails

November 22, 2016 / 0 Comments 0 Comments

Imagine having a dream- something that is terrestrially possible and already being done by others with regular frequency. Imagine those individuals already living your dream may not be as passionate about it as you are. Imagine that your attempt in fulfilling that passion may lead you sitting in a prison cell for the rest of your ...
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The 2016 Presidential Election is finally over! After nearly 600 days of campaigning, this unprecedented contest for the highest office in the land will now be laid to rest in the annals of American history. President-elect Trump will have a myriad of issues to confront over the next four years as Commander-in-chief, among them: eroded ...
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