Opportunities & Obstacles: Representations of Disability in Film and Media

This is an opinion post about recognizing and leaning into moments that can transform us, specifically, moments related to disability acceptance. If you want to hear me reading this, just click the link below. https://media.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/p/content.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/The-Gift-of-a-Moment.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download When I first started my job at UC Berkeley, coordinating a program in conjunction [...]

This is a call to read "Unexpected," by Alison Piepmeier together. As I wrote on Instagram,             View this post on Instagram                         A post shared by Meriah is Unpacking Disability (@unpackingdisability) I've only started this book - finishing [...]

I think the Universe knows us better than we know ourselves, and we are always invariably given the child that we most need

This is about "The Hiring Chain," a new video on hiring people with Down syndrome by Coor Down World Down Syndrome Day is March 21st This is because Down syndrome is 3 copies of the 21st chromosome (3/21!). On World Down syndrome Day, we celebrate the presence of people with Down syndrome in our world [...]

The Sound of Metal is a movie about a man who is going deaf, his experience in learning ASL, Deaf-hood, then getting a cochlear implant. Deaf-reviewed here

A guide to sex education resources that target people with intellectual and developmental disabilities – for self advocates, parents and educators

What is an intellectual disability, exactly? How can we tell what’s an intellectual disability or another type of disability? Is there a way to tell?

A nifty little guide to traumatic brain injury and what it’s all about, by someone who has been living with traumatic brain injury

This is a review of the documentary on Billie Eilish, "The World's a Little Blurry." This review will talk about every aspect of this documentary, it's all spoilers! If you want to hear it read, click the link below. https://media.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/p/content.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/The-Worlds-a-Little-Blurry.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download The World's a Little Blurry... Billie Eilish is the [...]

This is about Sia's movie, "Music," and the Autistic response to it with "Listen." The Movie, "Music" is a Mess This is what happened: the singer Sia wanted to make a movie about Autistics. She didn't cast an Autistic actor for the lead part, nor did she consult the Autistic community on the script or [...]

A plump and useful list of movies about rare diseases and conditions

This is about how to find a Disability Benefits Planner. We at Unpacking Disability are NOT disability benefits planners or experts in this;  we are only taking information that we know from personal experience or research and pulling it together for you. To subscribe to only the Social Security, ABLE, Medicaid and other benefits-related posts, [...]

This is about what a Disability Benefits Planner is. We at Unpacking Disability are NOT disability benefits planners. We are only taking information that we know from personal experience or research and pulling it together for you. To subscribe to only the Social Security, ABLE, Medicaid and other benefits-related posts, click here If you want [...]

Striving to be non-disabled negates the value of disability pride & the gifts disability brings. But self-acceptance can be hard in an ableist world.

This post is about love and disability in the movies - that is, love stories with disability intersections. Love and Disability in the Movies Hollywood loves disability (just not disabled actors). It also loves love. There are a lot of movies that have intersections of both love and disability; it's just super rare to have [...]

This is about recent Wordpress updates, with Version 5.6.1 focusing on accessibility. You can imagine my surprise when I sat down to work on a blog post, went to my Wordpress dashboard and there were updates. Well, that it needed updates was not the part that surprised me (it always needs updating!), it was that, [...]

This is a question-and-answer post about getting SSI for a child with a disability. It's meant to break it down to make it easier to understand the how, why and wherefore's of this. This post includes useful links to SSA (Social Security Administration) to give you more thorough information. We at Unpacking Disability are NOT [...]

This is about "Crip Camp Curriculum" which has sprung from the award-winning documentary, "Crip Camp." If you would like to hear this read, please click the link below. https://media.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/p/content.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/Crip-Camp-Curriculum-.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download The documentary Crip Camp came and bust open a million doors on what it means to be disabled, on the [...]

This addresses the question, "do people with Down syndrome feel pain differently?" and relates to pain tolerance of people with intellectual disability. If you want to hear this read, just click the link below. https://media.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/p/content.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/Pain-and-Down-Syndrome.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download When my daughter Moxie was about two years old, she wandered over to where [...]

This is a personal post. It's available in distraction-free (- no ads) PDF for my patrons, linked here. It's also at the end of this post for people who benefit from access to PDF'. If you want to hear me reading this, just click the link below. https://media.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/p/content.blubrry.com/meriahnicholsdisability/Learning-to-Run.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download I learned how [...]