Blog | Tag: Access

Two people can need the same support and get two different realities in Florida. One person finds an appointment in a few weeks. Another is told to try again next month. One student gets school supports that show up consistently. Another student is waiting for staffing, waiting for paperwork, or waiting for a provider that is not nearby. When this happens, people often blame themselves first. They assume they asked the wrong way, called the wrong people, or missed the “right” step. But uneven access is usually not a personal problem. It’s a systems problem. This blog explains what uneven access looks like, why it happens, and why consistent statewide solutions matter.

Disability rights and accommodations exist to remove barriers so people can participate fully, not to give anyone an advantage. It is common to hear disability rights or accommodations described as special treatment. This idea often comes up in conversations about fairness and equal expectations. To understand why accommodations are not special treatment, it helps to first look at the difference between treating everyone the same and ensuring everyone can participate.

Every day in Florida and across the country, people with disabilities and their families rely on community organizations, volunteers, and neighbors to fill gaps left by public systems that fall short. It is natural to feel grateful for this help. But real progress comes when we move beyond gratitude and ask harder questions about why people are left to rely on individual acts of kindness in the first place.

On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. This law said loud and clear that people with disabilities must be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness across employment, public services, transportation, and more. It sent a message: no more hiding, no more excuses, and no more walls. Now, in 2025, that message is still important. But the ADA was never meant to be the end of the story. It was the beginning. Our job now is to ask, “What comes next?” and keep pushing for the world the ADA promised.

Following a series of TV broadcasts about Willowbrook State School, the government created the Protection & Advocacy (P&A) network and gave these agencies like ours the power thoroughly investigate places that people with disabilities receive services.

Join two-spirit, disabled, Native artists in a conversation exploring the challenges faced by Native artists and communities with a lack of digital access.