Huddle Up With The GM! By Emry Himes

A cartoon of a smiling man dressed as a football coach with a headset and clipboard. The text "HUDDLE UP WITH THE GM!" is centered below him. Surrounding the coach are several encouraging phrases like "I am proud of you!" and "Well done!" A caption at the bottom explains that he is starting a podcast to help others feel good and recognize their "super powers."

Image Descriptions: The first image is a yellow poster featuring a cartoon illustration of a smiling man, referred to as “The GM,” dressed as a football coach with a headset, a “GM” logo on his jacket, and a clipboard showing a play diagram. Above him, various encouraging phrases like “WOW, YOU DID IT!”, “I AM PROUD OF YOU!”, and “I SEE YOU! I HEAR YOU!” are scattered like speech bubbles. The main text at the bottom reads “HUDDLE UP WITH THE GM!” followed by a caption: “THAT’S WHY I WANT TO START A PODCAST TO MAKE OTHERS FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES AND RECOGNIZE THEIR SUPER POWERS!!”

cartoon of a smiling man dressed as a football coach with a headset and clipboard. The text "HUDDLE UP WITH THE GM!" is centered below him. Surrounding the coach are several encouraging phrases describing how PAC Services helps him, including: "Understand my options", "Focus on what I CAN do", "Feel seen, heard and respected."

Image Description: The second image is a green poster featuring a cartoon of a smiling man dressed as a football coach with a headset and clipboard. The text “HUDDLE UP WITH THE GM!” is centered below him. Surrounding the coach are several encouraging phrases describing how PAC Services helps him, including: “Understand my options”, “Focus on what I CAN do”, “Feel seen, heard and respected.” A caption at the bottom explains that with a waiver, he is reaching his goals and starting a podcast to help others recognize their “SUPER POWERS!”

About the Artist

A young man in his twenties with short brown hair. he is wearing a blue casual shirt with a tan hooded drawstring sweater over it. He is leaning on a brick wall with a smile on his face.

Image Description: A young man in his twenties with short brown hair. he is wearing a blue casual shirt with a tan hooded drawstring sweater over it. He is leaning on a brick wall with a smile on his face.

Artist Bio

Emry Cole McHugh Himes is a community leader from Southport, Indiana and the Inspirational Coach for the Franklin College Football Team, where he is known as the heart of the Grizzlies program. He is a Roncalli High School graduate, a participant in Franklin College’s Inspire program, and a longtime volunteer with organizations such as Best Buddies, Hope Gallery, and Special Olympics. Emry is also a Special Olympics athlete and 2025 Backstroke State Gold Medalist who loves music, dancing, sports, and bringing people together. 

What Real Support Looks Like to Me By Jody Michele

In my twenties, I needed support that was practical, consistent, and rooted in dignity.

I needed connection—real connection—not isolation disguised as independence. I needed transportation that allowed me to participate in community, work, and relationships. I needed the homes of my family and friends to be accessible. Why? Because relationships are deepened within homes, not confined to public spaces like restaurants and department stores.

I needed society not to pressure me to prove my worth or to be the representative of all people with disabilities. When I was eight years old, a teacher told me I had to work twice as hard to be seen as just as good as other children without disabilities. She said this after I made a C on a test. She told me that people would only see my wheelchair and hear my speech impediment caused by cerebral palsy—and that they would dismiss me. She said I had to excel at everything, not only for myself, but for the benefit of all people with disabilities.

That was an enormous burden to place on a child.

As I entered young adulthood, I needed people to actively counter that narrative. No one ever did. I needed permission to be an individual human being—not a symbol, not a lesson, not an inspiration. Had that happened, I believe I might have experienced more joy in my younger years.

I needed to live without the constant fear of losing my disability services—without the anxiety that one paperwork error, policy shift, or political decision could unravel my stability. Support should not be so fragile that it forces a person to remain in survival mode.

I needed politicians and community leaders to put action behind their words. Not performative allyship. Not promises during Disability Awareness Month. But policies, funding, and systems that reflected a genuine commitment to disabled lives.

I needed to see people with disabilities in positions of power. I needed visible proof that disabled people were valued and respected in this society.

I needed people to understand that I did not need to serve as their emotional dumping ground in exchange for my physical needs being met.

I needed organizations and businesses to recognize that if I was good enough to be an ongoing volunteer, then I was good enough to be compensated.

These were the things I needed then, and they are still what I need now, in my fifties. They are what people with disabilities need in order to be truly supported and empowered.

About the Author

A woman with short purple hair and glasses sits smiling in a powered wheelchair on a wooden deck outdoors. She wears a light blue sweatshirt, gray pants, and white sneakers, with trees and greenery behind her on a sunny day.

Image Description: A woman with short purple hair and glasses sits smiling in a powered wheelchair on a wooden deck outdoors. She wears a light blue sweatshirt, gray pants, and white sneakers, with trees and greenery behind her on a sunny day.

Author Bio

Jody Michele is an independent disability consultant and a co-author of “Disabling Leadership”.  She has both seen and unseen disabilities. 

A few Things I Learned From My Time With Indiana Disability Justice By Jennifer Milharcic

In January of 2020, a friend from IDJ asked if I would edit a transcript of a webinar. Now, I do not know what we were thinking. I have Cerebral Palsy, and I type and manipulate the computer really slowly. It took me forever, and somehow, I ended up with a job! I had never worked for a social justice organization before and did not know what social justice was. Another term I was unaware of was ableism

I had thought of justice in legal terms, something handed down by a judge or an authority figure. Social justice is about change at a community level, a grassroots effort. It promotes equity and inclusion, provides mutual aid and advocates for participation in decision-making.

IDJ and our parent organization Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence practice disability and economic justice. Disability justice is uplifting, respecting and valuing the disability community and what we have to offer. All the members of IDJ had disabilities, and I was always seen as a valued member of the team. I worried about the speed at which I worked, but in practicing economic justice, I was given the same pay rate for my time.

I had not heard of ableism, but I had experienced it my whole life. I learned that ableism is a form of discrimination based on the thought that disability is something to be fixed. One example happened to me a lot as a child, random people would come up to me and start to pray for me. I am not defective. I am not superhuman for living life with a disability. It is not amazing that I am independent. I learned I can call ableism out. I do not have to sit there and take it.

I learned many other things throughout my time at IDJ, and I will miss my time here.

About the Author

Jennifer is smiling broadly with her hair pulled back and wearing a purple shirt.

Image Description: Jennifer is smiling broadly with her hair pulled back and wearing a purple shirt.

Author Bio

I have been working with ICADV/IDJ since 2020. I have several disabilities, Cerebral Palsy and recurring depression. Working with and helping others are my favorite activities. I believe in promoting equality, equity and justice among all marginalized people. Faith is very important in guiding me through enjoying what life has to offer.

Guarding Our Path to Independence

By R. Diane Graves

 

I grew up in an era wherein the technologies most of us take for granted today were unheard of. In some respects, life was much simpler. There were no menu-driven touch screens. Appliances and electronics were operated by individual buttons and controls easily identified by touch. At the opposite end of that spectrum, however, were some insurmountable barriers to the independence I longed for. As a person who is blind, there was no way to proofread my typewritten work, read my personal printed mail, or shop for groceries without assistance.

            Fast forward 40 plus years, to a world in which technology and the ability to use it is a necessity. Most all of us use the internet and our smart phones on a daily basis without a second thought. We use these tools to communicate with one another, to pay our bills, track our banking information, do our shopping and fill out all manner of forms and applications; the list is endless. Though the overall convenience of 21st century technology is global, the freedom and independence these advancements have provided to the blind and others with disabilities is something I, in my youth, could have never imagined.

            We are now able to proofread our own work via screen reading software, and identify our own printed materials. There are phone applications which will identify colors and currency and provide orientation and navigational information for independent travel. Clearly we have come a long way.   We cannot afford to celebrate these advances, however,  without also recognizing the potential dangers posed by their rapid evolution. While 21st century technology has opened many doors, it also has the power to lock us out if we are not careful. For example, it is extremely difficult today to find an appliance, be it a printer, a dishwasher, or thermostat just to name a few, with individual controls not hidden behind a touch screen. Sometimes you can create a “quick fix” by pasting a marker or a braille label on the screen. However, more and more of these designs are going to multifunction, menu driven controls.

            It is not that the technology needed to make these devices accessible is not available. Companies such as Apple have proven that. Apple has built out of the box accessibility directly into its original devices. Sadly, most companies don’t stop to consider the needs of people with disabilities. They are just so far removed from our world that accessibility never crosses their minds and thus, is not a part of their proverbial game plan.

            Still other companies would like to assure accessibility, but they just don’t have a clear understanding of what it means to be fully accessible. There are no published rules or guidelines as to how to implement such a design. It is this lack of direction which has prompted the National Federation of the Blind to promote the passage of the Websites and Software Accessibilities Act.

This proposed piece of legislation will direct the Department of Justice to set in place some clear cut rules for website and software  design and provide technical assistance to companies as they implement these changes. How liberating it would be to access a website for the first time, and not have a question in the back of one’s mind as to how accessible it will or will not be! We need to get this piece of legislation passed, and we are well on our way to doing so .

            This is just one example of the need for and power of advocacy within the disability community. Another might be the advocacy for an accessible absentee ballot for those unable to make it to the polls. There are many others which could be cited. We need to ban together and make our voices heard; advocating for a world in which there is truly “justice for all.”

            So how do we do this? The most important and likely most obvious first step is to register and cast our votes. Voting for elected officials will give us the privilege to speak out against injustice. We then need to work together with all of our brothers and sisters in the disabled community to identify the barriers to our independence and join together to eliminate them.

            It is so easy to become complacent; to feel that our voices won’t make a difference. We must remember however that there is power in numbers. A single voice  might not be enough to bring about a fully accessible world, but if we join together in one mighty harmonious chorus, we will make a difference. It is time for us to stand up and be counted, continuing our quest for equity, and advocating as only we can.

For more information on the above referenced legislative effort see https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/washington-seminar/websites-and-software-applications-accessibility-act .)

           

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Diane Graves.   

 

Diane Graves entered the disability community at two years of age, after losing her vision to Retinoblastoma—a genetic cancer of the retina. Thus, it was at an early age that she became familiar with the obstacles posed solely by discrimination, and when civil rights became her passion.  

​When she was hired by the Indiana Civil Rights Commission in the spring of 1990, she felt privileged to have been chosen to represent the disability community, and other minorities, in their quest to ensure equality.​

Since coming to the Commission as its front desk receptionist, she has advanced, and is now working as a mediator for the agency. She has also obtained a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from Kaplan University and is currently working towards her Master’s Degree in Social Work. She has serves in various offices and leadership roles in the National Federation of the Blind of Indiana, and has served on the Governor’s Planning Council for People with Disabilities.