by Delaina Parrish | Jul 31, 2022 | Ability Advocacy
In almost all of my presentations, no matter the topic, there’s a singular spoken line that jars people’s perceptions of disability… “I was born into a world that wasn’t designed for me.” And I’m pretty sure President Roosevelt, diagnosed with Polio and a chair...
by Delaina Parrish and Patricia Parrish | Aug 23, 2021 | Ability Advocacy
What the Ancients Still Teach Us As I celebrate the accomplishments of the 2020 Paralympic athletes, I find myself relating the five foundational elements – Air, Fire, Water and Earth – advanced by our earliest global thinkers to the obstacles that...
by Delaina Parrish | Jan 26, 2021 | Ability Advocacy
Although it was not what I (or any of us) imagined, or could have imagined, I am choosing something better: to be grateful for my gifts and to find discernment in the unexpected joys and sorrows of 2020. Through it all, the oxymoron known as “social distancing,”...
by Delaina Parrish | May 29, 2020 | Ability Advocacy
My journey as an undergraduate came to the underwhelming zoom! zoom! zoom! fueled COVID-19 finish line a month ago, after the fears of the world came crashing upon us, the Class of 2020. I’m finally ready for the both of us to gaze into the rearview mirror, to...
by Delaina Parrish | Apr 28, 2020 | Ability Advocacy
The graduation finish line is just 3 days away, but not quite here yet… Yesterday, though, was bittersweet! Memories came flooding in as I moved out of my second home of the past four years, Cypress Hall at the University of Florida, in the midst of...
by Delaina Parrish | Jul 4, 2019 | Ability Advocacy
Independence comes in many forms, but is often taken for granted in America — from freedom of speech to freedom to speak; from women’s rights to disability rights; from equal access to medical care to equal access to higher education, it all...