Jason Hahr

The Voiceless Minority

Michelle Zeman Joins the Team and Becomes Another Voice for The Voiceless Minority

Times are crazy here at The Voiceless Minority. Over the last month and a half, we have had overwhelming support from both the disabled and the able-bodied community, and today, we continue that momentum.  Today is the beginning of a new era here at The Voiceless Minority. Today, we welcome our newest voice for the voiceless, Michelle Zeman. Michelle is an Autistic Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) living in Winter Springs, FL. She discovered the value of self-advocacy and activism through...

Sad Times in Ocala, Florida Reflect Overall Poor Treatment of The Disabled Community in America Today

The movie-going experience has been part of American life for decades now. At the same time, being disabled has also been a part of the human experience since the beginning of time. This piece will address the idea that although we are thirty-four years into the ADA era, movie theaters in Ocala, Florida, demonstrate how little respect people with disabilities have earned in thirty-four years. Over the weekend, I was treating my friend/caregiver, who I will call Jane, on a trip to the movies for...

Breaking Down Barriers. Ignoring Stereotypes; How Ana Victoria Espino is Making History.

When this blog began 11 years ago, it was fueled by anger and restriction, but it has since morphed into a platform for disability advocacy. I started the voiceless minority because I was denied the opportunity to even attempt to teach because of some people’s short-sightedness and preconceived notions of people with disabilities. Even though that was almost another lifetime ago, the article I read on Thursday has me wondering if I let society cut me out of my dream. They say things happen for...

The Wonders of Technology and Accessibility

On Monday, we posted a blog highlighting - Wandercraft, a company with game-changing technology that will hopefully allow many people with disabilities to experience what it would be like to walk or stand on their feet. Since we received such an overwhelmingly positive response, I figured it would make sense to continue the discussion. “Bionic technology continues to evolve rapidly, offering new hope and improved quality of life for people with disabilities. Recent advancements have focused on...

Wandercraft Is Bringing The Wonder of Mobility To The Masses

I have been in a wheelchair for the majority of my life. I even had one of those cool moms who would decorate my wheelchair and turn it into a rolling Halloween costume. So, in short, I have never known life outside of a wheelchair. Okay, so I may have fibbed a little bit. I used to use a walker and do the gimp shuffle around my elementary school, but for the most part, I have always sat on my ass. While I like the view from my chair, and my feet never hurt, I have always wondered what it would...

Exceptional and Exciting Traveling Opportunities are Now Available to The Disability Community.

I am not a homebody. I love to get out and explore the world, but it is a disability. You must consider accessible travel, i.e., how you'll get where you're going and what it will look like when you get there, especially if traveling internationally. However, I recently came across a game-changer for traveling with a disability. According to Rebecca Hisamoto, the director of Exceptional Vacations, " Jill and Justin ultimately understood the mental health benefits of being able to travel but saw...

The Disabled Journalist Association is Here

Okay, so anyone who has read these past few blogs I've written knows that my brain tends to explode every once in a while. Earlier this month, it was my inner theater kid, and now it is my inner advocate slash nerd. I was checking my email today when I came across Thursday’s Disability Florida Rights podcast (August 8, 2024). This podcast was a gift from the universe because it talked about something I have been dreaming of for a while. It discussed the organization called the Disabled Journalis...

What Makes Something “Accessible?”

According to Webster's Dictionary, accessibility is easy to obtain or use or easily reached, entered, or used by people with disabilities. To me, this sounds like a bunch of words. What do they mean? I honestly don’t think anyone knows. I have not yet found anything that is " universally accessible.” This is because we are all different. That being said, I have an issue that this blog post will address.   When this blog started eleven years ago, I was twenty-seven. By then, you are supposed t...

“Hop” Is Back

In modern society, whether you are four or forty or somewhere in between, chances are you know someone with a disability. I have been blogging about disability-related issues for over eleven years, and I am just beginning. I have always thought that the earlier and more often people are exposed to disability in some form or another, the better; finally, a TV network agrees.   Okay, I am technically a little late to the party since one season has already aired. Still, I’m excited that the strea...

One Woman’s Work with The Autistic Community Has Inspired Me to Do Work of My Own

My inner theater kid is having a brain explosion. I just learned of a cool new theater project highlighting people on the Autism spectrum. I will link the article I read below and a video from South Florida news media highlighting an upcoming event the Autism Theater Project is putting together.   Before I get into my thoughts on how it is about time that theater and the arts regularly highlight persons with disabilities, let me tell you more about the Autism Theater Project (ATP). (See the li...

The United States Can Learn Lessons on Accessibility from International Music Festival

As we enter August, we also enter the height of the festival season, whether it be hard rock, country, or my girlfriend’s favorite EDM; if you look hard enough, you are bound to find a festival for whatever you are into somewhere. However, if you're disabled, it is that much more challenging.When you are disabled, you have many things to consider when planning an outing indoors or outdoors. I am not suggesting that disabled people should be homebodies; rather, this piece and the article from Ena...

Living the American Dream: What does it look like to work with a disability? Samantha Lebron answers this question in an open and honest interview.

In America, from an early age, we are conditioned to work and contribute to society; well, at least, most people are.  However, when you have a physical disability like Ms. Samantha Lebron does, you are often not expected to work full-time. Even though Ms. Lebron has a severe case of cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, she has decided to go against the grain and become a full-time worker. Throughout the rest of this article, we will highlight a recent interview I conducted with Ms. L...

The Voice of The Voiceless Is Back

Well, the voice of the voiceless is back. I have taken quite a long break, and during that break, I wondered if the voiceless minority still needed me or if it had learned to develop its voice. While I believe the voiceless minority has made gains on its own, it is clear that it still needs the guidance of its parent and its founder, as illustrated by a series of recent events. Recently, I learned of an individual who was wrongfully treated as if they did not have a brain just because they were...

The Third State Has Risen: Literature Foreshadowed It and Now We Are Living It

Whether this blog goes “viral” or even gets read by anyone else is not why I am writing it. Usually, I write to inform or to educate and maybe I will do both with this piece as well, but this time I am writing out of disgust anger, and fear. If anyone asks, I am not shy about giving my opinion about something, and most of my opinions on almost every issue tend to gravitate towards the middle or the left of the political spectrum, but for this issue, I am sure I will piss off some of my regular a...

I Am An Adult Even Though It Is Hard To Believe So Please Start Treating Me Like One

People with disabilities are often infantilized even by those closest to them. I am 37 years old but sometimes I feel like I’m twelve. I am currently reading a book with my girlfriend Samantha who I affectionately refer to as my “little alien.” The book is entitled The Woman In Me by Britney Spears. Spears’ memoir talks about her early life as a performer and how much she enjoyed it but it also talks about the conservatorship she was under for thirteen years. During the conservatorship, every as...

Come On America, You Can Do Better

Disclaimer: An article similar to this blog post will be published on FSA Central. The practice of paying disabled people below the minimum wage is still legal in 2023, and now It is time for that to change. The fact that it is legal to dehumanize and discriminate against people with disabilities this way in 2023 is ridiculous! We are America, we are supposed to be the country everyone looks to as an example but Europe treats its disabled population ten times better than we do. Why is it that ju...

Getting Back At It

Your friendly neighborhood super-advocate is finally back. It has been quite a while since I last posted as my loyal readers will have noticed. The last time I came to you I wrote a post on how to make the voice of the voiceless even louder. While the post got a large number of views, which I appreciate, I want to remind everyone that the best way to follow this blog is to make sure you’re following it on Blogspot. Occasionally I may not post a blog on the Facebook page.Now that that’s out of th...

Getting Back To Basics: How Can I Spread The Message of The Voiceless Minority

Your friendly neighborhood super advocate is back with this week’s Spectacular Saturday post. I must begin by thanking you for your overwhelming support for Thursday’s 100th post. Your continued support gives me the motivation, and the ability to advocate even when I am not feeling up to it. I can’t thank you enough for that support. I come to you today with a call to action. The Voiceless Minority is growing. Soon we will no longer be voiceless. Our Facebook page has exploded ever since I start...

Breaking Down Barriers: The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and Its Significance to the Disability Community

Hello again, yes it’s me your friendly neighborhood super advocate. A warm welcome to all of my new readers who are checking out the blog for the first time. I want to welcome you to a friendly, engaging, informative, and sometimes funny look at anything and everything that has to do with disabilities and the disability community. To all my returning readers, welcome back. No matter which group you fall into, you’ve stumbled upon the Voiceless Minority on a very special day. Yes, it has finally...

When Should I Start Teaching My Kids About the Different Types of Disabilities and Disabled People In General?

Your friendly neighborhood super advocate is back! In yesterday’s post, we discussed parenting with a disability for the third time. Since there was a great deal of interest in that blog post, I thought today would be the perfect time to deliver and talk about a topic that I mentioned at the end of last Friday’s blog post. Since I began blogging over a decade ago, I cannot count how many times I’ve heard the following question, “Since you write a lot about disability I was wondering, when is the...
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