Beyond Impact’s Post

#Question for the #Disability and #Neurodivergent communities. If you had a magic wand, what federal policies would you change and how would it positively affect your standard of living and quality of life? #FridayThoughts #DisabilityInclusion #NeurodivergentInclusion #Federal #Policies Image description: Gold magic wand floating in a grey-blue space with other ancient-looking images.

Juneteenth marks the end of slavery and the ongoing struggle for equality. We reflect on history, empower communities, and advocate for justice #FreedomDay #EmancipationCelebration #LiberationDay

On June 19, 1865, General Granger issued General Order No. 3, announcing the end of slavery in Texas. This day became known as Juneteenth, a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.” It marked the moment when enslaved African Americans in Texas learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. ✨ ☎️ Call us today to schedule a consultation! #gaudinlawgroup #glgfamily #GLG #glgadoption #onpointlegal #opladoption #oplfamily #onpointadoptions #adoption #adoptionattorney #adoptioneducation #adoptiveparent #birthmom #birthmother #expectantmom #adoptionawareness #hopefuladoptiveparent #ethicaladoption #adoptionprofessional #thinkingaboutadoption #estate #estateplanning #estatemanagement #FamilyLaw #Juneteenth #federalholiday #EmancipationDay #FreedomDay

Watch my recent conversation with Phil Armstrong of the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice on the importance of uniting for justice. Gain insights on the significance of coming together to address social injustice and promote equality. Check out the video here: https://lnkd.in/gVPy7KyT #JusticeForAll #CommunityUnity #Equality

🕊️ Today is International Widows Day, a global awareness day established by the United Nations to shine a light on the human rights violations that widows face around the world. Many widows endure poverty, denied inheritance, eviction, and abuse. Their children, particularly girls, often suffer from being withdrawn from school and increased vulnerability. This day calls for action to secure full rights for widows, promote research on their challenges, and develop policies to combat violence, discrimination, and poverty. By empowering widows with access to education, work, healthcare, and protection from violence, we can help them build a better future for themselves and their children. Learn more about how we can make a difference: https://hubs.ly/Q02y0WFt0 #InternationalWidowsDay #WidowRights #EndPoverty #HumanRights #SupportWidows #UNInitiatives

On #InternationalWidowsDay, we stand with millions of widows around the world, particularly in the MENA region, who are caught up in a complex web of challenges, including legal discrimination, economic hardship, and social stigma. But where do these issues stem from? The answer is simple: legal inequality. Discriminatory family laws, particularly those around inheritance and the division of marital property, deprive widows of the wealth and resources they could use to continue living a dignified life and strip them of full custody rights to their children. Equality Now is committed to advocating for fair #FamilyLaws that protect the rights and dignity of widows through crucial legal reforms. Together, we can ensure just and equitable rights for all. 💪 Read our blog to learn more about the challenges widows face in the MENA region: equalitynow.org/widows #WidowsRights #FamilyLawReform #WorldWidowsDay #InheritanceRights #MENA #WomenEmpowerment #LegalReforms

I wrote this piece for the Mandarin, and it is in the Juice today as I wanted to phrase the pivot to the new disability human rights paradigm as a policy pivot. Civil servants get policy pivots. They effectively and efficiently implement policies set by the politician who leads their department. Since every politician seeks to differentiate themselves from their counterparts, whenever there is a shift in minister you can bet there will be a policy pivot. Considering ministers normally hold their office for a relatively short time, and during that time Ministers want to achieve policy outcomes, well civil servants develop the skill to pivot. So, I wrote: “Are public servants informed and implementing the new disability public policy pivot?”:  <https://lnkd.in/gWtN4ca5> And if you want a laugh, check out Sir Humphrey explaining the role of a civil servant and how he coped with serving 11 governments, including governments committed to regulation, deregulation, and reregulation: https://lnkd.in/gPHAypQA   #mandarin #uq #inclusion #DRC #DisabilityRoyalCommission #CivilServant #PolicyPivot #CRPD #DisabilityHumanRights

"It's high time we shine a spotlight on what's happening in the Prairie Provinces 🕯️Do you know that 80% of the incarcerated and 90% of kids in care are Indigenous? 🚨 This isn't just stats but stories of lives tangled in systemic roots. Let's commit ourselves to understanding and action to unravel these issues. 🤝💫 How can we rally together to drive change for justice and Indigenous rights? Share your thoughts below. #PrairieReality #JusticeForIndigenousPeoples #TimeForChange"

Governments doing nothing When government decides on policy-as-inaction, public servants pivot accordingly, and they do nothing too.   The NSW Government decided on policy-as-inaction for students with Light Sensitivity, and so [most]teachers do nothing too. How do I know? The Minister (Piccoli) in 2014, told the Member for Ballina that “Under the Disability Discrimination Act ... Students experiencing visual stress and a sensitivity to fluorescent lighting may be provided with a range of supports according to their individual needs. These supports may include appropriate colour overlays, seating position in the classroom to access natural lighting, a personal lamp on their desk and/or coloured paper both in their day to day learning and as a special provision for assessment activities.” While the Member for Ballina (Page) forwarded the letter to me, the Minister did not forward the letter to his “public servants” the teachers, and so most do nothing. Although school principals can exempt a student from sitting the HSC under artificial lighting, few know that they can, very few know that they should, and so very few do, as evidenced by statistics collated by NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). Furthermore, although the NSW Government commissioned research which demonstrated that “standard lighting is associated with poorer performance, higher quality light with better performance”[1] the government did nothing. Then, to ‘cap it all’, the Prime Minister (Turnbull) DID change the lighting –to LEDs– which, my light sensitive teacher (former) colleague tells me, are– “horrendous” worse than fluoros”!   It’s been almost 100 years since school Principal Ray raised artificial lighting as an educational problem.[2] If the government decides to act teachers will, of course, pivot, and do as they are told. However, while the NSW government continues with policy-as- inaction, teachers could do something. They could begin by asking their students “Would you prefer the lights off?” [1]  Robert "Samuels, Light, Mood and Performance at School:- Triphosphor Phase #3," UNSW Faculty of the Built Environment, 2000. [2] Alpheus Wilson Ray, "Artificial Illumination as an Educational Problem," MA Thesis, Stanford University, 1938.