Top 5 Disability Accounts to Follow

You may have heard of one of the most important disability rights advocates, Judith Heumann. Here is a list of the top disability accounts we follow, advocates doing the work that Heumann and others started. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990. The law's coverage specifies that all levels of government and programs be accessible, and that public accommodations such as restaurants and stores make "reasonable modifications." As many of you know, we have a long way to go to truly be accessible. 

Here is a list of disability advocate accounts we follow whose commitment to educating about the disability experience not only helps breaking harmful stereotypes, but also provide actionable steps for all of us to become better allies and advocates of this community:

Kendall Ciesemier

Kendall is the Executive Producer of Multimedia at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). During the pandemic, she wrote this compelling opinion piece for the NYT about how her experience with chronic illness had uniquely prepared her for the pandemic.

Why we follow her: Periodically, she hosts Q&As about the disability experience, drawing from her own experience as well as from other's, to dispel misconceptions about the community. She also does pep talks! Follow her here.

Alice Wong

Alice is the creator of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing and amplifying disability media and culture. She is also the editor behind one of our favorite books on disability, Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century. 

Why we follow her: 

Not only is she behind campaigns like #CripTheVote and #CripLit, most recently she co-partnered with Mia Mingus and Sandy Ho to create the campaign #AccessIsLove to help build a world where accessibility is understood as an act of love instead of a burden or an afterthought. Also we can't recommend enough her book!

Carly Findlay

Carly is an award-winning writer and appearance activist. She recently wrote a book about her experience titled Growing Up Disabled in Australia.

Why we follow her: 

Since we started MIGA in 2017, we have been following her. Her candid and helpful posts are a must. This one in particular about how you can make your social media more accessible and inclusive, is one of our favorites. 

Imani Barbarin

Imani, better known in the internet as @crutches_and_spice, is a communications director, disability blogger and content creator. 

Why we follow her:

Her TikToks are the best! She was one of the first people to talk about how  guardianship and conservatorship is not unique to Britney Spears. Want to learn more about how to avoid ableism? Just follow her here.  

Bri Scalesse

Bri is a model and a disability activist. Full-disclosure we are a little biased because she was a model for our second collection and we cannot think of a better #MIGAMuse. 

Why we follow her:

She has been incredibly honest about how at the beginning of her journey she didn't want to be part of the disability community. Now she is a disability activist through and through, most recently she documented the whole process of how Delta Airlines broke her wheelchair, Aphrodite, highlighting the importance of passing The Air Carrier Access Act. 

Obviously this list is not exhaustive. There are so many wonderful voices out there working day in day out to bring light to all the injustices that the disability community has to put up with on a regular basis. Let's make it a thing, to take care and support this community now, not until we become disabled (cause odds are we are all going to experience some kind of disability at some point in our lives).