As someone born in Broad Ripple, I have a lot of love for Nap Town. Granted, as someone who is disabled, my experiences are not the same as all of my peers, but there is still so much good here. I love this city, and I know that it can be accessible to all of us. There are services in place, but we can create better and more sustainable accessible spaces to create inclusivitiy for all of us, not just what people think in their head when they hear the word "disabled."
At the government level, there is the Office of Disability Affairs. They have some places to reach out to the mayor directly, fill out a form if you feel like you've been discriminated against and they define what consistutes as discrimination, and info about handi-cap parking permits in Marion County. However, here is where we stray away from what the government provides, and we get to see what the community has put together to support each other.
There is a wonderful resource called Indiana Disability Resource FINDER where you can locate resources specific to your search, all in one place! It reminds me of using databases for research articles, but way more enticing (to me, at least). Just typing "Indianapolis" and selecting the "Resources" tab, I got 34 results with such little effort. And they all look wonderful. The bonus is that it did all the work of making it local for you :)
Let it be noted that if you find a resource, there is a spot to add it to the website!
We have resources for people with autism, people with hearing loss, parents of disabled children, people at the intersection of queerness and disability, and things at IU Indianapolis! There are so many resources out there, but it can be really hard to know where to start looking for help.
Living with a disability is overwhelming. It's hard and, by definition, it impacts your life on a daily basis. Obtaining a disability and having to dive head first into all of this is especially overwhelming. The world can be harsh and cruel, but it doesn't have to stay inaccessible.
Let's make it a little more accessible together.
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