Last night two young "Christian" men preaching about healing and judgement day on my way home said to me verbatim: "We saw you walking and noticed it's something wrong with your legs. What's wrong with "them"? And what’s your name? 

ME: Hey, how y'all doing? I’m Jay. 

Two young men responded: You know, God will "heal" you, and you'll be "cured." You know Judgement Day coming too, right??! 

ME: Oh. Naw there's nothing wrong with me. I'm disabled and I am just FINE as I am. I don’t need a “cure.” 

Also ME: Yes and I am preparing for Judgment Day...

THEM: Do you Believe in God?

ME: Yes. I'm quite spiritual, not religious, and God loves me just the way I am.

THEM: .... Shared a few born- again stories...

ME (listening) as the bus pulled up: Sorry fellas, but I really gotta catch this bus. Nice talking to y'all. God Bless. 

I held my ground without lashing out, despite the blatant ableism that is still rampant within various churches and from so- called believers. I guess I am coming along. 

Today a celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act (turning 25!) is occurring, while a wider, day-long Twitter chat includes many perspectives, histories, and experiences are being shared with the hashtag #DisabilityStories. Head to Twitter to explore, learn, and even ask questions by including that hashtag with your tweets.

Want more details on #DisabilityStories? 

Check in with the LIVE BLOG.

See this National Museum of American History​ blogpost

You can also see recaps of many events with Storify

If you create content in social media, learn from this toolkit on #accessibility: http://www.digitalgov.gov/resources/federal-social-media-accessibility-toolkit-hackpad/

This month is the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  To mark the occasion, the National Museum of American History has spearheaded #DisabilityStories—an international conversation on Twitter and other social networks that will take place on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. 

We wanted to highlight this story from the early days of motion pictures and an example of the rich history of the nation’s Deaf community. It comes via Popular Electricity from March, 1914. The story is about a series of films made by Gallaudet University (then Gallaudet College) and its first president, Edward Miner Gallaudet. (The school itself was named for Edward’s father, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a pioneer in the education of the deaf.) The University is still the world's only university with programs and services specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students, here in Washington, D.C.

While I haven’t been able to find the original film mentioned, Gallaudet does have a video archive of many historic films, including “The Preservation of Sign Language.” The 1913 film advocated the continued use of sign language at a time when oralists (such as Alexander Graham Bell) were pushing deaf and hard of hearing people to learn to lip read and speak through mimicking the breathing patterns and mouth shapes of oral speech. The film was included in the National Film Registry in 2010, selected for its “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significance.

My world is the Deaf, and has been since I was 18 months old. However, I’ve always been blessed with the ability to hear a good deal, speak reasonably clearly, and understand many nuances of the Hearing world. Make no mistake, the world of the Hearing and that of the Deaf are very different ones, but in some respects, much the same.

Danica Rice, a ‪‎Deaf‬ archives technician, shares how a love of reading and an encounter with Emily Dickinson's personal library led to her new job at the National Archives at Seattle.