Disability Rights Florida

The Family Cafe hosts a large annual event in Central Florida as a major component of its outreach.

Abbas Karimi took silver in the Paris Paralympics this year.

More Leon County voters with disabilities will have the option to complete their ballots at home without the help of another person in this year’s elections.

Florida lawmakers are trying to reduce the number of bad outcomes between people with disabilities and law enforcement. Not all disabilities can be seen, and some lawmakers have pitched the idea of creating a special needs registry so that law enforcement will be better informed when responding to calls. But, the registry idea is plagued by concerns around privacy, consent, and the potential to be labeled a criminal when a person has done nothing wrong.

Parents have long fretted about schools’ ability to circumvent them in critical health decisions regarding their children. Now, those loopholes are getting smaller after the legislature approved provisions requiring parents be notified before their child is sent for an involuntary psychiatric exam. It's part of a years-long effort by parents rights groups and mental health advocates to curb the use of the state's Baker Act on children.

Lawmakers are considering a bill to ban abortions that are being sought because a test result or diagnosis shows the baby may have a disability. The proposal triggers different issues from first amendment rights to offending people with disabilities.

For more than a decade Florida lawmakers have been trying to limit the use of seclusion and physical restraints on students who may act out, and for more than a decade, they’ve failed to do so. The issue, for some—is straightforward: the methods don’t work and can even cause physical and emotional harm to kids, but advancing the proposal through the process has been frustrated time and again.

Disability Rights Advocates urge Floridians with disabilities to vote in this general election. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2016 figures, 8.6% of Floridians under 65 have a disability. That demographic has a lower turnout than voters without disabilities.

Disability Rights Florida is suing Gov. Ron DeSantis and his executive office for not having a sign language interpreter during Coronavirus press conferences. Disability Rights Florida is filing the lawsuit. Its lead attorney says DeSantis is breaking the law.

As Florida schools switch to distance learning, districts are brainstorming how to give services to students with disabilities. However, that may be…