Although I was mainstreamed in fourth grade and I have never formally participated in the disability rights movement, I also realize my privilege, and thus responsibility, of access as one of only two wheelchair-using Commissioners. I have encountered many ableist attitudes, situations, and inaccessible venues and experiences in my new ‘public’ life, and worked diligently to educate, inform, advocate, and document in the quiet and unglamorous ways that are effective.
Occasionally there are situations where I am the visible demonstration of being a disabled public official. In July, 2026, a ‘snatch robbery,’ of a person using a wheelchair, occurred within ANC 2C, so I took the public opportunity to formally ask the Office of the US Attorney to charge the suspect with the additional penalty under DC Law § 22–931 for a crime against a vulnerable adult. This advocacy took the ANC-specific form of passing by Commission 2C my Resolution, which gives the opinion of a Commission ‘great weight’ with DC government entities, and was also taken seriously by the prosecuting Assistant US Attorney in the case.