Mike Ervin is a writer and disability rights activist living in Chicago. He blogs at Smart Ass Cripple, “expressing pain through sarcasm since 2010.”
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Mike Ervin
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Signing Up for AmeriCorps Sure Looks Like Fun!
The challenge, until recently, was getting past medical guidelines that rejected applicants who had sought psychiatric counseling. Read more
Wikimedia Commons
Smart Ass Cripple: Barriers to Access Must Fall . . . Like Domino's
I'm boycotting Domino’s Pizza. The company has pulled out all the stops to avoid having to make its lousy pizza available to people with disabilities. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: When Pot Is Legal, Except in Public Housing
As the holidays approacheth, and pot becomes legal in my state, I’m considering reviving my Dysfunctional Family Christmas tradition. Read more
The Struggle for Emoji Equality
If you’re not heavily represented on the emoji pallet, you’re nobody. Read more
The GOP and the Zombie Medicaid Block Grants
Here they are again, back from the dead, like zombies. Read more
Andrew Nelles / Gage Skidmore
The Politician’s Guide to Surviving a Disability Slur
History shows that when a famous person insults disabled people in this manner, they can easily get off the hook. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: Using the Disabled as Talking Points
Maybe I have a certain talent not so much for making political predictions but for smelling rightwing hypocrisy. It really isn’t hard to do. The stench is often overwhelming. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: Nuisances Unite!
My heroes are those disabled folks who embrace the power of their nuisance status. But what happens when being a nuisance becomes a punishable offense? Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: The First Amendment Barn
Perhaps an old, abandoned barn designated as an official protest zone will be our lawmakers’ perfect solution to keeping the economy safe from those pesky protests. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: Disability and the Myth of the ‘Public Charge’
What are bootstraps to someone who literally cannot stand on their own two feet? Read more
Michael Vadon
The Scapegoat and the Victim
When the next shooting happens, people with mental illness diagnoses will probably feel like hiding, but for the wrong reasons. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: Separate and Unequal
When people laugh at my cripple segregation experience, it means they get the joke. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: How I Know the ADA Is Working
Today marks the twenty-ninth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And I'm happy, because I remember how things were before the ADA. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: The New Bathroom Wars
As some people continually seek to redefine what an inclusive public bathroom looks like, conservative forces staunchly defend the bathroom status quo. Read more
White House
Smart Ass Cripple: Happy Birthday Olmstead
Twenty years ago, a civil rights victory helped disabled people escape institutional life. Read more
via goodfreephotos.com
Smart Ass Cripple: Where Have All the Parking Lots Gone?
I’ve seen “For Sale” signs on parking lots around the city quite a bit in recent years. That’s how the descent into hell begins. Read more
Bagogames
Smart Ass Cripple: The Limits of Charity
Acts of extraordinary generosity get all the press. But we’re missing the point. Read more
Brad Dougherty
Smart Ass Cripple: Stuck in Limbo
If you’re wondering what life is like for many disabled folks, think about those TV commercials for amusement parks like Great America. Read more
AndreyKrav Getty Images/iStockphoto
Smart Ass Cripple: The State of Tennessee, Thank Goodness, Has Some Shame
The angry families and the media didn’t go away. In the end, the senate capitulated to human decency. Read more
Smart Ass Cripple: When Pot Is Legal, Except in Public Housing
As the holidays approacheth, and pot becomes legal in my state, I’m considering reviving my Dysfunctional Family Christmas tradition. Read more
