[NFBSF] A new PSA: Everyday ableism, a coffee order, and an invitation

[Daveed Mandell]

Hello, everyone:

Great work, Laura. Very creative! Wonderfully expressed!  

I want everyone to know that the brainstorming session that took place at the East Bay Center was excellent. The problem is that you were talking to the wrong people. The MTC has done nothing for us, and will do nothing for us. I've be in  the Bay Area for 43 years. I know what I'm talking about. 

It would be much more effective if you would please attend accessibility advisory committee meetings of such agencies as AC  Transit, BART, and SFMTA. Attending Board of Directors meetings and making public comment would be extremely effective. Also, I would suggest that we hold another serious brainstorming session with blind people and other disabled people, without MTC we can begin to collect and discuss concerns and ideas related to accessibility. many of you had suggestions regarding textures. There are European and Japanese standards. A brilliant research report is available. The problem is that every country uses textures differently. Let's decide on the type of textures we would like to see here in the Bay Area, and let's start pushing for them. Let's start demanding that agencies begin to work with us, to hire qualified blind people and other people with disabilities in key accessibility positions and as transit planners.

74 years ago, long before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Dr. Jacobus tenBroek wrote about blind people (I am substituting here the phrase "people with disabilities".):    

"Only [people with disabilities] themselves can be fully aware of their own problems. Only [people with disabilities] themselves can feel an unremitting motivation to secure their rights and further their welfare. The right to participate fully in the community as equal partners is denied, if [people with disabilities] permit others to speak for them and to plan for them. This merely perpetuates dependency under the guise of improvement."

 

All the best,

Daveed
Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 1, 2026, at 10:38 AM, Laura Millar via NFBSF <nfbsf at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a short public service announcement inspired by a
transportation discussion I attended the other day at the East Bay Center
for the Blind.

During the discussion, I raised a point: improving the built environment
matters, but unless people's attitudes change too, we will still have an
ableist transportation system that is challenging to navigate. Physical
access is only part of the picture.

One community member asked why we were relying on others to do this
education. Why weren't we doing it ourselves?

If you know me well, you know I've spent about the last ten years educating
in the community about ableism and having these conversations.  But that
question sparked something: I could use AI to help turn some of those
everyday experiences into short public Service announcements. So I went
home that night and created this one.

Watch my short PSA about everyday ableism on YouTube
<https://youtu.be/KLQm2HrBDRw>

The PSA tells a coffee shop story through A number of illustrated scenes
with voice-over narration. It explores everyday ableism and
microaggressions: comments or actions that may seem small or well-intended
but communicate low expectations about blind people.

The story explores:

  - Being treated as inspirational for doing an ordinary activity, like
  getting coffee.
  - The gap between someone's intentions and how their comments actually
  land.
  - The difference between the polite response we give and what we really
  want to say.

There's a personal side to this, too. As part of my therapy and personal
development, I do Internal Family Systems work, sometimes called "parts
work." When ableist situations happen, different parts of me show up. One
is angry. Another says, "Be nice. Educate." As an educator, that second
part gets a lot of airtime.

What actually comes out of my mouth is rarely everything I want to say.

Then I watched a clip of President Obama with his anger translator at the
White House Correspondents' Dinner, and the light bulb went off. An ableism
translator! A way to share both the polite response and the thoughts
running through my head, using humor to open up a conversation.

I'm thinking this could become a series of short PSAs and comic strips.

If you have ideas, everyday situations you'd like to see explored, or an
interest in collaborating, I'd love to hear from you. There's room for our
community's stories, humor, voices, and creativity.

I  curious what public service announcements would you like to be seen put
out for Blindness equality achievement month?

Warmly,

Laura Millar, MPH, MA

Pronouns: she/they

Public Health Professional and Sexologist

Learn more about my work at lauramillar.com. <https://lauramillar.com/>

Second Vice President of the San Francisco chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind.

Board Member of the National Federation of the Blind of California.

Phone: 925-321-8804 <+19253218804>

Email: laura at lauramillar.com
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