Abby Schindler
LightNews LightNews
banner
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Abby Schindler
@abbyschindler.bsky.social
150 followers 150 following 440 posts
Disability justice advocate | Mom | neurodivergent | liiiiittle bit obsessed with the history of eugenics and the history of intellectual disability in the U.S.
Posts Replies Media Videos
abbyschindler.bsky.social
This is my view out the kitchen window while doing dishes. Be still my heart.
A backyard wing set with a torn tarp, a shorter tree with bright green leaves, and a taller tree in a vibrant red.
October 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Fall in the Midwest 🍁.
A red-and-yellow tree in a residential neighborhood. A mostly-red tree in a residential neighborhood. A red topped tree with green leaves underneath in a clearing. Three children stand under the tree, their faces are covered up for privacy. Scenic overlook with blue sky, a small body of water, and Fall trees. The trees reflected in the water.
October 30, 2025 at 1:37 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
A 1971 case brought forth by @thearcofpa.bsky.social
was the first to establish students with disabilities' right to education in the United States.

@thearcus.bsky.social
The Arc of the United States Our nation's commitment to education for all is being tested. The Arc was there when students with disabilities first won the right to learn, and we will do everything in our power to defend it.
October 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
The college version of me blasting the Wicked soundtrack couldn't have imagined this would ever exist much less that I would... really want it.
A green Le Crueset dutch oven with Elphaba from Wicked embossed on the top.
October 7, 2025 at 1:57 AM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
AUTISM ANNOUNCEMENT: I had to leave my home office in the basement today because the deep freezer was making a squealing noise probably nobody else can hear.
A screenshot of a Fox News broadcast with the headline "AUTISM ANNOUNCEMENT" next to photos of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
September 22, 2025 at 8:08 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
I get that this is a joke, and I'm not criticizing the original poster. It just seems like a perfect snapshot of wanting "community" without any of the uncomfortable or complicating parts of being in community. Community takes commitment.
A bluesky post reads "I need a book club, but it needs to operate entirely at my whim. When I pick up a book, a chip implanted in the brains of the other club members compels them to pick up the same book, finish it within 24-48 hours, and immediately convene a meeting."
September 11, 2025 at 12:16 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Two more weeks until #FatBearWeek2025.
A desk with a laptop computer showing bears playing at the top of a waterfall.
September 8, 2025 at 2:34 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Happy Disability Pride Month!

#DisabilityPride @disabilitypridechi.bsky.social
A white woman with black square glasses holds a sign saying "disabled and proud," next to a South Asian woman wearing rectangular glasses holds a disability pride flag. Both stand in front of a backdrop reading "UIC Applied Health Sciences."
July 26, 2025 at 8:50 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Woke to my 9 year old giggling to himself while reading this gem from 1980. Pop off, Vicki Cobb and Kathy Darling.
A book titled _Bet You Can't!: Science Impossibilities to Fool You_ by Vicki Cobb and Kathy Darling.
June 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
#NoKings #HandsOffMedicaid
A sign reads "If there's money for a parade, there money for Medicaid." Many protesters with other signs are nearby.
June 14, 2025 at 6:47 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Just making clear how I'd rather my taxes be spent.
A sign reading Iinstead of spending $45 million on a parade we could support 733 people with intellectual disabilities to live in the community for a year! #SaveMedicaid. The other side of the sign has an icon of a crown with a red banned sign over it.
June 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
No cuts to Medicaid!
Collage of different photos from a Disability rally in Chicago. Various people speaking into a microphone outdoors, holding signs in protest of cuts to Medicaid, UCEDDs, ACL, SNAP, and DD Councils.
May 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader dancing together.
May 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Healing reading "Heartbreaking: The Wrist Person you Know Just Made a Great Point," with a photo of a man underneath.
May 15, 2025 at 11:36 AM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Does anyone remember the Japanese Amusement park during the pandemic that advertised "Please Scream Inside Your Heart"?

No reason.
But the legislation also poses potential political risks. The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan office within Congress that determines how much legislation costs and how much it would add to the deficit, determined that the changes to Medicaid, along with the expiration of additional tax credits for Obamacare and other provisions, would increase the number of people without health insurance by 13.7 million.
May 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Wasn't prepared for "there has never been a group of people that had been treated more horribly... than the people of J6."

Talk about rewriting history.
A sketch of a slave auction, including a baby held by one arm on an auction block while a woman in front of the block is on her knees pleading at the feet of a white man. An image of soldiers forcing indigenous Americans to leave their home during the trail of tears. Historic black and white photo of Asian Americans in a line at a WW2 US internment camp. Elizabeth Eckerd, a black high school student, walks into a newly integrated high school while a white mob around her sneers and shouts at her.
February 10, 2025 at 2:01 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Erving Goffman: Total institutions dehumanize, cause phycological harm, destroy autonomy, involve a mortification of the self...

This guy: ...but it might work for us.
Screenshots from the show Arrested Development, a male and female character are talking. Top frame says "Well did it work for those people?" Second frame says "No, it never does, I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but..." The final frame says "...but it might work for us."
February 7, 2025 at 3:17 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
A timely reminder from this MLK Day reading I did with my kids today:

"Don't try to deal with everything wrong at once."

www.crmvet.org/docs/ms_for_...
A screenshot from a 1956 comic book reads "First decide what special things you're going to work on. In Montgomery, it was buses. Somewhere else it might be voting or schools or integrated churches. Doing try to deal with every wrong thing at once." The cover of the same comic book has an illustration of Martin Luther King Jr. and the title "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story."
January 20, 2025 at 11:38 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Most disgusted I've ever felt at the use of the term "liberated."

www.ft.com/content/cf87...
Quote from Financial Times: Even the way people on Wall Street talk and interact is changing. Bankers and financiers say that Trump's victory has emboldened those who chafed at "woke doctrine" and felt they had to self-censor or change their language to avoid offending younger colleagues, women, minorities or disabled people. "I feel liberated," said a top banker. "We can say 'retard' and 'pussy' without the fear of getting cancelled... it's a new dawn."
January 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Without downloading any new pictures, what is your energy going into 2025?
The words "When you have a single successful social interaction" above a photo of Kristen Bell from the Good Place wearing a sash saying "normal person."
December 28, 2024 at 5:49 AM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Screenshot of Just Lucrezia's post saying "stops question but how do you post gifs here?" Underneath is a reply window with the GIF logo circled saying "search for gifs," and the photo upload logo saying "upload gifs you have saved to your phone "
November 19, 2024 at 4:05 AM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
With alt text.
Council of Bishops The United Methodist Church A PASTORAL LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Thursday, November 7, 2024 Greetings, May the grace of God and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits. Amid the change and uncertainty that have resulted from the recent U.S. elections, and the ways in which these matters will impact the whole world, we remember that we are held by the enduring power of God's love and the call to be agents of that love in the world. We find ourselves at a critical historical juncture that future generations will scrutinize. It presses upon the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church, a worldwide body, to speak and act with moral clarity, guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ and our commitment to justice and compassion for all. We affirm the inherent dignity of all God's children. As our Social Principles remind us, "God calls all members of the human family to recognize and protect the dignity and worth of all people." The lessons of history teach us the dangers of silence in the face of threats to human rights. Therefore, we cannot remain silent. We call upon all United Methodists to exercise their faith and to pray, speak, and act for justice and peace. Our baptismal vows call us "to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves." We therefore reject rhetoric, policies, and actions that demean or discriminate against any of God's children and will be vigilant in defending the rights of the vulnerable and speaking out against oppression. To people of all generations, especially our young, who yearn for a more just and inclusive world, your vision and passion give us hope. We commit to working alongside you to build the beloved community that reflects God's kingdom on earth. In the days ahead, we will continue this vital work uninterrupted and with renewed vigor. And we commit ourselves to prayer for our political leaders around the globe.
November 14, 2024 at 1:08 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Part of my kid's elementary school project on Neil Armstrong. #OnTheMoonSeriously
A worksheet reads: HISTOGRAM If the person/people you've been reading about were to share a photo on Histogram, a social media site, what photo and caption would they post? A hand-drawn image of an astronaut on the moon with planet Earth in the background and an American flag. Written underneath in child handwriting is "Me on the moon #OnTheMoonSeriously
October 10, 2024 at 11:49 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
I might say something about "reclaiming," but the university building where I work used to be a residential institution, and now we do disability studies research from there. Parts of it are barely renovated from it's former life. This is my office door, why is the original handle so high?? 😶
A wooden office door surrounded by yellow brick. There is a metal door handle at standard height and a separate metal handle at a far elevated height.
September 9, 2024 at 8:50 PM
abbyschindler.bsky.social
Do you know anyone age 50+ who is a family caregiver to someone with intellectual and developmental disabilities? Please share this pilot survey link with them! Thank you!
Photos of several people with and without intellectual disabilities. Help test our online survey! We are conducting a research study to understand, from the perspective of aging family caregivers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, what can help the person with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the whole family to thrive. Thriving is the act of flourishing and is on the opposite end of the continuum from surviving. We want to learn what helps families move on this continuum behind surviving to truly having a fulfilling life and thriving in their communities. For the pilot test, you will take the survey and share your ideas for how we can improve the survey before we share it more widely. Eligibility: family caregiver of a person with intellectual disabilities, aged 50 or older. Link to survey: https://Tinyurl.com/s2tpilot
August 21, 2024 at 2:14 PM