Ruderman Family Foundation

In March 2016, the Ruderman Family Foundation released its first white paper[3] – a 2-year overview (2013–2015) of media coverage of law enforcement's use of force against disabled individuals with the goal of creating public awareness of the battle for inclusion and equality of people with disabilities. The study was authored by David M. Perry, a disability rights journalist and Associate Professor of History at Dominican University, and Lawrence Carter-Long, an authority on media representation of disability. It concluded that disabled individuals make up a third to half of individuals killed by law enforcement officers and the majority in use-of-force cases such as Eric Garner, Kajieme Powell, Tanesha Anderson, Freddie Gray and Sandra Bland. This was true both for cases deemed illegal or against policy and for those in which officers were fully exonerated. The authors argue that the media ignored the disability component or reported them in ways that intensified stigma and ableism. The study was covered by media outlets including NBC News,[4] Al Jazeera,[5] Russia Today,[6] International Business Times[7] and New York Magazine.[8]

A second white paper[9] released by the foundation in July 2016 revealed that people with disabilities are the most unrepresented minority in Hollywood. Despite making up nearly 20% of the US population, 95% of disabled characters on TV are portrayed by able-bodied actors. The report, co-authored by actor Danny Woodburn, one of the most recognizable actors with a disability known for his role as Mickey on Seinfeld, and Kristina Kopić, the foundation's Advocacy Content Specialist, surveyed hundreds of actors with visible and non-visible disabilities. Most worked less than once a year and felt they were discriminated against by casting agents and producers. Ruderman and Woodburn co-authored an op-ed[10] in the Los Angeles Times discussing the issue, and the findings of the report were published in The Washington Post,[11] Mic,[12] Variety,[13] Yahoo News, Chicago Tribune, The Columbus Dispatch, Philly.com, IndieWire,[14] Vulture[15] and Teen Vogue.[16]

Prior to the 2016 US presidential election, the foundation released its third white paper,[17] on voting accessibility for people with disabilities. The Government Accountability Office reported that in 2008, 73% of polling places had some potential accessibility barrier, while a Rutgers and Syracuse study determined that if voters with disabilities voted at the same rate as voters with the same demographics, but without disabilities, three million more people would have voted in the 2012 US presidential election. Co-written by Norman Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, the analysis focused on: insufficient poll worker training; access barriers to polls (including publicly available transportation); access barriers to elections material and registration material prior to elections; stigma (including against developmental and psychiatric disabilities); and limitations on resources available to election officials. The study was featured on Fox News[18] and covered by The Guardian[19] and Mic.[20]

In January 2017, a fourth white paper was released about the benefits of self-driving cars for people with disabilities. Written with Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), the report concluded that autonomous vehicles could enable new employment opportunities for approximately two million people with disabilities, save $19 billion annually in healthcare expenditures, and provide $1.3 trillion in savings from productivity gains, fuel costs and accident prevention. Furthermore, the report emphasized the societal benefit for people with disabilities by allowing more individuals to fulfill civic responsibilities and exercise civil rights, as well as the impact people with disabilities can have in the legislative and regulatory discussions surrounding emerging transportation technologies. The piece was featured in a number of outlets including Metro,[21] Boston Herald,[22] Autotrader[23] and Curbed.[24]

On March 1, the National Disability Day of Mourning, an event collaboratively created by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) to commemorate people with disabilities killed by their caregivers, the Ruderman Family Foundation released a white paper on the media coverage of such murders. This study was again authored by David M. Perry, in collaboration with the Foundation and several self-advocates, including Zoe Gross from ASAN. The study found that at least one such murder takes place in North America a week, and that the media coverage often erases the victims while sympathizing with the killers.[25]

A white paper released in August 2017 stated that people with non-apparent disabilities do not always receive the accommodations guaranteed to them under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students with non-apparent disabilities were said to be suspended and criminalized at a disproportionately high rates, while over half of the incarcerated population of the United States suffered from mental illness. Another 19-31% had cognitive or learning disabilities.[26][27][28]

In September 2017, the Foundation launched the Ruderman TV Challenge, a call-to-action follow up to the Ruderman White Paper on the Employment of Actors with Disabilities in Television. It was found that only 2% of all television characters compared to the 20% of the US population is disabled, and that 95% of top TV show characters with disabilities are played by non-disabled performers. The challenge called for the creators of scripted television pilots to audition and cast more performers with disabilities.[29][30][31][32][33][34]

In April 2017, the Ruderman White Paper "Mental Health and Suicide of First Responders" examined mental health issues among first responders and their elevated rate of suicide. One study found that on average, police officers witness 188 critical incidents during their careers which can lead to mental illness. The paper lays out barriers that prevent first responders from accessing mental health services when coping with trauma.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41]

Released in December 2018, this paper investigates the practice of imposing leaves of absence on students experiencing mental illness. The study grades the leave of absence policies of eight universities, none of which received higher than a D+. The paper also covered ethnographic aspects of the problem.[42][43][44]