Blaise Bryant

As the 10th annual Disability Rights Voting Week concludes, Bryant says it is important to note that one in four people identify as having a disability. Disability rights organizations throughout the country hold events to help people with disabilities register to vote, check voter status, and educate politicians about how people with disabilities cast their ballots. In 2026, this education is still desperately needed because exercising our right to vote is often filled with a bureaucracy of ableism.

As someone who was born totally blind just after the ADA was passed I am proud of how blindness has shaped who I am. Because of the ADA I am able to use screen-reading software on my computer called JAWS to help me work. This same software also allowed me to complete high school and get my B.A. in Communications from the now closed College of Saint Rose in Albany.

Governor Kathy Hochul has talked a lot about housing, ranging from cost to the shortage of available housing.