ID: Two high school students in their formal prom clothing in front of a crowd of people. The White girl on the left is wearing a pink gown and a big smile and the boy on the right, Samuel, is in a purple suit and is using a power wheelchair.
As a contributor for THENCE’s webzine for educators, I prepared to write a documentary review about My Disability Roadmap with accompanying classroom discussion prompts to be used as an educational tool for students. The film is a New York Times Op-Doc about Samuel Habib, a young man with a rare neurodevelopmental disorder who co-directed the piece about his life alongside his father Dan Habib, a filmmaker who also served on the Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities under President Obama.
March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and this year’s theme is ‘We’re Here All Year’, selected by the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities. This campaign highlights that individuals with developmental disabilities are in fact active within their communities, and when that engagement is present, we all benefit.
As I chose to review this film, I assured my team that the review wouldn’t take long to complete, as I was able to whip up the last one in a few short hours. Yet, my first few drafts simply were not adequately conveying the profound messages at the center of the film. It ultimately took a week and several rewrites to finally feel that my coverage of My Disability Roadmap was ready for peer review. Upon reading, Dr. Katherine Schlatter, THENCE Founder and CEO, commented that, “it felt personal.” Reflecting on her observation, I recognized that there was a personal element driving me to ensure that the film’s value and crucial place in the disability rights movement shone through my review. In examining my proximity to disability, this film did affect me in a way that hit home, literally.
The theme within the documentary that most resonated with me was that of finding mentors and building community when one is lacking. It reminded me of my youngest daughter who is four years old and Deaf. Like Samuel, my daughter was born and lived part of her life as the only one of her family or close friends to have a disability. Like Samuel, my daughter went without true representation or guidance for a period of time. Samuel looking to adults with disabilities in his early adulthood who are further along in their journey, underscores the importance of role models for disabled youth and their families. Similarly, for the last couple of years our family has prioritized this approach especially when facing roadblocks in our daughter’s education or development. But it would have been even more impactful to have found community for her from the moment we learned she was hard of hearing as an infant, allowing for more guidance, support, and information.
Two years ago doctors realized that my daughter’s hearing loss was progressing and likely had been, unbeknownst to us, for several months. This catapulted our family onto a path of seeking resources to better understand the social, emotional, and educational needs of a Deaf child. We started attending conferences on Deaf education, attending American Sign Language (ASL) meetups hosted by the local Deaf community, and connecting with advocacy organizations. Similar to Samuel’s process, we also found it especially helpful to speak to parents of older Deaf children who were further along in their journey.
The Bill of Rights for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, established by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) declares that, “Deaf children require interaction with deaf adult role models to internalize their self worth and visualize their potential.” The encouragement and empowerment that Samuel felt from his conversations with more seasoned adults with disabilities speaks to the NAD’s powerful assertion. With my preschooler I've noticed that when she’s around Deaf adults, she tends to use ASL more than usual, typically lasting several days following the time spent. This is significant because as a student in a mainstream school, the only in-person exposure she has to ASL, is through the Deaf community or her hearing parents who are not fluent signers. As a parent, I've gained invaluable perspectives and advice from Deaf adults, whose lived experiences and expertise shape the decisions I make for my daughter.
For now, my daughter is too young to watch My Disability Roadmap and gain firsthand insight. In the meantime, while supporting her in building and nurturing her community, I also aim to instill the importance of telling her own story. This point was expounded upon within the film by Maysoon Zayid, a comedian, writer, and disability advocate with cerebral palsy. She discusses the box that people with disabilities are often placed within when their stories are told through a non disabled point of view. Notably, it was Maysoon with her intersecting identities to call attention to this issue and I wonder if her sense of urgency around the topic was also influenced by her experiences as a woman and a person of color. This makes me consider how these dynamics might unfold for my daughter, who will also navigate the world as a woman of color with a disability. How can I empower her to take ownership of her narrative and confidently share her experiences?
Between Samuel’s interviews and storytelling from his own lens, the documentary erases the danger of a single narrative that often fuels misconceptions about marginalized groups. At the same time, the production of the documentary also exemplifies the disability rights principle, ‘nothing about us without us’ through Samuel sharing his own multifaceted story of living with a disability with the support of a film crew, many of whom also have disabilities. I look forward to sharing this film with my daughter one day and discovering what resonates with her, how she interprets its themes, and the insight she takes away from it based on her own lived experiences.
REFERENCES
Like Right Now Films. (2022). My Disability Roadmap [Movie poster]. Like Right Now Films. https://likerightnowfilms.com/film/3356/My-Disability-Roadmap
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities. (2025). Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 2025.https://nacdd.org/ddam2025/
National Association of the Deaf. (n.d.). Bill of rights for deaf and hard of hearing children. https://www.nad.org/resources/education/bill-of-rights-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-children/
Ride Ahead. (2022). About. Ride Ahead Film. https://www.rideaheadfilm.com/about