This is my story. Ricardo Aranda.

Ricardo Aranda lives in Georgia, a state in the south of the United States. He was born with cerebral palsy and a visual impairment, and he has a desire to make an impact. In this article, Ricardo speaks about the history of the disability rights movement in the US, his role as an advocate, and the importance of having your voice heard. 

“I do advocacy because I know that there is a need for voices like mine to speak out about the issues that affect our lives.” 

I grew up in the medical world, surrounded by lots of neurodiverse people and people with disabilities. I was always curious and asking questions, and this led me to get involved with advocacy. I first got involved with L’Arche in 2020 and now I am a member of my local community council. The L’Arche Atlanta Community Council is a sort of advisory board that helps make decisions about our outreach efforts.

I love to learn and listen to audiobooks. When I am not doing that or working on advocacy projects, I am very passionate about adaptive wheelchair racing. I’ve been competing since I was in college, about ten years ago. Push Assist Racing features a duo team racing where one athlete is in a specially designed racing wheelchair and the volunteer runner who guides the wheelchair to the finish line....