About the Film

THE RIDE AHEAD, from father-son co-directors Samuel Habib & Dan Habib, is an Emmy® Award-winning feature length documentary.

The Story

The film follows Samuel Habib, whose goals are pretty typical for a 21-year-old. Moving out of his family’s New Hampshire home. College. Establishing his career. Dating. Sex. 

Yet every rite of passage is fraught with challenges. Unexpected seizures and uncontrollable movements caused by his rare genetic disorder. Friends’ homes that are inaccessible to his wheelchair. His labored speech and use of a communication device are barriers to a social life. He craves more independence and a family of his own one day. “But no one tells you how to be an adult,” he says, “let alone an adult with a disability.” 

Samuel is determined to avoid the statistical realities: unemployment, isolation, institutionalization. 

A turning point comes when he starts talking to disabled adults, who have been through all he is going through now. And when he begins to channel their insights, a roadmap for himself, and for other young adults like him, begins to take shape.

Disabled stories are rarely shown on screen, let alone told by disabled people themselves. THE RIDE AHEAD allows Samuel to tell his own complex story, largely through the viewpoint of two GoPros attached to his wheelchair. One points towards Samuel and his extraordinarily expressive face, the other films the world as he sees it. We see Samuel’s communication process as he crafts language through slow labored speech that is then programmed into his communication device. The film showcases a communication style and vantage point that is almost never portrayed in media. 

The majority of the production and outreach crew for THE RIDE AHEAD are disabled people. 

The film captures the power of finding mentors and membership in a community, for sustaining a strong sense of self in transition to adult challenges, and for building solidarity in an ableist world. THE RIDE AHEAD will catalyze bold discussions about disabled lives, and help draw youth into the disability justice movement. It has the capacity to promote understanding of ableism, and produce lasting and meaningful cultural change.

The Production

Cast

  • Samuel Habib Headshot

    Samuel Habib


    Samuel Habib (he/him) co-directed the Emmy Award winning My Disability Roadmap, a 2022 New York Times Op-Doc. The film was a Critics Choice nominee and featured at festivals including Hot Docs, Doc NYC, and Hot Springs. Samuel was also a story consultant on the nationally broadcast film Mr. Connolly Has ALS, and has presented nationally on disability rights. He is a community college student and works at the Westchester Institute for Human Development. Samuel experiences GNAO1 Neurodevelopmental Disorder, a rare genetic disorder that caused his cerebral palsy, epilepsy and speech challenges.

  • Ly Xīnzhèn is an androgynous and transmasculine East Asian person in their early thirties. They have short black hair with light highlights and they’re wearing a blue top with an abstract pattern, a handmade watermelon pin, and a silver magen david n

    Ly Xīnzhèn M. Zhǎngsūn Brown


    Ly Xīnzhèn M. Zhǎngsūn Brown (they/them) is a scholar-activist, attorney, and organizer whose work focuses on interpersonal and state violence against disabled people at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, faith, language, and nation. They are currently Director of Public Policy at the National Disability Institute, focused on achieving financial freedom and economic justice for people with disabilities, and faculty in disability studies at Georgetown University and American University. Ly Xīnzhèn also the founding Executive Director of the Autistic People of Color Fund. Their current passion project is Disability Justice Wisdom Tarot.

  • Judy Heumann headshot

    Judy Heumann


    Judy Heumann (she/her) was widely regarded as “the mother” of the Disability Rights Movement. Judy was instrumental in the development and implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Judy served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education. President Obama appointed Judy as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State.

  • Keith Jones headshot

    Keith Jones


    Keith Jones (he/him) is the President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences and co-founder of Krip-Hop. He is a Black community activist and entrepreneur with cerebral palsy and advocate for independent quality living in the community. Keith received an Emmy Award for his music and lyrics for the title track of the 2020 Netflix documentary, Rising Phoenix. He has been recognized for his emerging leadership by the state of Massachusetts and President’s Commission for Employment for People with Disabilities.

  • Andrew Peterson headshot

    Andrew Peterson


    Andrew Peterson (he/him) navigates life with permanent brain damage from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Andrew found his strength through distance running at age eight and has competed among elite athletes, including at the Boston Marathon. He speaks about respect, acceptance, and inclusion from coast to coast. He was featured in an ESPN SportsCenter documentary nominated for a Sports Emmy and GLAAD Award. Today he still runs and now coaches and is the first Indiana high school head coach with a disability.

  • Ali Stroker headshot

    Ali Stroker


    Ali Stroker (she/her) is a Tony Award winner for her role as ‘Ado Annie’ in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! She made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway in Deaf West’s 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. She’s a series regular in the Netflix series, Echoes, and starred in the Lifetime holiday film, Christmas Ever After. Ali recurred in the final season of Netflix’s Ozark and is recurring in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. She co-wrote the novels, The Chance to Fly, Cut Loose!; and wrote the children’s book, Ali and the Sea Stars.

  • Bob Williams headshot

    Bob Williams


    Bob Williams (he/him) co-founded CommunicationFIRST in 2019, after retiring from a four-decade career in federal and state government and the nonprofit sector, most recently as Director of the U.S. Independent Living Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Bob was HHS Secretary Donna Shalala’s principal advisor on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For over 60 years, Bob has relied on an array of AAC strategies, including a series of speech generating devices over the past three decades.

  • Maysoon Zayid headshot

    Maysoon Zayid


    Maysoon Zayid (she/her) is a comedian, writer, and disability advocate. She is a Princeton Fellow and co-founder/co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival. Her Ted Talk, “I Got 99 Problems...Palsy is Just One" was one of the most popular talks of 2014. Maysoon has sold out top New York City clubs and has toured extensively at home and abroad. She has collaborated with Dave Matthews and consulted for Disney. She is the author of the bestselling memoir Find Another Dream and the award-winning Scholastic graphic novel, Shiny Misfits.

Team