Introduction
Flight For Everyone is a non-profit activist group founded in 2021 dedicated to raising awareness regarding the discrimination the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has against people with learning disabilities and personality disorders.
Goal
Our goal is to grant everyone the opportunity to get a private pilot license, ranging from those with ADHD to those that are on wheelchairs; all of us must fight for our right of independent transportation.
Significance
The Federal Aviation Administration has put unnecessary restrictions on people with learning disabilities and personality disorders; everyone should have the right to independently use any form of transportation. Intelligent and safe people are denied to fly/achieve aeronautical degrees just because the government has a misunderstanding about non-neurotypical people. Imagine the advances we would have if everyone had the chance to travel themselves through the sky.
The Pandemic has been a huge problem around the world which made flying into a huge endeavour of waiting for hours to even get into a terminal and social distancing. Imagine if more people had pilot licenses so they wouldn't have to wait at the airport? The problem is that people with ADHD or Depression do not have the choice to learn to fly because of the restrictions of the FAA. They cannot fly to help save an animal from a shelter by transporting it to another state for a second chance and they do not have the freedom to get into their own personal airplane to see their own family. We must Fight for Flight.
Federal Aviation Adminstration
What is the FAA?
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is a government organization funded by the public. What do they do? From FAA's site: "We're responsible for the safety of civil aviation. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 created the agency under the name Federal Aviation Agency. We adopted our present name in 1967 when we became a part of the Department of Transportation. Our major roles include:
- Regulating civil aviation to promote safety
- Encouraging and developing civil aeronautics, including new aviation technology
- Developing and operating a system of air traffic control and navigation for both civil and military aircraft
- Researching and developing the National Airspace System and civil aeronautics
- Developing and carrying out programs to control aircraft noise and other environmental effects of civil aviation
- Regulating U.S. commercial space transportation"
History of Discrimination
Marlon DeWitt Green, had a dream of becoming a commercial passenger pilot. In 1957, he applied for a piloting position at Continental Airlines, unfortunately he was not offered the job. It was not because of his skills as a pilot or that there was a more trained person for the job (in fact, he had three thousand flight hours, more than all other candidates). He was denied because he was born as an African American male. Continental admitted that they did not hire him because he was African American and that it would interrupt with business due to segregation. It wasn't until 1963 when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in Marlon's favor and ordered Continental Airlines to hire him due to discrimination. This was five years after the FAA was established...
Ignorance of Mental Illness
Many people believe that we shouldn't allow people with any disability to fly in an airplane due to the risks involved. I hope that I can give you some insight and possibly persuade you to think otherwise.
"I didn't know I was depressed until years later. Actually, I went to the Minirth-Meier Clinic for ADD. I got tested for ADD. So, that's nice. It's nice to know you got ADD. So, that puts you on medication. Did that for years. Then got tested for clinical depression. So, finally when they tell you this, you go, 'ahhh, this is great.' So, now this explains events in your life and how you handle them. But our society frowns on it and they don't want their heroes to have these issues, but unfortunately I do."
— TERRY BRADSHAW 1989 Football Hall of Famer.
Mental Illness is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly. Now that we got that out of the way, 18.1% of the United States suffer from depression and 13% of pilots have depression as well. 9.4% of the world's population has ADHD , 18.1% of the United States population is suffering from anxiety (possibly related to depression), and 30% of the population has trouble sleeping or insomnia. Why do these statistics matter? One, it shows how a large number of the population is suffering from something. Two, these are all treatable and three it shows how many people are funding the FAA but the FAA restricts them from flying or totally denies them.
The FAA makes claims that a pilot needs to be focused on flying and that flying is a high stress operation, although they contradict themselves by providing a recreational pilot license and a sport license. Why does the FAA make these claims about people with a mental condition yet they provide licenses that are for enjoyment or to do risk maneuvering?
Another contradiction is that the FAA allows laptops to be used by the pilot. I can understand because most of the time a laptop is used in the place of a full instrument panel (that's the panel with all the gauges in front of the pilot). Unfortunately, laptops are far more distracting with notifications, update requests, etc. When it comes to driving, most states make it illegal for you to hold your phone in your hand, even for navigation due to how distracting and dangerous it is. Then why are laptops excused by the FAA when it is a potential hazard to a pilot's safety? I speculate that it is because it would prevent many people from flying due to the cost of a new instrument panel averaging about $7,000, but I digress. The FAA also allows dogs in the cockpit and not have to be in kennels in flight which means that they could distract the pilot due to the natural habits of a dog (not saying all dogs can be a distraction but it's likely they could be). I believe they allow this because of pilot tradition of piloting with your canine. They also allow smoking on an airplane which has caused numerous fires during flights.
In short, you are permitted by the FAA to play on your phone, smoke a cigarette and pet your dog while flying an airplane. So why does the FAA not allow these mental disabilities/conditions and physical impairments to fly? The answer is discriminatory ignorance.
Mental Illnesses
ADHD
ADHD is not banned from flying necessarily but it is irrationally extensive work and the FAA puts discriminatory restrictions upon those afflicted. I have listed the symptoms of ADHD below, you can read them if you wish.
DSM-5 Criteria for ADHD
People with ADHD show a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity–impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development:
1. Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16 years, or five or more for adolescents age 17 years and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level:
- Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities.
- Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities.
- Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
- Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked).
- Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
- Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
- Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g. school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones).
- Is often easily distracted
- Is often forgetful in daily activities.
2. Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16 years, or five or more for adolescents age 17 years and older and adults; symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for the person's developmental level:
- Often fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat.
- Often leaves seat in situations when remaining seated is expected.
- Often runs about or climbs in situations where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may be limited to feeling restless).
- Often unable to play or take part in leisure activities quietly.
- Is often "on the go" acting as if "driven by a motor".
- Often talks excessively.
- Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed.
- Often has trouble waiting their turn.
- Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games)
Although the list shows the "negatives" of the disorder, it's actually not totally a disability at all but a different way that the brain processes information. According to Weill Cornell Medical College clinical psychiatry professor, Richard A. Friedman, ADHD could be an advantage. In his research, the Ariaals --a tribal group in Kenya-- were studied to see if there was a possible advantage with adhd. They checked the group to find if they had the gene for adhd called (name). From their findings, they found that the people with adhd were nomadic and actually were more nourished than the settled Kenyans of the Ariaals and that the settled were undernourished. https://www.businessinsider.com/adhd-may-have-been-an-advantage-2014-11 (find the article, i have seen it). This makes complete sense. People with adhd are more active and looking for tasks to complete. Add that with the ability to be aware of all surroundings and you have an ancient person who was more than capable of getting food and was able to sense danger far easier than a neurotypical person. With the FAA desiring pilots to be aware of their surroundings, shouldn't a person with ADHD have more of an advantage to this?
So why are they denying people with ADHD to pilot? They aren't per se, they look at every individual in a case by case situation. The only problem is that the psychiatric testing costs about $3000 and they also want to see your grades as well to see if you can perform in a classroom environment. This is highly hypocritical because you must pass an exam to get certified as a pilot before they can even fly, if someone was a bad student, wouldn't they not be able to pass the certification anyway?
They also want to see your performance as an employee by letter from your employer. A neurotypical person would not have to do such a thing but someone who has to prove these things is 100% discrimination. The testing is even six hours of extensive psychiatric evaluation and ability to learn testing (which has been noted to be extremely difficult). The FAA is starting to sound like Alabama before the 24th Amendment on voting rights. The FAA also requires you to have a driver's license to fly, with (number) of crashes per year versus flying which is still the safest way to travel, shouldn't we encourage people to fly more rather than driving (statistically speaking)?
In fact, since 1970, there have been 83,772 deaths from airplane accidents since writing this. For car accidents, there are approximately 38,000 people who die a year. It is arguable that driving a car is far more distracting than flying and it is obvious that driving a car is far more dangerous than flying. I believe this is because driving is a "two dimensional" type of movement which means you have limited options to travel while an aircraft is a "three dimensional plane" meaning that not only can you go side to side, you can go up and down meaning that you have more options when it comes to your traveling decisions. The point is that we make getting a driver's license more available to the public even though it is much more dangerous to operate.
ADHD is treatable and it doesn't have to be just medication (medication should be thought of as a supplement to help with the symptoms but you should still find strategies to help). The FAA advises that all pilots should maintain good health because flying could be dangerous and having someone unhealthy flying, it adds additional unnecessary personal risk. The thing is that exercise helps alleviate symptoms of ADHD because exercise releases dopamine.
The FAA requires checklists for your airplane and other operations. "Flightcrew members are required to use these aircraft checklists in air transportation operations. For part 121 operators, aircraft checklists must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and for part 135 operators these checklists must be acceptable to the FAA (see section 1 of this chapter for definitions of acceptance and approval)." VOLUME 3 GENERAL TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATION Chapter 32 3-3401 GENERAL, continuing, "3-3402 CHECKLIST CONTENT. Aircraft checklists have traditionally been divided into three categories. For the purpose of this handbook, these categories are referred to as normal, non-normal, and emergency. Operators may use other titles for these categories, such as abnormal instead of non-normal. Operators may also further divide these categories into subcategories, such as alternate and supplemental. POIs shall use the following guidance when evaluating the content of an operator's checklists." Why do I mention this? People with ADHD THRIVE off of checklists and are able to achieve things more efficiently with checklists. Imagine a large group of new pilots following rules and traffic maneuvaring perfectly every time and appreciate the checklists that other neurotypical pilots see as something to have because it is required.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/add-adhd/managing-adult-adhd-attention-deficit-disorder.htm
Now the FAA is afraid that medication can cause accidents. They simply look at the back of the prescription label and find that some say that you shouldn't operate a vehicle or machinery. I speculate this is to prevent the drug company from being sued and that some cases when a patient was taking medication they felt drowsy. Though the FAA has taken that label seriously (which is respected) but makes it an instant disqualifier when the pilot enthusiast could simply be tested to see if they can handle the maneuvers(you can even use a flight simulator which is safe and accurate). The FAA still doesn't want to take that risk due to safety which is out of pure speculation because a Swedish study of drivers with ADHD when medicated reduced their chances of being part of an accident by 58%. That's right, medication made someone with ADHD a better and safer driver.
Depression and Suicidal Ideation
"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."
— Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights Activist afflicted with depression.
Depression is the world's most frequently reported mental disorder according to Clarkson University. Studies conducted by (list universities) show that people who have depression perform better at sequential decision tasks. "While researchers have recognized that most symptoms of depression impede cognitive functioning, scholars such as Paul Andrews of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics and Andy Thomson of the University of Virginia have proposed that depression may promote analytical reasoning and persistence -- that is, qualities useful in complex tasks." It has also been shown that even people with severe depression performed better at decision making. Bettina von Helversen, Andreas Wilke, Tim Johnson, Gabriele Schmid, Burghard Klapp. Performance benefits of depression: Sequential decision making in a healthy sample and a clinically depressed sample.. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2011; DOI: 10.1037/a0023238
This isn't the only benefit that people with depression get, in the study by Andrews, P. & Thompson, J.A. (2009). The bright side of being blue: Depression as an adaptation for analyzing complex problems. Psychological Review, 116 (3), 620-654. Depression keeps us focused and prevents us from looking at unnecessary distractions, something that the FAA is looking for in a safe pilot. The symptoms of depression: libido, the lack of energy, sleeplessness helps make us more focused at the task at hand.
Now let's speak on Andreas; Flightwas a true tragedy, but it is something that we possibly could not prevent. Joseph Allen, an assistant professor of exposure assessment science at Harvard, conducted a study to see how depressed pilots were. Out of the 1837 surveyed, 13.1% of them had signs that met the criteria of depression and 3% were actually diagnosed with depression. "Flying is the safest form of transportation, and this study doesn't change that,The Germanwings pilot wasn't just suicidal. He was homicidal. I think it's critical the flying public hears that." stated Allen. That's what we should really pay attention to, Andreas was a murderer. It wasn't that his suicidal tendencies and depression killed those people, but his total disregard for humanity was it.
A suicidal person isn't really that dangerous at all:
"Statistics show that murder-suicides are quite rare. The 2009 literature review found the incidence to be in the range of 0.2–0.3 persons per 100,000".
"Research has indicated that people who are depressed are particularly vulnerable to being victims of violent crimes." Desmarais SL, Van dorn RA, Johnson KL, Grimm KJ, Douglas KS, Swartz MS. Community violence perpetration and victimization among adults with mental illnesses. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(12):2342-9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301680.
The MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study, found that 31% of the studied people with mental illness and abused drugs were likely to commit a violent crime, for those who just had a mental illness was 18%. This doesn't sound like it helps my case, although, they did find that the reason this happened was because of situational and previous history with factors like gender, prior history of violence, childhood trauma, kind of neighborhood you were raised in, schizophrenia, psychopathy, hallucinations, violent thoughts, race, and anger. Please note that this study included many types of mental illnesses that are severe and shouldn't be considered as just "people with ADHD, bipolarism, or depression." Again, you can just look at the original stat and see that people with depression are safe. If the non-neurotypical person does not have any of those factors listed, then they are unlikely to commit a violent crime.
You can do the math as well, using the crime stats from Diasaster Center; you will see that the average number of crimes (not criminals) is 10,491,065. If you take that .2 persons per 100,000, only 503 crimes were committed by the depressed (again, this number is not the number of criminals but crimes, criminals can do more than one crime at a time). No medical journal suggests that if someone approaches you saying they are suicidal and depressed that you should carry a weapon just for your own protection. They suggest that you send them to get help and have them get a counselor, why does the FAA have this stereotype (spoiler: it's because of the news).
The news media is a form of entertainment disguised as information. They cause us to change our perspectives on people and create stereotypes by posting attention grabbing headlines. Have you ever heard someone say, "many of the most successful people are college dropouts," This is not true at all. In fact, 95% of 12,000 successful people surveyed were college graduates or attended an elite school. So why do we think that successful people are mostly college dropouts when it is the exact opposite? It's called Survivorship Bias. You only receive information for people who are successful or outside of a group which we tend to make a bias about that subject. You hear on the news that someone who was depressed and suicidal on Prozac committed a mass shooting or an airplane crash and the media starts arguing about how this is a huge problem when it is actually an uncommon problem. Flying an airplane is still the safest form of travel.
As for women, 10.4% of women are afflicted with depression, meaning they are twice as likely to have depression than men. Why is this a problem? Because women only make up only 6% of commercial pilots which the industry does want to fix https://www.wai.org/resources/waistats but women would have more trouble getting even a private pilot license due to the mental health diagnosis. In fact, women are more likely to disclose their mental health information to their primary care physician. The FAA can look at your medical records just looking for any mental health codes that were disclosed in those records. If there are codes in there, there is a possibility that you will get denied.
Psychiatrists and the Law
As mentioned before, the FAA claims that they go through a "case by case" system on handling applicants when they apply for a medical certification. Ironically, they have steps you must take if you applied and were diagnosed with a mental illness, therefore, it's not a "case by case" system, it's more of a standardized bureaucratic system. Let me explain:
If someone in the past (let's say five years before they applied for medical certification) had a manic episode due to hardship and suffered from suicidal ideation but did not act upon it, the FAA makes that person have to go through a 10 year probationary period before they can possibly get certification, must have letters from their employers, prove that they have improved their life, and have evidence of 10 years of psychiatric improvement through counselling. The 10 year probationary period is policy (Dr. Bruce Chien MD, AME examiner, source, email). For something to be case by case, it seems very "cookie cutter" and systematic. After that, they would need to go through something called HIMS and that's where you have to drop that $3,000 to get psychiatrically evaluated which is not covered by insurance.
Another example is when someone states that they were diagnosed with adhd. Again, ADHD is not a disqualifying factor but it might as well be. If you look at all the online searches of how difficult these tests are, you will understand that ADHD is pretty much disqualifying. I have put a table down below on all the tests they do if you were diagnosed with ADHD.
https://aviatorshq.com/can-pilots-have-add-adhd/
This process can take years and again costs about $3000 to do while many people get denied and this price is also not covered by insurance. Plus, imagine if your dream is to become a commercial pilot and you spend the ($$$) for the education to become one and then when you are near to finish, you find out that you are medically not fit to fly and therefore have debt and nothing to show for it.
Did you get medication? If so, I congratulate you for caring about your well-being and seeking help, unfortunately, the FAA has only four antidepressants they allow someone who suffers from depression to use and if it is not on the list, you are denied medical certification, even permanently. They claim that some medications make you drowsy which is a valid argument, although your CFI could just review your flight ability and monitor how you handle flying, actually it would be cheaper for all parties to just have people with mental disorders be required more flight hours before they can get their private pilot license (which I do not recommend because again, this is disability discrimination). If the CFI sees any risk (which they are trained to do) they could report it to the FAA.
Same with ADHD, they have only a handful of medications that have the "ok" by the FAA that you can take but if you found one that works for you and it isn't on the list, denied. Imagine finding a medication that helps you improve your life and you want to achieve something life-fulfilling but get denied due to you seeking help for something you have no control of or born with? This is where the similarities of physical and mental discrimination is so comparable to the Civil Rights Movement. The FAA is deliberately discriminating against someone for the way you were created and you not having the ability to use your airplane that you purchased because of who you are which makes you a second class citizen (someone who does not have full rights). Plus, it encourages people to just lie about their health to the FAA which is really hard to find out due to something called HIPAA (it's a medical information privacy act) but the FAA can still get their hands on your medical records which would result in you taking a hefty fine or going to prison for fraud even though the FAA is taking away your civil liberty of flying your property and right to educate yourself.
In order to get a letter from a psychiatrist stating that you are fit to fly, you must go through one of their "approved" psychiatrists. What does that even mean? The FAA has such an understanding of psychology (sarcasm) that they can approve a psychiatrist to determine a person's mental fitness because psychiatrists don't understand that flying requires focus (very demeaning to people with Doctorates). This sounds like to me that they are looking for psychiatrists who fit their narrative rather than looking for psychiatrists who have an unbiased understanding of psychology, medicine, and people. Shouldn't all psychiatrists know whether someone is capable of completing maneuvers and can handle the stress of flying?
Now is any of this legal? From my own research, no it is not legal, not even close. In 1991, President Bush Sr. signed the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The act made it so that businesses and public entities (basically meaning anything under the government) had to accommodate someone with a disability. People believe that a disability means something physical, but the ADA says otherwise. The ADA actually defines what a disability is which you can read below:
Tyghe Nielsen
In an appeal to a medical certification denial in a court case, shows us a man named Tyghe Nielsen and his story is a complete abuse of power of the FAA and the justice system. In 2007, Tyghe was denied his Class 3 medical certificate because he started taking adderall due to his ADHD. you can actually read this court description and see how absurd it really is. "The law judge's decision adequately addresses the facts and the issues, and we repeat them only as needed to understand our decision." Ok sweet, sounds great that they did that but the only problem, they didn't state facts nor was there really much issue!
You see, Tyghe already had a Class 3 medical certificate since 2004, he never had any trouble flying and this only became an issue when he started treating himself with adderall after his recent diagnosis of ADHD. "The FAA requested a current psychological evaluation, and a clinical neuropsychologist found that petitioner's attention and concentration abilities were a significant weakness, but concluded that his neurocognitive abilities were sufficient to allow a pilot to safely operate an aircraft." Ok, where are the facts and the issues, I'll get to that in a bit. "A psychiatrist strongly recommended that petitioner continue Adderall indefinitely, but found no reason his diagnosis or treatment would pose any significant risk to himself or to the safety of others in piloting a plane….[continued]... At the hearing, petitioner's supervisor, accepted as an expert in the practice of family medicine, testified that petitioner did not exhibit symptoms of ADD when he was taking Adderall, and that he had not observed petitioner when he was not taking Adderall. Petitioner also testified, requesting that, "given [the] stability of [his] condition and the stability of [his] medication and no additional evidence that [he] pose[s] a threat to [him]self or anyone else in the air or in a hospital that [he] would be able to fly until something changes to prove otherwise."
Everything should be good for Tyghe but then enters Dr. Schwendeman. The document claims that he is an expert in occupational medicine and he has a pilot license himself (I'm willing to bet that the court had a bias with this guy because he can fly even though he isn't a Certified Flight Instructor so his arguments should be taken with a grain of salt...which weren't). He testified, "...Adderall is an amphetamine, and that it can affect judgment and brain function." Yeah, that's the point of it, to help people with ADHD to function like a neurotypical brain, his words are extremely deceiving. "He said that the effects of ADD in pilots are judged a threat to public safety and, therefore, the Office of Aerospace Medicine cannot issue medical certificates to persons who have symptoms of the condition or are taking medication to control them." Later in this book, I will explain how this is possibly illegal. "The FAR states that a certificate will not be issued if an individual has a mental condition that the FAS…" Again, also illegal which I will explain later.
So basically they tested Tyghe's IQ and he is actually really smart, his IQ is 127 and the only thing that he suffered the most on his testing that wasn't above average was his verbal communication, they even tested his flying ability which was perfectly fine and no hiccups. Dr. Schwenderman, acting like this was the biggest finding of a lifetime acted like the verbal communication problem was the straw that broke the camel's back even though the technologically deficient and illiterate FAA could totally make a machine that voice-to-text commands from communication towers which would solve that problem yet refuses to manufacture it (because discrimination). They also found that Tyghe also had a little depression which they thought was the worst thing in the world ignoring that pilots aren't perfect people and don't have feelings or emotions.
So they go on and on about how Adderall is a "big bad no no drug" and the possibilities of things even though there was no evidence, all speculation (yeah, how would you like to be in that court). Seriously, no one goes to jail because they "possibly" can commit a crime in the future. No one gets sued because they can "possibly" steal someone's copyright in the future. Why is this a valid argument in court!!?
So they keep stating how Adderall is dangerous and that Tyghe doesn't have the authority to diagnose himself. I mean, why would he right? It's not like Tyghe is a doctor….oh wait...he's a doctor. That's right Tyghe is an emergency medicine physician and actually knows what he is talking about when it comes to dangers and medications yet the court won't take his opinion and two other doctor's opinions yet only takes one from a fear-mongering doctor. "Physician's Desk Reference as having a high potential for abuse and may lead to drug dependence and misuse of amphetamines may cause sudden death and serious cardiovascular events." again, they are speculating and we have systems in place to make sure that a schedule ii drug isn't being abused. Also, why are they even taking the cardiovascular argument seriously when they allow people with pacemakers to fly? (more on that later).
So after all that, even with the evidence that he was perfectly fine passing with flying colors and had no issues except slightly below average verbal communication, he was denied. It's absolutely ridiculous that they refused him from flying because he was getting treated for a condition he has and that the court denied him due to just speculation and not looking at the actual evidence. I mean, if Dr. Tyghe wasn't capable of flying, then why is he capable of doing emergency medicine that requires speed, decision-making, skill, and focus which we know he is 100% capable of!? Because, the FAA discriminates against those who aren't the embodiment of health. How can we respect the FAA and the court system when they take speculation over fact in adjudication?
What is a Private License?
A private pilot license is similar to a driver's license. With the license, you can legally fly an aircraft such as an airplane or helicopter. You can act as "Pilot in Command" where you can fly the aircraft by yourself, with passengers, and at night. If you have 200 flight hours or more, you have the opportunity to become an airplane salesman as well. Of course, the license does not allow you to fly aircraft commercially but you can use the license for charity.
Our organization's goal is to raise awareness of this issue and to help the FAA overturn these rules and instead help develop resources for those who have these disabilities. The FAA could provide extra checklists for people with ADHD, they could have wellness checks for those with depression by asking them how they are doing, we could invent more tools that would help with flight such as a vocal transcriber from tower communications. We do know for sure that people who are able to fly and pass the test should be able to fly no matter what disability they have.
Message from Founder
"I have always been memorized by flight, folding paper airplanes as a child, building rubber band aircrafts in science class, and reading up about my heros like the Wright brothers and Charles lindbergh. In 2020, I decided that it was time for me to get my private pilot license because I wanted to do volunteer flights to help people reach their families during the pandemic. Unfortunately, I found that my history of depression, which started from serving in the Marines, and my ADHD, was going to prevent me from achieving the license for a very long time. I found that people with similar experiences as mine are having trouble getting their private pilot license too. I created this organization to help raise awareness about the discrimination places on people when they do not own the skies. I hope that you all will join me with this endeavour so we can finally touch the sky."
— James Stanley