“American Girl” Petition … Followup

Yesterday, I posted the video from Melissa Shang, asking people to sign a petition urging “American Girl” to add a doll with a disability to its collection. Today I read a fantastic article that has a lot more to say about this:

Doll Diversity Isn’t Just Child’s Play

Emily Ladau, Words I Wheel By - December 30, 2013

The only dolls I ever had were a teddy bear and, briefly, a GI Joe. So, all I really know about dolls is what I’ve picked up drifting around the popular culture atmosphere. Emily’s article beautifully underscores why creating a disabled “American Girl” doll would be so great, and why it matters how they do it, if they do it.

Wheelchair Santa ... Followup

A commenter has found a pretty good Wheelchair Santa picture. Works for me!

Disability In India

Disability in India: The struggles of infrastructure, prejudice and karma

Monica Sarkar, CNN - December 27, 2013

I’m honestly not sure whether this article accurately describes how disability is perceived in India, or whether it’s a mix of a few individual Indian’s viewpoints and westerner’s interpretation of Indian belief. I am struck by how similar the ideas presented are to American views of disability. Our ideas a bit fuzzier and softened by careful language. We don’t believe in Karma quite as literally. But we do still make judgements about people with various disabilities. We do choose some disabled people for praise, and ignore others. And we do sometimes forget that money and prior social status can make life with a disability much easier to negotiate, even if it’s never quite easy, and acceptance is rarely complete.