Music For A Saturday Evening

People Just Don't Know

City Newcomer Is Let Down by a Stranger, Then the Police

Michael Wilson, New York Times - January 17, 2014

A disability activist in the heat of the moment might say that both of the things that Frederick Brennan suffered … the robbery and being stranded in a snowstorm … were crimes. I don’t think that would be quite right. However, I really wonder which of these two misfortunes was more harmful to Mr. Brennan. That might be too close to call. 

The article reinforces what I think is a very major theme in everyday ableism. People just don’t understand the logistics of living with disabilities. My guess is that it never occurred to the police involved that getting to their station and back might be extremely difficult … or perhaps impossible … for a guy in an electric wheelchair. I’ll bet that when the officer called for the bus, he figured his job was done … not realizing how often lift-equipped buses are late or never come. Not realizing that an immediate response accessible transit vehicle is basically a unicorn, especially in New York City. And if he didn’t make those mental connections, then he didn’t have a chance to wonder if a young man, new to the City, might be extra vulnerable when that City was in the midst of an epic snowstorm.

By the way, I found the comment from Mr. Brennan’s boss interesting. There’s a blame-the-victim tone to what he said about Mr. Brennan being unwilling to ask for help. Underlying the comment is another common, and faulty assumption … that there is always help available and ready to serve, we just have to ask for it. Sometimes that’s true, and a lot of us do probably wait too long before asking. But just as often, asking for help results in bewilderment and sudden bouts of catastrophic incompetence, in which cases we are no better off logistically, and twice as pissed off.

Most of the modern, western world still doesn’t know how to deal with significantly disabled people. That’s a fact of life for us, and a fact that most people don’t really realize.

Disability On Downton Abbey … Nerdy Followup

A week ago, I posted about the different ways that the hit TV show “Downton Abbey” uses and depicts characters with disabilities. I’m happy to say that the piece got me my very first “Internet Honor”. I am now, officially, “Cousin Andrew”.

You see, at least half of my enjoyment of “Downton Abbey” comes not from watching the show, but from listening to a podcast about the show after each episode. The podcast is “Up Yours, Downstairs” - [Facebook Page]. As the name suggests, husband and wife podcasters Tom Schneider and Kelly Annaken love the show, but have a keen appreciation for how ridiculous it can be. So, their episode recaps are very snarky, and tons of fun. That said, at the right times … like what happened to Anna in last week’s episode … Kelly and Tom’s emotional responses are very real and heartfelt. It’s a great combination.

Kelly and Tom refer to their listeners, collectively, as “Cousins”, because of the important role that Cousins have played in the plots of “Downton Abbey”. At the start of each podcast, they read “Telegrams” (emails) and “Carrier Pigeons” (Tweets) from “The Cousins”, and name one of the writers “Cousin Of The Week”. After I posted about “Downton Abbey”, I Tweeted about it to Kelly and Tom (@5maggiesmiths). They, in turn, talked about it on their next podcast, and gave a very kind endorsement … concluding by naming me, “Cousin Of The Week”.

It’s a silly thing, but as a longtime listener and “Downton Abbey” fan, I was thrilled.

By the way, Kelly and Tom have occasionally made some astute comments themselves on the disability aspects of “Downton”. Most memorably, in their very first podcast, recapping the very first “Downton” episode, they commented that the naked prejudice against Bates’ disability demonstrated the need for the Americans with Disabilities Act. I was impressed that they, a. knew about the ADA, and b. made the right kind of connection with one of the least understood parts of the ADA, the employment discrimination sections.

So, cheers to Kelly and Tom, from Cousin Andrew.

The Derrick Coleman Duracell Ad

I’m sure all you football fans have seen this ad dozens of times already. My high school friends in Washington State probably know it backwards and forwards at this point! But do read this great discussion of why and how this is such a rare and valuable exercise in disability awareness:

The New Derrick Coleman Duracell Ad Gets It Right

Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, Disability and Representation - January 17, 2014

For myself, I just want to underscore how brilliant and crucial it is that Colman first identifies his disability not as a hearing impairment, but as other peoples' inability to communicate with him.

Photos Of The Day

From the just an occupational therapy blog, via the Disability Aware Tumbr blog.

Click here to read a description of their wedding.

Customization!

The Art of Designer Artificial Limbs

Roc Morin, The Atlantic - January 15, 2014

"With these prostheses, Sophie enables her customers to conceal their absences and blend in. But the artist also caters to another kind of clientele: amputees wanting to stand out.”

There is definitely something important about disabled people who think to “trick out” their adaptive gear … their prosthetic limbs, their crutches, their braces, their wheelchairs. After visiting dozens of websites and blogs per day for over a year, I get the sense that it’s mostly people who would be into tattoos and brightly dyed hair whether they were disabled or not. What I really wonder is whether it works at all to encourage people new to disability to think about personalizing their stuff. This could be adults who become disabled and are in the early to mid rehabilitation process, or kids and teenagers with visible disabilities who might be agonizing over the stigma of being different. Customizing adaptive equipment can be a tremendously liberating thing, giving people a way to embrace their disability and make it a coherent part of who they are … not some foreign addition at odds with their self-perception.

Photo Of The Day

From the Disability Fashion Project Tumblr blog.

Nothing Is Worse

Department of Justice probe finds thousands of disabled R.I adults ‘segregated’ in state programs

Lynn Arditi and Linda Borg, Providence Journal - January 15, 2014

Fuck this shit.

I don’t think there’s any aspect of the disability rights / disability policy world that makes me angrier than when people with developmental disabilities are herded like cattle into sheltered workshops and “day programs”, where they either waste away on entirely useless, easily managed pursuits, or help produce products that actually are sold in the real economy, while making sub-minimum wage.

Look, it’s entirely true that just because a disabled person is capable of performing a job, doesn’t mean a job can always be arranged for him or her. But in theory, nobody in our cutthroat economy has as much individual support and coaching available to them than people with developmental disabilities. Yet, so often that help is, in fact, theoretical. Why that is, I still don’t know, and I’ve been observing it … admittedly on the margins … for over 20 years.

In some ways, it’s too bad it takes a Justice Department Civil Rights ruling to shake up these complacent setups. Better ideas and better practices are all out there, in full and effective use. All these musty institutions have to do is embrace them. On the other hand, since change doesn’t seem forthcoming through other avenues, I’m extremely grateful that the U.S. Justice Department is pursuing these cases aggressively.

It can’t happen soon enough.

Photo (Picture?) Of The Day

From the Rolling Through Life Tumblr blog.

Shopping While Disabled

Disabled shoppers deterred by difficult high street experience

Rebecca Smiters, The Guardian - January 14, 2014

There’s nothing surprising in this report about the barriers disabled people in the UK encounter trying to shop in the “high streets” of their towns. It’s the same here in the United States. But I was struck by the clarity of the article, and its focus. In a strange way, not having to mention the Americans with Disabilities Act helps keep attention on the actual, practical problems that deter and exclude people, rather than just debating whether this or that practice violates the law. I still think well-crafted anti-discrimination laws and accessibility codes are important, but sometimes they distract us from simply noting exactly how customer service sucks for disabled people.

Photo Of The Day

I was just thinking the other day that almost all the blogged photos on the theme of "disabled people are sexy" are of women. So, when I saw this one I figured I really had to post it.

From Photographer With Wheels Tumblr blog, via Disabled People Are Sexy.

Two Things To Read Today

Heroic Measures

Bill Keller, The New York Times - January 12, 2014

Chris Christie And Pulling The Red Handle

Linda Holmes, NPR Monkey See Blog - January 12, 2014

A few notes about these articles:

I suggest reading the Keller piece first, because it’s likely to make you angry or at least uncomfortable. The Holmes post may make you feel sad, but also kind of exhilarated, because she writes about a sad, upsetting thing in such a beautiful, resonant way. You’ll feel better at the end if you read the articles in this order.

Both articles are about social issues in which there are valid points on "both sides". There are, in fact, different approaches to life-threatening illness, and losing weight is, for many people, an important health goal. However, both of these priorities are almost always crusted over with unnecessary layers of social shaming and judgment, which means that really valuable, non-hurtful discussion on either of them is extremely rare.

The biggest problem with Keller’s Op-Ed isn’t so much anything he specifically says, it’s the tone throughout. If the contempt and disapproval oozing out of every sentence wasn’t intended, then he’s a terrible writer.

The brilliance of Holmes' piece I won't even try to explain.

Neither article is about disability, but both should speak loud and clear to disabled people regardless. Disabled people are constantly questioned about how we process and talk about our disabilities, both medically and socially. We are never more than a few steps away from the implication that the costs of keeping us alive and independent aren’t worth it, even to us (but really to everyone else). People say they just want to “have a conversation” about these “issues”, but what they really want to do is find a socially acceptable way of saying that the things we do and the way we do them are wrong.

We also frequently have to contend with supposedly well-meaning people who question the very nature of our disabilities, implying that there must be some unnamed “things” we could do to make ourselves better, or more functional, or more productive, if only we educated ourselves or tried harder or were less self-involved. We do it to each other, too. And of course, our "red handles" are either very, very visible and tempting, or, if not exactly visible, so large that people seem to run into them accidentally.

Addendum: A Tumblr blogger I admire reblogged this and pointed out that cancer might be considered a disability. I agree, especially since Keller treats this woman's cancer exactly the way ableist people treat other disabilities they "have opinions" about.

Disabled "American Girl” Doll … Followup

I’ve seen this story all over the place in the last couple of weeks, so I’m kind of amazed that this petition still needs over 26,000 more signatures to reach its goal.

Click here to sign the petition, asking “American Girl” to introduce a doll with a disability.