Steven Soderbergh I Am Not

I've started working on a montage of disability-related video clips to put on the front page of the eventual "Disability Thinking" website. So far I have collected 46 clips of various lengths that I'll need to edit down to something like 5 minutes. Most of the clips are from TV shows and movies, with a few TED Talks and Paralympics clips thrown in. I'm not sure what I want the montage to say; I'm trusting that after sorting out the best bits, some kind of theme will occur to me. I'm just a little bit worried that after hours of work, the little movie will turn out trite or syrupy, instead of fresh and a bit funny.

With disability images ... both still and moving ... the line between awesome and ugh is very, very thin.

Two Cool Tumblrs

From too brain fogged for this:

This is the best explanation of ableism I've read in months. Here's a piece of it:

"Ableism is more than just not being an outright douche.  It’s about considering what disabled people will need."

From Disability History & Culture

EveryBody: An Artifact History of Disability in America

Well, there goes the rest of my day. If anyone needs me, I'll be exploring this amazing-looking website by the Smithsonian Institution.

Sigh

Disabled Canadian schoolboy Miles Ambridge is just one of the gang in new class photo

Philip Caulfield, New York Daily News - June 20, 2013

Okay, if Mom thinks the new photo is better than the first, who am I to quibble? Her son is on longer waaaay off to the side in his wheelchair. Now he's in the front row, with his classmates, with no wheelchair in sight. Much better.

Miles is 7 years old, so I'm guessing it's unrealistic for me to think that he might wish to be shown in his wheelchair, just closer to the group? He's probably too young to be hip to the intricacies of disability pride at this stage. Later on, he may learn about and ponder what it means to him that President Roosevelt hid his disability, and what it means now that after some intense debate, we finally have a statue of him in his wheelchair.

On the other hand, I do think it's perfectly reasonable to wonder why the news stories about this class photo thing don't appear to have any input from Miles, himself. He isn't quoted or even attributed.

I guess I'm saying that I'm not satisfied. I have this weird feeling that the school didn't really learn what they should have learned from all of this. It's none of my business, though. Sometimes the personal really does trump the political.

Simple Words

Smart Ass Cripple explains his "pit crew":

"Those are the people I hire to drag my ass out of bed every day, make my meals, do my laundry, scrub my toilet, wipe my butt, etc."

Best way EVER to explain the role of Home Care Aides / Personal Assistants in the lives of people with disabilities. It's pretty simple, yet for some reason, when I worked at an Independent Living Center, it was one of the hardest things to explain to people unfamiliar with disability issues. I wish I'd known about Smart Ass Cripple then, because "Pit Crew" would have saved a lot of time and awkward groping for words.

"Keep Calm ..."

The "Keep Calm, Carry On" thing is almost played out, but I do like this one. I saw it at Wheelchairproblems, tracked it back to Awesomesauce | c5roller, and found what might be the original at Apparelyzed.

3 Kinds Of Disability News

3 in Ohio accused of enslaving disabled woman, child

Michael Winter, USA Today - June 18, 2013

When I read stories like this, I find it hard to maintain much interest in whether people use the "right" words for disability, or whether all the restaurants are wheelchair accessible. I know all of these issues are important and connected to one another, but maybe it would be useful to think in terms of three main kinds of disability issues or questions:

1. Dignity, identity, and discrimination.
2. Polices, economics, and independence.
3. Life, death, and unspeakable cruelty.

The first category might be termed the "academic" or "theoretical" realm, or the personal category, mostly involving how we see ourselves as people with disabilities, how society sees us, and how these factors add or detract from our lives.

The second group of issues are where disability intersects with more or less traditional politics, plus "bread and butter" issues like money, housing, education, and employment. It also includes issues like physical accessibility, access to technology, and legal rights.

The third type of issue is harder to define, but is the most visceral and … for good or for ill … the most sensational. It's the dark underbelly of society's polite befuddlement about people with disabilities. It's where frat bros yell drive-by insults at wheelchair users, where teenagers … and sometimes adults … bully people who look funny, talk funny, or act funny, and where people with disabilities are literally exploited, mostly because they can be.

It's tempting to say that while the third type of incidents still go on, the first two are unimportant, even trivial. I think they are all important, as long as we keep in mind that they are different kinds of problems … connected, but calling for a different kind of thinking and response.

Late Night Music

My objective has been to keep this blog "on topic" about disability. On the other hand some my favorite on-topic blogs … like Eschaton and Balloon Juice … include off-topic bits and pieces, like cat photos and music clips that I think actually enhance the more serious, topical stuff. So, here we go. I'm going to start by posting my favorite performances from the last four years of the "AV Club Undercover" project. Here's my first favorite from the first year:

Site Work ...

I'm working on the bigger website today. Actually, after starting on it this morning, one thing led to another, and I'm starting from scratch ... new server, new website platform, and hopefully a simpler kind of forum.

Funny how trashing two months of work can be freeing instead of frustrating. Feeling excited and focused here!

Dear Modern Manners Guy ...

Here is my letter to the Modern Manners Guy Podcast:

Dear Modern Manners Guy:

Could you please do a podcast episode on "Disability Etiquette?" Grammar Girl did a great episode of her podcast on appropriate language regarding people with disabilities, but what about manners and appropriate behavior? Is it okay to open doors for a wheelchair user? Can you pet a guide dog? Is it ever appropriate to ask a person about his or her specific disability?

I have worked in the disability rights field for over 20 years, and I have disabilities myself. So, I have my own ideas on questions of disability etiquette. There are also many guides out there. However, most of them, in my opinion, focus too much on specific rules and not enough on the principles behind them.

Modern Manners Guy, I'd love to get your take on this!

The Gang's Not All Here

The photo that broke a mother’s heart

Thandi Fletcher, The Province - June 14, 2013 (via Crazy Crip Girl)

I think "awareness" is over-rated as a word and as a concept. However, cases like this I think are very specifically about "awareness" … the lack thereof. Only the people there at the photo shoot know what actually happened, but I can easily imagine a depressing combination of harried, hurried teachers, antsy kids, and perhaps a subtly enforced lack of creativity and innovation … an adherence to "the way we do things" that stifled even the most basic ideas for including this cute kid properly in his class photo. Most of all, I suspect that it all hinged on the adults in charge never even thinking that maybe the kid would feel humiliated. He's in the photo, after all!

Also, there's this … the photo broke a mother's heart, but what about the kid's? Actually, my guess is that he's defending his teachers, wishes his Mom would just let it go, and is embarrassed by all the fuss. When he's 18 or so, he'll be angry in retrospect.

Again With The Theme Parks

Amusement Park Faces Backlash Over Disability Access

Shaun Heasley, "Disability Scoop" - June 17, 2013

This case is even more interesting than the Great Disney World Controversy. Here we have a theme park that seems to be trying to be helpful to visitors with disabilities in a more targeted, discreet, and fair way. Under their new policy, you have to wait like everyone else, but you can leave the line and go do other things until it's your time to enter the ride. In effect, it removes the physical aspect of the wait, leaving only a mental wait. It's a policy designed mainly for people with physical disabilities.

For people with certain cognitive or mental impairments, though, the problem isn't literally standing in line, it's the wait itself … the gap between the moment they decide to take the ride and the moment they're allowed to do so. There's a risk of stereotyping here, but it does sound right to note that people with autism, especially, might find it all but impossible to tolerate waiting, and incapable of making the mental adjustment necessary to say to themselves, "Well, at least I can go do something else until it's my turn." The parents complaining about the new procedure may have a point that the new accommodation simply doesn't match with that specific kind of disability.

But wait! Something called the "Autism Society" disagrees! They think the new policy is accommodating enough, and that having Autism shouldn't exempt people from waiting their turn. I don't know if they're right, or if they have the wrong idea about reasonable accommodation, but it's an interesting example of an important phenomenon … a disability organization with policies and philosophies that don't fully mesh with individuals with disabilities and, especially, their families.

Maybe A Podcast

I'm thinking about starting a podcast about disability on television.

The logical starting point for what I want to make the podcast is to begin with weekly episode recaps of NBC's new, reimagined "Ironside", and "The Michael J. Fox Show, which are both set to debut in the fall. During breaks in these shows … or if one or both of them fail … I could recap selected episodes of the original "Ironside", the Sundance reality show "Push Girls", and do one-off special episodes on disabled characters in other shows … like the Deaf political strategist Joey Lucas on "The West Wing," Dr. Kerry Weaver on "ER", and of course as many as three characters on "Game Of Thrones": Tyrion Lannister, Bran Stark, and Hodor.

In terms of style, I'm thinking some combination of the exhaustive, scene-by-scene, snarky but appreciative "Downton Abbey" podcast, "Up Yours, Downstairs!", and the more compact, analytical approach taken by "Mission Log: The Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast". I love both of these podcasts. I'm amazed at the hours I can spend listening to them and barely notice the time pass. They have the perfect mixture of seriousness and snark. The hosts are fans of their shows, who love the shows as much for their failures and flaws as for their brilliance. I think I like podcasts better than the TV shows they cover.

Surely the world of disability television is wide and diverse enough that there will be plenty to say, appreciate, and sure … to mock. Now I just need a co-host. And, you know, a basic understanding of how to record, edit, and post a podcast.

About Page Hits ...

This is my 102nd post. Blogger can tell me how many hits each post gets, and I've finally noticed that one post has vastly more hits than all the others … a post with the phrase "Inspiration Porn" in the title. Ergo …

1. A large portion of my so-called hits are probably from various "bots", plus perverts.
2. When I post on something really important to me, I should figure out a way to include the word "Porn" in the title.

#rookiebloggerrealizations