Sunday, January 12, 2014

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.

Why “Special Needs”? … Followup

Several people have responded to my question about use of the term “Special Needs” to describe kids with disabilities. Here’s one that isn’t very pleasant, and doesn’t explain, but certainly calls into question whether the term really accomplishes what people think it does:

From the I hate everyone Tumblr blog ...
"How long has “special needs” actually been a thing? because by the time I was in kindergarten special was already being used as a slur. Everyone loved it because it wasn’t a real swear so no one got in trouble. And the adults used it to of course.
Because it was “PC” it was totally allowed and considered better than words like “stupid” only there was no question of what people meant and harassed the special ed. kids for it.
I imagine most adults don’t use it because it’s probably a trigger for a lot of people because it’s totally unchecked and acceptable to use on people.”

Weekly Wrap-Up

Disability Thinking Weekly Blog Wrap-Up
Monday, January 6, 2013
Tuesday, January 7, 2013
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Friday, January 10, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014

A Word About Poverty And Welfare

Mike Konczal, Washington Post Wonkblog - January 12, 2014

This breakdown of the terms of debate on “welfare” is a must read. It’s not really about disability per se, but it’s an example of how discussions of philosophies and priorities can be distorted, sometimes intentionally, by fuzzy thinking. Plus, a lot of people with disabilities use one or more of these programs, so it’s helpful to see how they actually work and what they cost.