Celebrate Access Equality, September 26, 2015

I have been seeing Facebook posts and Tweets from disability blogger, activist, and filmmaker Dominick Evans, about a multifaceted event he’s been planning for September 26, called Celebrate Access Equality. For some reason, I kept mentally noting it and then promptly forgetting about it. I can’t keep track of every disability rights event, and even if I could, I don’t have the time and energy to dive deep into all of them. So this one slipped to the back burner.

Today I got an email from Dominick, which he sent out to a whole bunch of online disability activists and bloggers. I read it, and basically, I’m in! This event is going to be well worth the time and effort, no matter what kind of disability rights activity you are into. Here is Dominick’s email.

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are well! I’m writing to tell you about a project I’ve been working on the last several months. I am working with others with disabilities around the world to promote a day to educate and inform about access barriers. I believe that the vast majority of discrimination people with disabilities face is due to lack of access.

In my mind, access isn’t just about physically being able to move around this world. Access barriers can be mental and emotional. Access barriers can include stigma and oppression. As such, something needs to change. We need to make the  world aware of access barriers, so that real change can be made. That is the idea behind the day of Access Equality.

Participation can occur anywhere in the world. There are a variety of ways to participate. These include:

-blogging

-sharing our FB page located here:  https://www.facebook.com/AccessEquality

-tweeting about access barriers using  #AccessEquality

-contacting state and federal government representatives

-protest in your own community

-sign petitions relating to access barriers

-rate a business for accessibility on apps like AXS Map and AbleRoad

-support organizations holding protests, actions, and events on September 26 by sharing their updates

We’re also planning events throughout the day, including a twitter chat, and live streaming.

We are offering two gift cards on Amazon to encourage participation. One person will randomly be selected from those who choose to blog, and one person will be selected from those who take pictures in their community and post them to our FB page and/or using our #AccessEquality. Participants do not have to be disabled themselves, although we heartily encourage individuals to share their own personal experiences with access barriers!

The idea is to create so much content and noise on September 26 that it is too hard not to notice us.

You can find more ideas and information here:

http://www.dominickevans.com/2015/09/celebrate-access-equality-on-september-26/

I could really use your help. Please share this information with your networks and encourage participation. Please also consider participating. We need your voices!!

I appreciate your consideration and possible participation.

Thanks,

Dominick

I plan on joining in the Twitter discussion on September 26, posting a blog post here at Disability Thinking on that day, and helping promote all of the above activities.

Most of all, I plan to help Dominick kick off a really significant push for disabled people and disability activists to enter hundreds, maybe thousands of businesses into online accessibility mapping tools like AbleRoad and AXS Map. Nothing is definite yet, but it looks like our best bet will be to use AXS Map, which has a feature that keeps track of group mapping efforts.

To review ...

These mapping tools use existing Internet-based maps and consumer review sites like Yelp to form the basis of easily consulted reports on accessibility at businesses and other public facilities. Both programs can be added to and consulted on a PC’s web browser, and both also have accompanying mobile apps, so you can enter reviews immediately, without having to take notes and enter them later. Anyone can go to one or both of these sites, download the apps, and get started. If you’re still foggy on how this works, check out this video:

Our tentative plan is to set up a Mapathon at AXS Map, and invite people to register (for free) and commit to enter a certain number of site accessibility reviews. We are thinking we will use September 26 for the kickoff, with an end date of December 31. As soon as the Mapathon is set up, we’ll announce how to get started.

Meanwhile, here is some additional information about the September 26 Access Equality Day:

Celebrate Access Equality on September 26

Dominick Evans - September 14, 2015

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A New Favorite

Difficult People … on Hulu.

Stare At Shannon … on YouTube.

Shannon DeVido … website.

I just re-discovered Shannon DeVIdo. I read about her and found her YouTube Channel maybe a year ago, and then forgot to watch more of her videos. She's hilarious.

The standard thing to say is that Shannon DeVido is a funny, talented comedian, not a funny, talented, “disabled comedian,” or, for that matter, a “comedian with a disability.” She is hilarious and she does have a ton of talent and charisma, but a lot of her comedy does revolve around her disability. More precisely, her best comedy is about being a disabled woman in a mostly non-disabled world. Somehow, she highlights the “funny side” of disability, including the strange attitudes and habits of non-disabled people, and the ever-present barriers faced by disabled people in everyday life. Yet, she’s not angry and she doesn’t ridicule anyone or imply that non-disabled people are stupid. Ridicule has it’s place, and bitter can work for comedy. It’s just that Shannon DeVido’s perplexed but positive take makes her work refreshing and accessible … see what I did there? … without being trite.

Anyway, the big news is that Shannon got a guest spot on the new streaming series Difficult People. Maybe it’s a small thing, but I love the fact that the part wasn’t written for a disabled person, but she got the role anyway. That should happen a lot more often.

I wish there was more to the appearance. It would be great if they'd bring her back once in awhile. Then again, bit parts are important, too. They help people get more used to seeing disabled people in ordinary situations, with distinguishing characteristics other than being, you know, disabled.

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Blogging Day Off

Over 19 million views in less than a week. This video is everywhere. It also has nothing to do with disability. But I’m taking a day off from blogging, and it is the happiest YouTube video I have ever seen. So, enjoy:

For the record, the second happiest video I have ever seen is one of the first YouTube videos I ever saw:

Old Video, Fresh Ideas

22 years in Independent Living and I never saw this video about Ed Roberts until yesterday. There’s nothing in it I didn’t know from other sources, but I really feel like I missed out not seeing this much earlier in my Independent Living career.

The video does have a bit of a corporate instructional film feel, but focus on the words, which are as relevant today as they were in the early ‘90s. In fact, I am amazed at how current the content really is. Just update the technology from a “word board” to an iPad, make the music a little more energetic, (or just get rid of it entirely), shoot it in high-res digital, and this could be made today.

Sadly, we don’t have Ed Roberts anymore. He died in 1995. But, there are other people still living who share Ed Roberts’ philosophy and commitment. You might find them working at your nearest Center for Independent Living. If you want to understand what Centers for Independent Living are and what they are supposed to be, this video is an excellent place to start.

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Vacation

I’m going to take a couple of days off from blogging. I’ll be back Sunday, July 26, 2015 with a collection of my favorite articles about the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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The President Gets It

First of all, make sure to move the slider over to just before the 1 hour mark, because up until then it’s all title screen. Also, don’t skip the introduction, because it’s amazing. It’s inspiring without being saccharine.

President Obama does seem to understand the fundamental concept of the ADA and of the disability rights movement. The story about his father-in-law is on point, admiring his perseverance, but pivoting to how much easier life would have been for him if the ADA had been law back then. As the young woman introducing the President noted, it’s not magic. It’s not even really about character. It’s about accessibility, accommodation, and equal opportunity.

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TED Talk On Autism History

I haven’t seen this TED Talk posted very much on Facebook or referred to on other social media. I’m surprised. Autism is a pretty intense topic, with fully-formed ideas and ideologies from at least two or three different perspectives. The speaker seems to come from a neurodiversity point of view, though he only hints at how deep the divide can be between, for instance, Autism Speaks supporters and autistic bloggers. The value here is the history, which helps explain how all the different paradigms of autism got to be the way they are. If nothing else, it’s helpful to know that autism has always been controversial, and our understanding of it has always been at least as ideological as scientific.

I also think there are insights here that can help increase understanding in both of the main camps. People with the more medical-model view that autism is a public health disaster get more evidence that it is so much more and different than a disease in the typical sense of the word. Plus, neurodiversity advocates might gain some understanding of why so many parents are resistant to different concepts of autism, which are often expressed as passionate criticism of what parents do with autism ... since parents, and particularly women, were previously all-out blamed for autism. I can even understand a little more why some parents don't care what science tells them about, say, vaccines, since they can point to how wrong about autism experts have been over the years.

If I'm missing important points about this video, I would love to hear about it.

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Good TV

Is it possible for a TV show to be too progressive?

It’s a wonderful thing to come across a new TV show to love, entirely by accident. That happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I stumbled upon the Australian series, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. It’s like Downton Abbey on cocaine, and with more sex and murder.

Another aspect that caught me by surprise is that at least two of the episodes available on Netflix include characters with disabilities.

Season 1, Episode 12, “Murder in the Dark,” involves one of lead character Phryne Fisher’s adult cousins, who appears to have Cerebral Palsy. His portrayal is a mixed bag. In some ways he is treated like a great big child, and he seems to have internalized this, as he sort of acts like one. On the other hand, he isn’t hidden away and Phryne treats him with respect and affection pretty much the same as any close cousins of around the same age. He ends up seeming like a person who is cognitively impaired, but probably "smarter" than most people give him credit for.

Season 2, Episode 8, “The Blood of Juana the Mad,” takes place at a University, and involves a graduate student I am positive we are supposed to understand is autistic. Although she is a little on the stereotypical side, he is interesting partly because autism hadn’t been identified in the mid 1920s, which is when this show takes place. In this case, most people around her treat her like a “madwoman.” But Phryne and, following her lead, the other people on her team, just roll with the woman’s “quirks” and “obsessions," which immediately makes her seem less odd and allows a working relationship to develop.

One thing I haven’t quite decided yet is whether Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is too progressive for a period piece. Many of the episodes deal with one social justice issue or another, not just disability. It sometimes seems like Miss Fisher has been sent back in time from 2015. It’s hard to imagine someone like her, in her, era having the liberal, open-minded views she has. All of her opinions are awesome. Just once I’d like to see her have a realistic 1920s prejudice about something ... a bit of highbrow anti-semitism, a conventional view of Aboriginals, or some other unpleasant but unsurprising attitude she could maybe struggle to overcome. Still, her easy progressivism does feel earned most of the time. Phryne is meant to be a free spirit and a non-conformist, who both fits into and clashes with her upper class upbringing. The best thing about this is that because people can't help liking her, they tend to find themselves adopting her ideas, sometimes much to their surprise. The progressivism on the show is a bit anachronistic, but it works.

This is something I think about a lot when it comes to disability on TV. Which is more important ... sending progressive messages about disability for today's audience, or accurately depicting how disabled people are treated in the eras and settings in which they are depicted? Seeing ableism on-screen can be upsetting, but the lack of it can make an otherwise good show feel like a nursery school lesson. I guess the key is finding the right balance.

I’ll probably have more to say about this question, and this great TV show, in an upcoming Disability.TV Podcast.

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"Geeky Gimp" Panel - Disability In Star Trek

I had a great time last night talking with some fellow disabled geeks about disability in Star Trek, hosted by Erin of The Geeky Gimp. We covered a lot of ground, and basically agreed that disability in Trek is a mixed bag of good intentions, interesting ideas, and sometimes sloppy thinking about disability issues. Also, using Google Hangouts got me thinking about changing how I do my Disability.TV Podcast. Maybe a video chat is a better way to go. Just thinking ...

If you do Twitter, you should follow the other fantastic panelists:

Alice Wong: @SFdirewolf

Zack Kline: @zkline

Day Al-Mohamed: @DalAlmohamed

Host Erin H.: @geekygimp

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“Inspiration” Without The “Porn"

There was quite a lot of discussion last week among disability bloggers and Facebookers about a viral video showing a restaurant employee “feeding” a physically disabled customer.

While newspapers and TV stations all over North America reported it as an unambiguous “good news” story, most of the comments from disabled people ranged from head-shaking to outrage. On one level, it was a simple reaction to standard “Inspiration Porn.” Inspiration Porn is that thing where someone writes a news story or posts an “inspiring” photo or video involving a disabled person, something clearly meant to make us go, “Awwww,” and appreciate bravery, persistence, or kindness, preferably without asking awkward questions about context.

On another level, this particular video raised very specific questions about privacy and objectification. Who is this disabled woman? What is her name? Did she know she was being filmed? If she had known, would she have been okay with the video being publicly posted and then going viral? Was she happy with how the employee was helping her, or did she have some other solution in mind? And, who is the customer filming the scene? Did he or she think for a moment about how the disabled woman might feel? Did they introduce themselves to her and ask her permission to film her and present this bit of her life in order to “inspire” millions of strangers? Is it possible a severely disabled person might have mixed feelings about being looked at in this way?

Of course, these questions provoked their own perplexed, angry responses from people who apparently felt cranky disability activists were raining on a parade they had been enjoying immensely. Why do people have to put a sinister spin on a rare “good news” story? Why are disabled people so angry about stuff like this? Aren’t they always asking retail staff to help them? The world is such a nasty place, and this is a nice story. Lighten up!

I have been thinking for awhile that we need to come up with a way to allow some cultural space for people who really love and crave “inspiration”, while keeping it from becoming “Inspiration Porn” that insults disabled people and sends ableist messages about disability.

Maybe we should make a checklist for would-be filmers, meme-makers, and reporters thinking about using disabled people as their subjects:

- Is the disabled person a willing participant in the story, video, or photo?

- Does the disabled person have a voice in the finished product … something relevant to say, in their own words?

- Is the disabled person credited by name? Does the piece include include any contact and background information about the disabled person, if they want it included?

- Does the finished product include enough accurate information on the situation and disability to put the scene or incident in context?

- Who is the “hero” of the scene? Are they doing something truly remarkable, or interesting only compared to very low, possibly insulting expectations?

- If you were the disabled person in the finished product, how would you feel about it?

- Consider how the disabled person might actually feel, not how you think they should feel.

If you look at this list and think, “Who’s going to be comfortable with all that?”, then that should tell you something about Inspiration Porn. If what you’re doing can’t pass these simple tests, then maybe the world doesn’t need your inspiring creation right now.

On the other hand, I think this list might be reasonable enough to allow a few disability-related photo memes, videos, and news stories of the “inspirational” variety to satisfy peoples’ apparent craving for such things. I think it’s worth noting, too, that some disabled people feel good about inspiring others, and actually spend time and creativity doing so through videos, photo memes, blog posts, and the like.

The key difference is that those are messages from disabled people, in which disabled people are active participants with human voices and points of view, not nameless objects on which others project their feelings.

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Video Of The Day

TED Talks are meant to showcase ground-breaking, innovative, unorthodox people and ideas. This is pretty basic, entry-level disability stuff.

I don’t meant that as an insult to Torrie Dunlap. She does a very good job of explaining accessibility, adaptation, inclusion, and the different models of thinking about disability. I especially want “special needs parents” to see this. It's a very kind but forceful pushback against the "special" everything impulse.

Still, it is frustrating that these simple, quite standard and established ideas about disability are apparently still new enough to mainstream ears to be the subject of a TED Talk. I guess it’s good, then, that even though the whole TED Talk phenomenon can get a little irritating, it has given a valuable outlet to disability leaders and role models like Maysoon Zayid, the late Stella Young, and others.

I just wonder how many more decades it will be before ideas like this provoke nods and yawns instead of applause.

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Video Of The Day

Ask A Girl In A Wheelchair

Jared Sosa, BuzzFeed - March 29, 2015

I have to offer a light rebuke to Mr. Sosa, for saying that Santina has “been in a wheelchair since she was 5 years old.” I’m not sure, but I suspect that at the time of filming this, she’d been in a wheelchair since she got up that morning.

I found this because Tonia of "Tonia Says” linked to it and gave her own interesting answers to the questions Santina answered.

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Spring Cleaning ... Time For A Musical Digression

So, in lieu of the usual disability blogging, here’s a video I’ve been watching daily for over a week now, of Kim Gordon and the surviving members of Nirvana performing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction:

Sonic Youth has been one of my favorite bands since Goo came out in 1990. From there I went back and checked out the epic Daydream Nation, and I was hooked. Kim Gordon was always my favorite member of the group, partly for the usual hetrosexual male reasons, but also because she seemed so enigmatic. She recently published an autobiography, and is making the rounds of various culture shows and podcasts. I listened to her interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, and now I want to hear more from her. For now, I’ll just say that I hope I have half of Kim Gordon’s energy and creativity when I am 62, though there’s no way I have ever been a 16th as cool as she is.

And here is my favorite Sonic Youth performance video:

Throwback Thursday

A year ago in Disability thinking … Another Video Of The Day.

AmputeeOT is the first disability vlogger I ever saw.

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Video Of The Day

It has been quite awhile since I posted anything about the Disability Visibility Project, so I’m so glad to have a chance to post this video by the project coordinator, Alice Wong:

This presentation was given at a conference at the University of California at San Francisco, Developmental Disabilities: An Update for Health Professionals. I stumbled upon this conference on Friday, when I noticed lots of Tweets about some of the sessions. I was hugely impressed at how many speakers the conference had who focused on the cultural and social justice sides of disability, alongside the more clinical content one would expect at a conference aimed at the medical profession.

I’m going to post more about the conference tomorrow.

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Dog Video Of The Day

Disabled wiener dog gets a 3D-printed wheelchair

Bonnie Burton, C-Net - January 28, 2015

I’m not feeling very chatty today, so I figured I’d share this story and embed one of the videos.

Notice that the reporter doesn’t call the dog “wheelchair bound”, usually a go-to journalistic term for human beings who use wheelchairs.

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My Gimpy Life Rewatch

I’m just checking in. I’m still on a blogging break, mostly.

I think I like the days between Christmas and New Years better than either of the really big occasions. Everything feels more loose and free-form. It’s the kind of day where it feels just right to spend a little time catching up on a good web series, like My Gimpy Life.

High on the list of Things I’d Like To See:

Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman as guest stars on My Gimpy Life.

Teal Sherer as a guest comedian on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.

Technically, she doesn’t need one, but it would be great to see Jerry hunt down a high-end ramp van to use as the “car”.

Stella Young Memorial

Stella Young memorial: 'Stella made this place better ... she made Australia better’

Melissa Davey, The Guardian - December 18, 2014

A memorial event for Stella Young was held on Thursday, December 18, in the Town Hall of Melbourne, Australia.

I don’t have anything to add really. Just watch the videos.

Nelly Thomas

Graeme Innes

Stella Barton

Turtle - Lego - Wheelchair

This video and the story behind it has been making the rounds of disability blogs for a couple of weeks now. I finally watched it and I have say, it's worth sitting through all the German for the eventual payoff. It’s cool as a still picture, but even cooler on video.

It's Just Creepy

Disabled Toronto comedian catches strangers' shocking comments on tape

Josh Dehaas, CTV Toronto - November 8, 2014

It's an interesting comparison I kind of wish I'd thought of ... catcalling or "street harassment" of women, and the staring, gaping, and weird comments disabled people get out in public.

I suspect that both stem from roughly the same thing ... the unregulated impulse to look at a person who "stands out” somehow and blurt out a variation on, "Wow, look at that!" I chose those words deliberately. I think that when this happens, to women and to disabled people, we are not hes or shes, we are THATS. We are pieces of scenery, curiosities. That's what makes it galling.

One key difference is that in catcalling, the man usually wants the woman to hear, while most people who are rude to disabled people in public spaces try to hide it. No matter. It feels shitty either way.

To be clear, it doesn't matter what people say. The problem is the presumption by total strangers that it's okay engage with us in a way they wouldn't with other strangers. It's much the same with men catcalling women. "Smile, honey!" is friendly on paper. In person, tossed at you by a total stranger, it's creepy at best. So is, "Hey, little man!" from someone you've never met or even seen before.

(Via Girl With The Cane’s Facebook Page)