Warning: Offsite links are not safe spaces. Articles and comments in the links may contain ableist, sexist, and other -ist language of varying intensity.

* Arachne Jericho at Tor.com: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Fiction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

A survey of the tropes, stereotypes and more realistic portrayals of PTSD on the page and screen, from The West Wing to Lord of the Rings.

* haddayr at no_pity: “I don’t really expect much of YOU . . . “

“I sometimes use a wheelchair,” I told her, and I started to explain that some people with osteoporosis who seem fine are in danger of falling, and some people with emphysema need scooters, etc., but she interrupted me.

“Well,” she said. “You have MS. I don’t expect much of YOU.”

And then, when she saw the look on my face and after I said: “Well, I certainly expect much of myself,” she said: “I don’t want to be politically incorrect!”

* Asahi.com: EDITORIAL: People with disabilities

The government established a policymaking committee where more than half of all the members will be people with disabilities. The committee is headed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

The committee’s first job is to consider comprehensive new welfare legislation to replace the Services and Supports for Persons with Disabilities Act, which the Hatoyama administration has pledged to rescind at an early date. The law, which came into force in 2006, has proved very unpopular among people with disabilities. That’s because of the requirement that people with disabilities should, in principle, pay 10 percent of the costs of the welfare services they receive.

* Steve Carter at Examiner.com: Disability discrimination claims are up by 10%, EEOC expects continued increase [see also law.com: EEOC Will Get $23 Million to Reduce 70,000-Case Backlog]:

The number of disability discrimination claims filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission increased more than 10 percent last year, and that number is expected to grow in 2010, thanks to the ADA Amendments Act. […] The commission said the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act also brought more charges. […] The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which became effective in November, is also likely to increase the number of complaints filed next year, as is the possible passage of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

* AdelaideNow: Disabled children forced to wait ‘years’ for essential equipment

Novita Children’s Services states there are already 400 children waiting for 700 pieces of equipment and a support group says some parents are in “total despair” over the growing problem.

The average waiting time for children is 40 weeks, but varies depending on the type of equipment.

* The Age: New building rules to improve accessibility

All new homes would be built with features designed to make them more accessible to the elderly and those with disabilities, under proposed building rules for Victoria.

The changes would include a clear path from the street to an entry, wider doorways and halls, a toilet suitable for people with limited mobility and reinforced bathroom walls for grab rails.

* AFP/Google: TV presenter sorry for calling Boyle ‘retarded’

On Monday Television New Zealand upheld complaints against Henry and the broadcaster said he never intended to offend people with disabilities.

“I am sorry that some people have taken what I said in a way that I never intended,” Henry said.

In the original broadcast, Henry quoted from a magazine article which said Boyle was “starved of oxygen at birth” and suffered an intellectual disability. “If you look at her carefully, you can make it out,” Henry told viewers.

* Voxy.co.nz: Banking Services For Older And Disabled People Improved

The main areas covered by the guidelines are:

improving access to banking services including initiatives such as low tables and teller counters, user-friendly ATMs, meeting spaces and queuing aisles able to be used by wheelchairs, power assisted entry doors, layout and signage suitable for customers who are partially sighted staff, training to cover disability awareness including spotting signs of financial abuse, express tellers and queuing by numbers, observing international W3C web accessibility best practice standards, and easy to read information in alternative formats, including easy read, large print, Braille, DVD, including NZ Sign Language, and audio.

The voluntary guidelines will be reviewed in three years.