As I’m writing this, I’m still on my trip, so again – very quick! [The conference has been awesome, y’all. Seriously – I met so many great people and had so many great conversations. And people liked my presentation!]
The Lady Thing I Won’t Talk About, Even With Feminists
So, I have been thinking (ahahaha, I know, right? I NEVER do that). And it was because of the Jezebel post about the MTV True Life episode, which I just watched, on Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
And, you know, it’s MTV, so it’s not the most tasteful or thoughtful show, but: I don’t really want to talk about reality TV. I was thinking about how being feminist and being aware of privilege makes me really struggle with my own BDD.
I was diagnosed four years ago. It’s definitely gotten worse as time as gone by, and exponentially worse after the rape. It’s also not a disorder that stands alone; it ties in to my bipolar disorder, my anxiety problems.
Autistic Teen Charged With Assault, Disorderly Conduct
Via Terri over at Barriers, Brigdes and Books comes news that an autistic teen was charged with assault and disorderly conduct a few weeks ago, after he became physically aggressive when there were four fire drills in one morning at his school. We do not know whether an appropriate behavior intervention plan was in place, as should have been the case.
I have written a manifesto. It’s short as manifestos go… and I think fairly low on scary ramblings (edit, edit, edit!!! 🙂
Here it is:
I believe in the Disability Rights Community.
That is to say, I believe that disability is a natural part of the human experience that is often misunderstood by our culture and I believe in the people with disabilities and their allies who recognize that human beings are undiminished by disability. I support these people who strive for respect, recognition and rights.
I came here to study at a university. I took a job from approximately 299 Americans who, presumably, could have done it as well as I did. (Interestingly, the other person on the shortlist told me that he believed hiring me was an act of discrimination and that I had “dogged” him.) I have brown skin. I married an American. I was told I was only into him for the visa. (Almost 20 years later, I still worry about whether I have to prove our relationship is genuine.) I use the health care system. I have paid my speeding ticket and been to traffic school. I pay my taxes. I very definitely pay my taxes; I have been audited and found to owe nothing. And a little while ago, I began the process to naturalize myself as a citizen.
If you live with a disability, I encourage you to speak up about your experiences. Make a YouTube video, start a blog, participate in a message board. And let me know about it.
I look forward to spending a moment with you.
The links for I’ve Gone and Done It Now and Arizona’s Immigration Laws seem to be mixed up from their quotes. 🙂
Ack! Thank you, Shiyiya! I think I’ve got it fixed now. 🙂
Four fire drills? That would make me furious! I don’t know if I would punch and kick someone, but I would definitely want to.
I thought the article Astrid linked was pretty good. It actually quoted the guy in question, for example, which seems all too rare.
Thanks for linking ot my post, although of course the original comes from Terri. I was really shocked to find this out at a blog not really about autism, when there was no coverage on an autism blog that I’m aware of. As a side note, if anyone has any suggestions on what action I could take in this case other than blogging about it, I appreciate any suggestions. I live on the other side of the world, so I tend to perceive my activist opportunities as limited, but maybe they aren’t so.
Four fire drills in the one morning, and I’d be irritated too. I wonder whether the rather excessive response to one student’s violent outburst was a result of other students in his class standing by and cheering because they perceived him as expressing exactly what they felt. Of course, I’d also be interested in knowing why there were *four* fire drills (were there three or four bomb threats, or was it just an exercise in bloody-mindedness by the school administration?) in the first place, since that’s a major disruption of a school day (in my high school years, that would have been two interruptions per class in each of the two morning classes, and effectively it would have been a morning’s study written off, as well as most of the afternoon). I wonder whether any questions were asked of the school administration about this particular triggering incident, or whether they escaped any questioning in the light of subsequent controversy.
Whoever decided 4 fire drills in one day was a good idea should be countercharged. That’s assault on all the students with any disability that makes sound painful, & all the epileptic students too.
One, I get. But four???
It seems likely that students were pulling the fire alarm – once that happens, schools have no choice but to evacuate. It seems possible this coincided with midterms or something and students decided to pull the alarm in the hope of getting out of a test. The school should certainly have better controls on the fire alarms if that’s the case, though. But I wouldn’t assume it was deliberate – as I recall, only about half the fire alarms at my high school were.
“we’re going to send you to jail because your classmates kept pulling an alarm to get out of a test”.
Yeah. No. Completely unacceptable in ways I don’t have words for.
This is why my cousin’s high school’s fire alarms squirt blue ink on you if you pull them. And if you pull them not in an emergency they fine you $300. (Her high school is for multiple small towns/settlements in the area and has like 3000 kids. It’s a bit…. chaotic. There was a stabbing a couple years ago.)
Four times in one day is ridiculous. I hope the kid’s okay :/