Warning: Offsite links are not safe spaces. Articles and comments in the links may contain ableist, sexist, and other -ist language and ideas of varying intensity. Opinions expressed in the articles may not reflect the opinions held by the compiler of the post and links are provided as topics of interest and exploration only. I attempt to provide extra warnings for material like extreme violence/rape; however, your triggers/issues may vary, so please read with care.

INCITE: Women of Color Against Violence: Stop Law Enforcement Violence

WHAT IS “LAW ENFORCEMENT VIOLENCE?”

We use the term “law enforcement violence” to reflect an analysis that includes police brutality by local, state and federal police, as well as immigration enforcement officers, Border Patrol, private security, and military forces. We use the terms “police brutality” and “law enforcement violence” alternatively to mean the same thing.

The Next Disability Blog Carnival will be at Brilliant Mind, Broken Body! Kali’s looking for submissions to be in by August 18th.

At Transportation Access: Harry’s Transportation Woes Live On

A month before activist Harry Wieder was tragically struck and killed by a taxi, he sent a 26-paragraph email to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) telling the agency that parking and transportation regulations were progressively making his life more difficult.
Wieder, a paraparetic dwarf who drove a car for 40 years, said the rise of pedestrian malls on public streets prevent drivers with disabilities from directly accessing sidewalks, and that an increase in “No Standing” and “No Stopping” signs in the past few years have blocked parking at places including Lincoln Center, the Stonewall Bar and the West 47th Street Diamond District, where his family works.

L^2 at Dog’s Eye View: Not as We

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the day Willow and I were matched at Leader Dogs for the Blind. Since Willow’s retirement last March, as well as increasingly for six to eight months before that, I have been navigating my world as “I” not as “we” and yes, it has been a bit lonely.

Since Willow almost always lead the way on our daily adventures, it was tough to start leaving her behind. On those rare occasions during our partnership when she didn’t go along it always felt odd, like something was missing. But since she retired, I’ve had to go it alone all the time, while I continue to wait to be matched with a new guide dog.

Terajk did up a transcript of an interview with Dr. Shana Nichols about autistic girls and women at Transcripts for Everyone: [Note: There is mention of murder through domestic violence at the beginning of this transcript]

Just remembering the young girl I was working with, I spoke to my supervisor and I asked: “We’re not seeing a lot of girls. There are a lot of families out there who have nowhere to turn to. There’s no resources for them. Could I start a group this summer for girls? A girl talk group, for them to learn how to call each other on the phone, learn to have a party, work on conversation skills.” It was a huge success. We had so many families contact us. The moms themselves were just so happy to have finally found a community of other families who were sharing their experiences with them. The girls themselves had been in social skills groups where they were the only girl. They often were just beyond thrilled, and as part of that group, I began to explore a lot of the issues that I’ve seen girls and women face: whether it’s [unknown] issues, puberty, interest in dating, mental health and anxiety, really low self-esteem. From there it just really took off.

Moving to New York was the launching point, where I began to work with a couple of my colleagues. We continued to develop our girls’ program, and I finally just said: “Enough is enough. There are no resources out there for parents of girls and for clinicians. So it’s time for us to write the book.”

Life, plus one (service dog)

Hudson is my service dog, a 3 year old labradoodle who I have been with for almost a year. I actually break one of the rules our trainers set out for us – when Hudson and I are in the house, Hudson is almost never on a leash, because he’s so well behaved. With very rare exceptions (like really needing a drink or to go outside), Hudson never leaves the room I’m in, and never runs to anyone or anything, so I don’t worry about him not being leashed. Unlike most service dogs, Hudson has very little interest in the outside world, so he’s not about to run to the doorbell or run outside given the opportunity.

So here’s what a normal day looks like, living with Hudson.

Leah Jane at Quixotic Autistic:We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that (s)he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

It’s not just the fact that they are humiliating these children in the public sphere that is problematic, or insulting them in front of all, with words like “empty”, “husk”, “broken”, “sickened”, “damaged”, “stolen”, “near dead” and “ill” being liberally applied. The very fact that children, particularly when it involves nonverbal children, are being used as pawns to advance the political/social agendas of adults is downright sickening. Children are not the property of their parents, to be displayed at their whim, or used as a bargaining chip in an ideological debate. They are individuals, and yet, their freedom and their power to decide their destiny is often marginalized due to the wishes of adults who hold power over them, whether it be parents, teachers, or caretakers. Especially concerning disabled children.

If you’re on Delicious, feel free to tag entries ‘disfem’ or ‘disfeminists,’ or ‘for:feminists’ to bring them to our attention! Link recommendations can also be emailed to recreading[@]disabledfeminists[.]com