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.
NPR: Commanders Have Ignored Major Mental Health Issues, Army Report Concludes
(Trigger Warning for Statements of the Obvious and a seeming disregard for lives)
In his introduction, Chiarelli says that “now more than ever, our Soldiers need firm, fair and consistent leadership.”
Although he acknowledges that commanders — like troops — have been stretched thin by repeated deployments during two wars, Chiarelli says the Army’s leadership has to do better, taking “a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to address this risk.”
According to NPR’s Rachel Martin, “Defense officials say commanders on the ground don’t have the training to make suicide prevention a priority — or to recognize the signs of a soldier on the brink.”
VA Watchdog: Contract In-Home Nurse Steals from Disabled Veteran
When JoAnn went in for surgery on her hand, she noticed prescription medication missing. Soon after, her son noticed much more missing.
“When he came in the door he said, ‘Mom you have been robbed.'”
Pride admitted to police she had stolen it all: more than $5,000 dollars of garden equipment, electronics and jewelry.
flip flopping joy: disability on the face of gendered bodies
A feeling that stands in stark contrast to how we as viewers understand Emily’s injuries. Usually their narratives are the other way around. An abused woman is blamed, why did you stay with him? And a politically active woman is congratulated as fierce and mighty. Suddenly our consciousness is declaring the abuse victim “beautiful” and “strong” and we want to help–and the politically active woman is understood as a troublemaker. As somebody who maybe shouldn’t have been where she was. It’s sorta her own fault for showing up someplace where she knew there would be trouble. Right?
BBC: Ouch! (disbility) – features- Dragging accessible computer games into the 21st century
With up to 32 sounds playing at any one time, no one could accuse GMA Games Lone Wolf of not being exciting and challenging, even with zero graphics. For this is an ‘audio game’, Made with blind and visually impaired people like me in mind and based exclusively on complex stereo sound.
BBC News: With one good leg, US Veterans climb Mount Kilimanjaro (Apologies for the title, folks!)
(Moderatrix note: I felt the tone of this article was rather ‘splainey and shamey. Kind of “well, if I can do it with my prosthetic leg, than what is wrong with all of you crips at home who aren’t even going out for runs and swims?”. Still, I wanted to highlight the accomplishment, and would hope that we can focus on that, rather than on the negative.)
The trip typically takes five or six days, and the men had to stop frequently to adjust their titanium prosthetic legs, as they slipped constantly on the loose scree-covered paths.
The hikers were Dan Nevins, 37, who lost his legs in Iraq; Neil Duncan, 26, who lost both legs in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2005; and Kirk Bauer, 62, who lost a leg in Vietnam in 1969.
If you have an exciting link, news article, or blog post that would be relevant to our interests, please feel free to send it to recreading [at] disabledfeminists [dot] com. We would be more than happy to credit you for any usable find!