All posts by lauredhel

About lauredhel

Lauredhel is an Australian woman with a disability.

Chatterday! Open Thread.

This is our weekly Chatterday! open thread. Use this open thread to talk amongst yourselves: feel free to share a link, have a vent, or spread some joy.

What have you been reading or watching lately (remembering spoiler warnings)? What are you proud of this week? What’s made your teeth itch? What’s going on in your part of the world? Got any questions for your fellow FWD commenters?

Today’s chatterday backcloth, a wee baby possum amongst the flowers, comes via The Daily Squee.

little possum looks like it's picking flowers

Chatterday! Open Thread.

This is our weekly Chatterday! open thread. Use this open thread to talk amongst yourselves: feel free to share a link, have a vent, or spread some joy.

What have you been reading or watching lately (remembering spoiler warnings)? What are you proud of this week? What’s made your teeth itch? What’s going on in your part of the world? Got any questions for your fellow FWD commenters?

Today’s chatterday backcloth, a big capybara smooching a wee capybara, comes via the Daily Squee.

Big capybara kissing a little fuzzy capybara, with the sunlight on rocks in the background

Chatterday! Open Thread.

What have you been reading or watching lately (remembering spoiler warnings)? What are you proud of this week? What’s made your teeth itch? What’s going on in your part of the world? Got any questions for your fellow FWD commenters?

Today’s chatterday backcloth comes via The Daily Squee, and was captioned there “Hangin with mah online friends”.

Hamsters hanging cutely off a clothesline next to stripey toe socks; trees out of focus in the background

Quickhit: Kelly Vincent elected to Upper House in South Australia!

The results have been declared!

Kelly Vincent and Natasha Stott-Despoja

Image: A smiling Kelly Vincent, Dignity for Disability candidate, with a blue flower in her hair and holding a bouquet of pink roses, sits next to former leader of the Australian Democrats Natasha Stott-Despoja.

South Australia State Parliament gets first disabled politician*

Labor and Liberal won 4 seats each with the Greens and Family First each winning a seat.

The make-up of the new Legislative Council will now be Labor 7, Liberal 8, Greens 2, Family First 2, independents 2, and D4D 1.

Ms Vincent has made Australian parliamentary history by being the youngest elected Upper House MP in Australia’s histolry, the youngest female ever elected to an Australian parliament, and the first person who uses a wheelchair to be elected in the SA Parliament.

“South Australians have shouted their intentions loud and clear,” she said after the count.

“People with disabilities and those who love them will no longer be silenced. I will be a voice for those without a voice.”

Parliament House will now have a scramble to make the Chamber accessible – they’ve never bothered before.

* I strongly suspect she’s not the first disabled politician. Perhaps the first where anyone else has noticed.

Glee: Poster Children for DisabilityFail

You saw last week’s Glee promotional poster, posted here by s. e. smith. In that poster, Sue the cheerleading coach sprays spray paint across the Glee club – hitting most of the singers in the chest or abdomen, but spraying Artie, who uses a wheelchair, across the eyes.

Here’s the latest:

glee poster with singers jumping for joy against a red background. Artie, instead of jumping, is falling out of his wheelchair.

Look at those singers! They’re so happy! They’re jumping for joy! They’re smiling! Life is good! Well, except for Puck, who chooses to stand with his arms crossed, looking cool. That’s his version of happy. And, oh, except for Artie. Who can’t jump, because, LOL, he’s totally confined to a wheelchair, y’see. So he’s falling out of his chair. Looking terrified. What fun!

Worst of all? Fox loved this branding so much – they made three versions.

Continue reading Glee: Poster Children for DisabilityFail

Chatterday! Open Thread.

This is our weekly Chatterday! open thread. Use this open thread to talk amongst yourselves: feel free to share a link, have a vent, or spread some joy.

What have you been reading or watching lately (remembering spoiler warnings)? What are you proud of this week? What’s made your teeth itch? What’s going on in your part of the world? Got any questions for your fellow FWD commenters?

Today’s chatterday backcloth, possibly the cutest baby sloth alive, comes via The Daily Squee.

baby golden sloth lying on its back reaching out as if for a hug

Chatterday! Open Thread.

This is our weekly Chatterday! open thread. Use this open thread to talk amongst yourselves: feel free to share a link, have a vent, or spread some joy.

What have you been reading or watching lately (remembering spoiler warnings)? What are you proud of this week? What’s made your teeth itch? What’s going on in your part of the world?

Today’s chatterday is hosted by a handful of badgers.

half a dozen striped baby badgers held in people's hands
see more

Chatterday! Open Thread.

This is our weekly Chatterday! open thread. Use this open thread to talk amongst yourselves: feel free to share a link, have a vent, or spread some joy.

What have you been reading or watching lately (remembering spoiler warnings)? What are you proud of this week? What’s made your teeth itch? What’s going on in your part of the world?

Today’s chatterday backcloth, a mama meerkat snuggling with her babe, comes via Zooborns.

a meerkat mum snuggles her babe to her belly.

Recommended Reading

Hi everyone! This is an extra huge edition of the Rec Reading, because it’s my last one for this particular RR stint. I hope you’ve all found something interesting, enjoyable, or useful out of my roundups over the past couple of months. ~L

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. I attempt to provide extra warnings for material like extreme violence/rape; however, your triggers/issues may vary, so please read with care.

closeup photo of kelly vincent, who has bobbed red hair and bright lipstickSBS World News: Young candidate steps up to challenge [more information on the Dignity for Disability party here]

Young playwright Kelly Vincent has stepped up to be the main candidate for Dignity for Disability in the South Australian state election, after the death of the party’s founder. […]

“To step up to this new position is a great honour to me,” Ms Vincent says. “I’m running to improve the situation [for the] one in five disabled Australians.” Ms Vincent says the situation for disabled people is ‘dire’, and that she’s faced many challenges in her day-to-day life.

“I’m currently sitting in a wheelchair I’ve had for four months, but it took two years to get,” she says. “Prior to that I was using the same wheelchair from the age of ten to 21, so you can imagine the physical pain and discomfort that I was having because of that, and the loss of independence. So I learnt a lot in that experience, in battling for that chair.”

As well as issues with obtaining basic equipment, the candidate says disabled South Australians face issues with finding suitable housing and care, and find it difficult or prohibitively expensive to travel from place to place.

jeneli at almost normal: Yes I am

I’ve been thinking about disability a lot lately. Dancing around the word itself, never quite daring to apply the word to me. Never quite daring to dip more than a toe into the water, so to speak. I’ll use the word indirectly, by tagging a post with ‘hidden disabilities’ or by saying ‘I feel disabled by X, Y and sometimes Z’, but that’s about as far as I’ve gone–and even that fills me with doubt as to whether I have the right to use these terms.

The Vancouver Sun: Women under-represented in Paralympic sports

Nearly five times as many men are competing at the 2010 Games. It’s skewed by sledge hockey, which is a male-only event. But subtract the 118 hockey players from the 506 competitors and women are still outnumbered by more than three to one. […]

Even in Canada, women with disabilities are among the poorest in the country and even without needing customized and specialized equipment, sports are expensive.

But there’s also self-selection. Women generally don’t participate in sports in as large numbers as men. They also are less likely to engage in risky behaviours and, as a result, fewer disabled women acquire their injuries. Qualtrough says most women are either born with disabilities or have had cancers that required amputations. Plus, there’s the whole issue of children and families.

frolicnaked at RH Reality Check: How Endo-Aware Are You?

So yes, it’s still March, which means that it’s still Endometriosis Awareness Month. And talking with some of the members over at Live Journal’s endometriosis community brought to light how much the lack of information and lack of accurate information can make dealing with endo harder for some of us.

These misconceptions are harmful, since they can contribute to stigma associated with chronic pain and make it more difficult for people to seek out and receive proper treatment:

More from frolicnake: WHAT and Pains?

Herald Scotland: Millions in disability benefits go unclaimed by cancer sufferers

Cancer patients nearing the end of their lives are losing out financially with approximately £8 million in disability benefits going unclaimed in Scotland every year.

A report released today by leading charity Macmillan Cancer Support also shows that nearly a third of people diagnosed with terminal cancer are not claiming benefits because the system is confusing.

Top News: ‘We need a national advisor to PM on disability’

In order to ensure the rights of people with disabilities, there is a need for a national advisor on the subject to the prime minister, former chief justice of the Delhi High Court Ajit Prakash Shah said Thursday.

“There is a need for a national advisor on disability to the prime minister, as it will help in bridging the gap between policies and ground realities,” Shah said at the inauguration of a two-day meet on the disability sector in the capital.

Boston Herald: Dead man’s dad takes on wheelchair co. in $10M suit [warning: description of death may be upsetting]

The father of a South End quadriplegic who died in 2007 after his wheelchair malfunctioned during a repair session said yesterday a $10 million lawsuit against the company is about fair treatment for the disabled.

“It’s infuriating,” said Charlie Thompson, whose son Jeffrey, 29, died a day after his wheelchair malfunctioned while two technicians from Franklin, Tenn.-based National Seating & Mobility were doing routine repairs.

Rye & Battle Observer: Disabled boy forced to miss out on school

The parents of a 12-year-old boy with learning disabilities say they have been forced to educate their son at home because the education authority will not pay the £12-a-day taxi fare to get him to school. […] Lee used to get the bus from outside his house to the school gates but when the route was discontinued and replaced by a school loop bus, Lee twice became confused and ended up lost in the town centre.

Lee’s mum, Mrs Godden, said […] “The education department know that my own disability also prevents me from taking Lee to school myself so I am at my wits’ end about what to do.”

The Age: Legally blind social worker denied permanent visa

The Immigration Department has refused to grant a skilled worker’s visa to a highly qualified social worker from India because she is legally blind. Simran Kaur, 29, came to Melbourne in 2007 on a student visa with her husband, Jasmeet Singh. She had obtained a master’s degree in social work in India and completed a diploma in community welfare and development here last year. […]

The [Commonwealth medical] officer said she met the criteria for legal blindness and she would be eligible for the blind or disability pension ”in due course”. ”Such a person with this condition and severity, staying for the proposed duration of stay (permanent), would likely require the … blind or disability pension. This would result in significant cost to the Australian community,” the officer wrote.


Chicago Tribune: Artful disabilities act

“Chicago is so progressive,” says [Carrie] Sandahl, 41, an advocate for disability rights who has become a leading researcher on disability and the arts. She arrived last fall from Florida State University in Tallahassee to head a new program at the University of Illinois at Chicago called the Program on Disability Art, Culture, and Humanities. The curriculum is devoted to research of and the creation of disability art.

Recommended Reading

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. I attempt to provide extra warnings for material like extreme violence/rape; however, your triggers/issues may vary, so please read with care.

Boston.com’s The Big Picture:

Laurie Stephens in Sitting Giant Slalom

Laurie Stephens of USA makes a run in the Women’s Sitting Giant Slalom during Day 5 of the 2010 Winter Paralympics on March 16, 2010.

Sydney Morning Herald: Sydney cabbie collared by disability boss

A Sydney cabbie is in the doghouse after refusing to allow a guide dog and its high-profile owner – Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes – into his vehicle. James Young could not have picked a worse person to turn away than Mr Innes, who is a lawyer and human rights advocate.

He promptly reported the cabbie to the Department for Transport, which launched a prosecution. Today, Young was fined $750 and ordered to pay $2500 in costs at a Sydney court.

More at the SMH: Taxi driver fined for refusing to carry guide dog

When asked to provide his cab number, Mr Young gave five digits instead of four, which Mr Innes knew to be a false number, the court heard. Mr Innes then reported the cabbie to the Department of Transport, which launched the prosecution.

Mr Young denied the allegations, telling the court he had no problem with the animal and had been unable to move his cab as it was blocked by other taxis.

”I have got a lot of respect for people,” Mr Young said. ”I love handicapped people.”

Ms Huber found that Mr Young had discriminated against Mr Innes and disagreed with the suggestion made by Mr Young’s counsel, Craig Bolger, that no harm had been caused.

Haddayr’s Physical Disability Bingo:

We hear so many annoying and unpleasant things as physically disabled people. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could leap to our feet (or fall out of our chairs) and yell: ‘BINGO!’ This body of literature is so vast and rich, we decided to divide it into categories for easy reference:

Giovanna Chesler at Re:Cycling: Bravery and Intellect Over Easy: Scrambled

I’ll try not to sound too fan-girlish here as I write about the documentary Scrambled: A Journey through PCOS by Randi Cecchine, but admittedly, it is a difficult task. For in this film, which chronicles Cecchine’s struggle with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, we meet a filmmaker brave enough to show us, wart-hairs and all, the challenges inherent in this disease embodied. She does so with humor, with information, and with space for personal reflection.

A.K. Whitney at The Lilith Gaze: RA Diaries: Owww — please don’t touch me!

But it’s not just about pain. There is also stiffness and inflammation, and those aren’t always as manageable with drugs. They’re also a bellwether for possible pain to come.

Because of that, I’ve never been a very touchy-feely kind of person.

Kristen McHenry at The Good Typist: The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution [Poem about the experience of having an eating disorder]