By s.e. smith on 1 September, 2010
A fascinating conversation unfolded during the livechat with Prudence this week. A reader wrote in to ask: Q. Should I Have Helped a Disabled Person? A few weeks ago, I was washing my hands in the ladies’ room when a woman with a physical handicap came in. Out of the corner of my eye I [...]
Posted in 101, autonomy, Dear Imprudence | Tagged help, offering help
By s.e. smith on 31 August, 2010
A reader wrote in to ‘Since you asked…’ on Salon last month about her 90 year old mother; I’m going to summarise her letter, because it’s a bit long. The letter writer’s mother has some health conditions and is living independently with a little bit of assistance from the family, but has recently been diagnosed [...]
Posted in age, autonomy, Dear Imprudence | Tagged Cary Tennis, declining medical treatment, older adults, since you asked
By s.e. smith on 19 August, 2010
There’s a sign on the wall of a local clinic which says, according to my paraphrasing memory: You have the right to decide if you want to have children or not, and to determine their number, timing, and spacing. The clinic provides reproductive health services to low income members of the community, and plays an [...]
Posted in autonomy, bodies, feminism, reproductive justice | Tagged children with disabilities, involuntary sterilisation, parents with disabilities, reproductive rights
By s.e. smith on 16 August, 2010
Something that I see coming up a lot in discussions about language is the argument that, by asking people to refrain from using words that refer to disability as pejoratives because they reinforce the idea that disability is categorically bad, people engaging in discussions about language are saying that disability is a bed of roses [...]
Posted in autonomy, bodies, identity, language
By Anna on 12 August, 2010
I actually do believe people genuinely have no idea about accessibility-related accommodations, and I don’t think it’s some conspiracy or willful ignorance. It’s just the way things are.
Except, in my experience, in the kink community.
Posted in accessibility, autonomy, bodies, invisibility, sexuality, social attitudes
By Anna on 28 July, 2010
It is too often argued by representatives from governments and the obligated sectors that they “would like to do the things we wand and need, but these changes will simply cost too much.” We have countered that the real barriers are not cost, but a lack of political will and a question of priorities.
Posted in activism, autonomy, disability activism, identity, policy, politics, resistance
By s.e. smith on 28 July, 2010
A recent Miss Conduct column featured a letter from a person with a common problem: Unwanted touch. How do you convey that you’re not a touchy-feely person without coming across as rude or a prude? Ever since starting my freshman year of college, I’ve encountered a startlingly high number of males who think it’s appropriate [...]
Posted in autonomy, bad advice, bodies, Dear Imprudence | Tagged harassment, Miss Conduct, Robin Abrahams, sexism, unwanted touch
By abby jean on 12 July, 2010
A few weeks ago, I read an absolutely marvelous post by Wheelchair Dancer, a letter to a TAB friend explaining why her approach to recovery and improvement was so different than theirs. It stemmed from an incident where the friend was “enthusiastic about how much better I seemed” and Wheelchair Dancer was unable to respond [...]
Posted in autonomy, identity, introspective | Tagged getting better
By Annaham on 8 July, 2010
Director Matthew Galkin’s documentary Kevorkian (aired on HBO on June 28th; also available on YouTube; ETA: as codeman38 points out below, the YouTube version is, unfortunately, not closed-captioned) is one of those documentaries that I felt nervous about watching, mostly because I was extremely skeptical that it would be anything other than a massive apologia [...]
Posted in autonomy, bodies, deaths, media and pop culture, movies, othering, representations, social attitudes, television | Tagged assisted suicide, documentary, jack kevorkian, medical practice, medicine
By s.e. smith on 4 July, 2010
I took a gander through the Miss Conduct archives, as I do now and then, and encountered this letter from early June: I have a friend who has made comments to me such as ‘You look so thin. Are you sick?’ and ‘You look so thin. Is something wrong?’ I see this person on a [...]
Posted in autonomy, bodies, Dear Imprudence | Tagged Miss Conduct, norming, Robin Abrahams, weight
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