By Anna on 4 December, 2010
The video is subtitled. Transcription: Title Image: Reflections from MIUSA’s WILD2010 Wild Women with Disabilities Speak Out Global Fund for Women [Drumming] Narrator: In August, I had the privilege of representing the Global Fund for Women at the Women’s Institute on Leadership and Development, or WILD, a three-week program hosted by Mobility International USA. Women [...]
Posted in autonomy, disability activism, global | Tagged disability rights organizations, global fund for women, NGO, video, wild women with disabilities
By Chally on 12 November, 2010
Gentle reader, be cautioned: comments sections on mainstream media sites tend to not be safe and we here at FWD/Forward don’t necessarily endorse all the opinions in these pieces. Let’s jump right in, shall we? Sydney Morning Herald: Why I’m not in the queue for the disabled loo by Liz Ellis. There was a debate [...]
Posted in accessibility, autonomy, bodies, justice, mental health, othering, recommended reading | Tagged advocacy, australia, don't dis my ability, invisible disabilities, invisible disability, mental health courts, self-advocacy, toilets, United States
By Anna on 27 October, 2010
The Chief Justice specifically focused on the case of Byron DeBassige, reading from the Toronto Star article I linked above. She went on to state that she believes that the police wouldn’t have shot DeBassige over two lemons and a knife had they known he was ill. In light of the other cases I’ve linked to, I don’t agree with her – in several of those cases the police were firmly and repeatedly told the person they killed was mentally ill. I don’t believe police officers as a whole have risen above the ableist prejudices that lead to psychophobia (fear of people with mental health conditions), simply because there’s been no real attempt in Canada to combat it.
Posted in autonomy, justice, policy, politics, violence | Tagged Ashley Smith, Beverley McLachlin, Byron DeBassige, canada, Howard Hyde, legal system, police violence, Reyal Jensen Jardine-Douglas, Robert Dziekanski, taser deaths
By Anna on 22 October, 2010
This is the second in a three-part post about a talk given by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, about the interactions between people who are mentally ill (her term) and the justice system of Canada. Part 1 briefly discussed the history of the treatment of people with mental illness in Canada, and then described the current situation with regards to the criminal court system. This part will discuss the interactions between people with a mental illness and the civil courts. (Everything in quotes is from my notes, which are not verbatim.)
Posted in autonomy, justice, policy, politics | Tagged Beverley McLachlin, canada, charter challenges, civil court, criminal court, legal system, Starson case
By Anna on 20 October, 2010
On Tuesday evening, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, gave a talk in Halifax about people with a mental illness (her term, which I will use throughout) and their interactions with the justice system, both civil and criminal. For me, it was an interesting, although slightly, frustrating talk.
Posted in autonomy, justice, policy, politics | Tagged Beverley McLachlin, canada, charter challenges, criminal court, legal system, mental health courts, NCR Boards, Not Criminally Responsible
By Anna on 21 September, 2010
I spent most of my weekend pretty much glued to Twitter following ADAPT’s latest action in Washington, DC and wondering where the media was, especially after a huge group of wheelchair users blockaded one of the White House gates and 16 people were arrested. I actually thought that the White House security arresting a group of people with disabilities would surely be the sort of thing that the media would pick up on.
Foolish me!
Posted in activism, autonomy, disability activism, events, i'm right here, invisibility, justice, make the world a better place, news, policy, politics, resistance, social attitudes
By s.e. smith on 16 September, 2010
I was browsing the New York Times Magazine online this morning when I saw a story in the sidebar, ‘When Autistic Children Become Adults,’ from the Motherlode blog. Hmmm, I thought. This might be interesting. The article opens with a discussion of the rise in autism diagnoses over the last half of the 20th century, [...]
Posted in autonomy, i'm right here | Tagged autism
By Anna on 9 September, 2010
People with disabilities, especially women, have all the same pressures currently non-disabled people do to look “good enough”, with added bonus of being either non-sexualised or hyper-sexualised, as well as having people infantize them to an incredible degree.
Posted in autonomy, bodies, gender, i'm right here, introspective, invisibility, life changes, media and pop culture, normality, othering, relationships, representations, sexuality, shaming
By Anna on 6 September, 2010
On the surface this probably looks like a good thing, but digging a bit deeper: For many people, this is one of the few times they’ll see images of people with disabilities on their t.v. screen (and from a noted authority and beloved celebrity), and the entire thing is one drawn out pity parade.
Posted in activism, autonomy, bodies, disability activism, events, history, i'm right here, identity, invisibility, media and pop culture, news, politics, social attitudes, television
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