By Anna on 31 December, 2010
That’s right. And we’re tired of preaching to the converted. I mean, we’re all sitting here, all of us here are sitting in the room talking about these things that we talk to each other about all day every day. It would have been nice to have someone like Ryan Murphy sharing practices that those people, like the Breaking Bad people, sharing their best practices with those who could learn something. But, it didn’t happen.
Posted in disability activism, how to be accessible, identity, invisibility, justice, media and pop culture, mental health, movies, normality, othering, politics, race, representations, social attitudes, television
By Chally on 17 December, 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? United States: Tampa’s ‘Sensitive Santa’ allows children with autism to get photographs, too by Shelley Rossetter at the St Petersburg [...]
Posted in accessibility, justice, recommended reading | Tagged australia, autism, Deaf, holidays, Indonesia, Ireland, justice system, Sierra Leone, United States
By Anna on 9 December, 2010
I suppose this is technically correct. Howard’s death was not because he was mentally ill, his death was because the police were ill-equipped to deal with someone having a mental health crisis. I don’t have statistics about the number of men having mental health crises that are murdered by police officers every year, but I do know that I can’t go a whole month without at least one report, and it’s an issue that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada feels needs to be addressed.
Posted in blaming, deaths, justice, news, politics, social attitudes, violence | Tagged abuse, canada, halifax, Howard Hyde, hyde inquiry, mental health, murder, nova scotia, police violence, schizophrenia
By Chally on 2 December, 2010
I am quite, quite as shocked as s.e. that it is December! 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? There’s Respect, and Then There’s Respect by a [...]
Posted in justice, recommended reading, resistance | Tagged australia, Israel, law, respect, transportation, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe
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 abby jean on 9 November, 2010
As some of you who follow me on Twitter know, I spent the weekend in Kansas City with my grandfather, who had experienced an as-yet-to-be-diagnosed health crisis and was in the hospital. (Nothing is dire and he’s expected to make a full recovery and be discharged in the next week or so.) At home in [...]
Posted in justice, policy, politics, poverty | Tagged abby talks policy, wonk time
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 23 September, 2010
Frankly, if the Federal Government doesn’t think that their websites provide information in a timely fashion, and that access to that information isn’t something that they should prioritize, why are they bothering with them in the first place? And if they do think it’s important, why are they in essence arguing that “It’s important for most people, but not for the three million Canadians who won’t be able to access it?”
Posted in accessibility, Accessible Tech, activism, anna rants, blaming, disability activism, how to be accessible, justice, make the world a better place, news, normality, othering, policy, politics, signal boost, social attitudes, technology | Tagged canada, canadian
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