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 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 Anna on 19 November, 2010
1. Ableism has a dictionary definition; 2. Ableism can be deliberate; 3. Ableism has an academic definition; 4. Ableism can be accidental – this doesn’t make it okay; 5. Ableism kills.
Posted in 101, Ableist Word Profile, deaths, disability activism, identity, normality, othering, policy, politics, relationships, representations, social attitudes | Tagged ableism, definitions
By s.e. smith on 15 November, 2010
Every time there’s some political event where a bunch of people gather, some of those people are going to be using scooters (and wheelchairs! and canes! and walkers! etc.). And, invariably, people who disagree with the politics of that event are going to zero in on the scooter users, targeting them as objects of hatred [...]
Posted in othering, politics, social attitudes | Tagged ableism, political rhetoric, scooters, 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 1 November, 2010
I asked if that meant my rights as a voter were also frustrating her? How would she feel if I said that permitting her to vote was too difficult? The penny dropped, and she began to apologize for “not presenting in the most effective manner.” At this point her supervisor’s ears pricked up. “Who was deprecating use of the voting machines?” The trainer allowed that her “initial presentation was sub-optimal.” While I was gratified that she’d finally understood, I was frustrated that this right, so long fought for by so many, is still not a matter of fact in our daily lives.
Posted in Accessible Tech, disability activism, normality, politics | Tagged United States, US Elections 2010, voting, voting machines
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 abby jean on 26 October, 2010
Last time, we talked about three main areas of a policy where things can go wrong: drafting a written policy to match the envisioned goal or mission of the policy (articulation), creating an administration or structure to carry out the policy (implementation), and making sure that people are actually following the policy (enforcement). These three [...]
Posted in news, policy, politics, poverty | Tagged abby talks policy, wonk time
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
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