On mental illness and crime
I’m hoping to write more about this in the coming days, but this article in Slate is a good look at the connection between mental illness and crime — that is, that people with mental illnesses are much more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators, and our culture so thoroughly ties [...]
...read moreNot so much, no.
Reader April sent in an article from the LA Times (thanks!) called Medical treatment carries possible side effect of limiting homosexuality. You know this isn’t going to go well already, don’t you? It begins with this: Each year in the United States, perhaps a few dozen pregnant women learn they are carrying a fetus at [...]
...read moreThings That Make My Life Easier, An Invitation (Part 3 of 3)
Cross-posted: three rivers fog, FWD/Forward, Feministe. Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 This is a series I always hoped would catch on. Because hey, I can write about stuff that helps me live my life, but that’s only one experience. I would love to see a community full of people writing resource posts [...]
...read moreThings That Make My Life Easier, A Reintroduction (Part 2 of 3)
Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 In the realm of disability, there is a lot of terminology like: assistive device, accommodation, care services, mobility aid, various sorts of therapy/treatment (physical/behavioral/occupational/speech/etc.); and so forth, about things/people/services which fill various common needs that people with disabilities share. The unfortunate thing about these terms is that [...]
...read moreThings That Make My Life Easier, A Reintroduction (Part 1 of 3)
A long time ago, I decided to start up a series. I lacked a catchy title, so I went with the mere truth: Things That Make My Life Easier. What I meant by that is, of course, things that make my life with a disability easier. Disability can introduce certain complications to a life — [...]
...read moreBody Matters: A Bow
“It’s nice to see you outside,” the woman’s voice said. I looked at her. She didn’t seem familiar. And what did she mean … how could she not have been seeing me outside? I was a little thrown, “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize you with your sunglasses on…” “Oh,” she chirped, “You don’t recognize me [...]
...read moreWeapons Scientists and Surgically Altered Actresses
You’d think they had nothing in common, right? You’d be wrong about that. But perhaps the only way to discover the connection is, as I did, to become an American citizen. Dressed appropriately, the Wizard, a couple of friends and I shot off to an older, but nicely renovated small town theater to be naturalized [...]
...read moreOn Centring Caregivers in Disability Discourse
It’s really off-putting when a group of disabled people are trying to have a conversation and a caregiver butts in with “you’re wrong. I know, because I care for someone with such and such a disability”. This makes me squirm. Even worse are those disability organisations or charities that have only parents and caregivers on [...]
...read moreTotally Cringe-worthy Dance
After many of our performances, the dancers of our company come back on stage for a Q and A or talkback or something. It’s my least favourite part of the job. I like the protection of the stage and the lights. I will do anything on stage because the firm line of the proscenium protects [...]
...read moreOn The Cover
Do you remember the picture in National Geographic of the so-called Afghan girl? The photograph, taken by Steve McCurry, was of Sharbat Gula; her image adorned the cover of a 1985 issue of National Geographic (The link is to National Geographic’s discussion and review of the story almost 20 years later). I was barely aware [...]
...read moreWhere Are My Keys I Lost My Phone
So this is kind of a post about ADD, ish. Ish because, I’m not an ADD expert – I’m not even a psych major – and I can’t give anyone any kind of official perspective or information about ADD. Which, normally this would never stop me, but here I’m like, a guest in the house [...]
...read moreHelen Keller Mythbusting Day 2010
Today, 19 June, is ‘Helen Keller Day’ on Second Life, an event that is designed to get Second Life participants thinking about disability and accommodations, something I wholly support. A group of disability rights activists decided to take advantage of this opportunity to challenge the popular mythology that surrounds Helen Keller and to educate people [...]
...read more
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