Let's stop talking about what Kanye did

...and talk more about WHY he did it.  

If you are angry because Kanye "picked on" a person with a disability or because he singled both of them out (there was also a lady with a prosthetic leg), you might be missing the bigger picture. 

We need to talk about the root of the problem. He stopped his concert for three minutes until the person was forced to "prove" that he was "disabled enough" to not obey the command. And while Kanye has been publicly chastised for it, that act of ableism seems okay to many, many people on a smaller scale in public settings every day. Disagree? Well, have you ever questioned (aloud or in your head) someone who "doesn't look disabled" in an accessible parking space? That's ableism. 

It's the self righteousness attitude of able-bodied people who think they're the "disability police." So many people with disabilities face never ending confrontations and challenges to their rights in their daily public lives: The person with fibromyalgia who gets hassled every time he legally parks in an accessible parking space; the person with the CP or Spina Bifida that can stand for very short periods of time out of their wheelchair who are challenged as "fakers" if they ever get out of that chair in public; the lady at Kanye's concert who had to detach her prosthetic leg and hold it in the air to prove she was allowed to sit down at a public event. 

Why does anyone feel they have the right to demand proof of disability from other people in public situations? AND what about the people at Kanye's concert who had invisible disabilities that might have stopped them from standing for long periods of times. Would they have been publicly shamed until they were forced to stand? 

This is an all too common public opinion that people with disabilities have an "onus of proof" on themselves in order to access the services or things that they need to function in the community. That attitude is more disabling than any disability. 

We as a society need to stop assuming that "everyone else can do everything that I can do" because we ALL have different abilities (disability or not) and not every disability is visible.

By Keith Hosey

Image used with permission. 

"Handicapped" Does not Define Me

- By Carrissa Johnson - 

I've always felt that knowledge is indeed power. Explanations are important for a person's growth, safety, and well-being. How many of us would follow basic laws if we didn't understand the reasoning behind them? Change doesn't happen for the sake of change. Everything evolves for reason. A good example of this is language. We are asked to drop words from our vocabulary because the meaning can change or seem offensive. I have read and heard many people talk about society becoming “too politically correct” with language. But have you ever stopped to actually analyze the reasons behind such change?

The word “handicapped ”is freely used in society to describe a person with a disability. I still see it daily used in signage and speech. As a person with a disability it upsets me. At times when I tried to explain my argument, people think I'm being too politically correct and that my feelings are hurt over “just a word .“ When you look up the definition, you can see the dictionary even coined it as “sometimes offensive.” Since I'm a person who believes knowledge is power, I would like to analyze the reasons for the offense so that maybe people will understand and will not categorize me as overly sensitive.  Some definitions talk about handicap as an advantage (game of golf) while others to talk about it as a disadvantage.

I know the first is used to describe a game. But I don't look at my disability as giving me an artificial advantage over others. My being able to park in a spot reserved for individuals with disabilities is not an advantage. (It sometimes can be a pain but that's another educational post).

The second definition talks about a disadvantage that makes achievement difficult. I've achieved a lot in my life, but no more than any other person: honors throughout my school career, and Master’s degree, my own home, employment, and a family. At times some of those things were difficult, but not because of my disability itself; only the attitudes and thoughts of others. On the contrary of that definition,  I consider myself very fortunate and blessed to have all of these things and to have my disability. It is a part of me. but only a part. I am more than my disability. It's not a secret that I can't walk but it doesn't have to hinder other activities. Personally I think most individuals with disabilities will tell you that they are working toward a goal and being fulfilled in their life. 

Some websites talk about Handicap being derived from “cap in hand,” a phrase associated with beggars and begging. Handicap should not be used to describe a disability. I have never begged for anything I have. I've achieved and been blessed. Again it does not fit.

Others refute the statement citing a story in the 1600s where the British monarchy used it to honor disabled veterans coming back from battle by removing their caps. Whichever side you take it doesn't describe all individuals with disabilities. (And I personally don't want to be saluted for having one.)

Armed with education what is appropriate? This way of thinking does not ask you to change your vocabulary every few years. Instead put the person first. That never goes out of style. I'm not handicapped. I'm a person with a disability. It is only a part of who I am just like eye color or a job title. It doesn't define me completely. Person first language is not just politically correct or an overly sensitive fad. It is the right thing to do. Just like I believe knowledge is power I believe most people are inherently good and do not want to offend another person. With that in mind, what will you do?

Has the disability rights movement stagnated?

- By Stephanie Hickey -

I wrote an earlier blog about how the word “retard” is offensive and shouldn't be used casually, as if it doesn't hurt, and as if there aren't a million other word choices available to people. I am not the only one that has written or spoken out against the "r-word". There is a big national movement to educate people about the "r-word" and how harmful it is, urging others not to use it. And it has brought down a storm. Reading message boards, I saw the people getting up in arms, rallying, "I'll talk however the (you can fill in the blank on your own, I'm sure.) I want!"  "I'm so sick of these whiny (you can fill in the blank again) trying to tell me how to talk. We have freedom of speech in this country."

Freedom of speech is an illusion in this country. Or I should say that it is a misinterpreted notion. Yes, we do not live in a dictatorship where will get imprisoned or shot if we speak out and say the truth or what is in our hearts. But there is no such thing as consequence-less speech and I think many people forget this and misunderstand the idea of "freedom of speech." There are reactions to what we say. Our words can offended others. And our words can wound others--and wound them deeply.

But that does not mean we should be afraid to speak out when it is necessary and right, because our words can have a positive effect--and a powerful impact. I don't know if the disability community is really putting the power of words to full effect. I feel that we have some dirty words in our vocabulary. "Please." "Thank you." "I'm sorry." We are always apologizing. (as if we are an inconvenience). And saying "please" and "thank you" aren't always bad things. It is good manners to say those words. But we speak them as if we are obligated to thank everyone for every little thing that someone does for us. And believe me, I am not being preachy here, I am very guilty of this habit myself. I am always saying I am sorry, and I am always apologizing for asking for things to which I am rightfully entitled. And we are not being whiny whatever-people-want-to-call-us simply by speaking up for the basic things we deserve, such as respect and dignity and independence.

We are a legitimate community and minority. But I feel that we are not taking the steps that other minorities have taken in the past to make positive changes for themselves. We are not using our voices in government as strongly as we should--and we are not communicating with each other. April is National Disability History Month, and it's been more than twenty years since the ADA has been passed. But I feel that the disability rights movement has stagnated. We need to not be afraid to use our voices. Yes, there will be consequences and reactions to what we say--people may not like what we've got to say. But we are free to speak out and say what we think - so we must speak out and let our words make an impact.

Image of the ADA signing ceremony at the White House.

Disability Advocates Call ‘Glee’ Gun Portrayal ‘Poor Choice’. What do you think?

- By Keith Hosey -

Ok, so I missed this episode (it's on DVR), but apparently it was a controversial one. At first glance, I thought the title was about 'Artie' not actually being paralyzed. Poor choice in my book, nothing about us without us. I'm sure there were actors with paraplegia who would have liked that role. But apparently the article is about the character Becky Jackson, played by Actress Lauren Potter, bringing a gun to school. Lauren and her character both have Down Syndrome.

Potter’s mother, Robin Sinkhorn, told The Huffington Post that she took no issue with a character with Down syndrome being the one to bring a gun to school.

“If Becky’s going to be fully included on the show... then why not Becky?” Sinkhorn said. “Whether she has Down syndrome or not, it doesn’t matter … She’s a teenager. She makes stupid decisions just like other teenagers do. 

But not everyone feels the same way. Officials from the National Down Syndrome Society called it a “poor choice” to depict Becky bringing a gun to school.

Excerpt taken from: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2013/04/12/disability-glee-poor-choice/17703/

I have to agree with Potter's mother. The disability community has been fighting, since before I was even born, for equality. We (and I use "we" with the utmost respect for those who came before me) have carefully crafted our messages, strategically chosen our fights and proudly claimed our own words of choice. We have fought societal prejudices that people with disabilities are broken, helpless, burdens, subhuman and outdated beliefs that people with disabilities are supposed to be grateful for charity and pity. We’ve made tremendous strides toward changing these perceptions through advocacy, education and legislation; public awareness campaigns and day-to-day interactions with the public. Justin Dart, Ed Roberts and others have shown the world that people with disabilities are able, capable, strong, independent, equal. They didn't want charity or pity, they demanded rights.

So when we reach a point where a hit TV show portrays a character with a disability doing something that any other character might be doing, good or bad, that is equality. This person isn't being portrayed poorly because of her disability. She's being portrayed poorly as any other kid in school, regardless of having a disability. Part of equality also means not putting people with disabilities on a pedestal. We're all human. You take the good, you take the bad and there you have... the facts of life.

If the disability community has a problem with 'Glee' maybe it should be about a non-disabled actor playing a character with a disability, instead of a character with a disability being portrayed as human.

Having a Baby with a Disability

If you’re not Family or know us personally, you may not have heard: my wife, Shannon, is pregnant! Yes, I’ll be a father for the first time later this year and we're both really excited.

At one time in my life, I was worried about having a child with a disability. My congenital disability is hereditary and, for a long time in my younger years, I worried about passing that gene along. I obsessed about it, really. Now, I understand that it's a pretty correctable condition thanks to our most modern medicine. But at one point, I worried that my child might have to go through childhood being picked last for sports or possibly teased by other children for being different. Ironically, all the things that I now attribute to building character in my own life.

The day after I had found out that I was having a baby, I was at an event where a speaker was talking about her child with a disability. I listened to her experiences and had an epiphany. It was like a weight lifted from my shoulders. Unlike many people, I’m not worried IF my baby has a disability. Of all my encounters with people with disabilities, I am not worried that a child with a disability couldn't live a full, happy life. I know he or she could and would. It should be no surprise that I’m not ashamed of my congenital disability (but I will correct you if you call it a “birth defect”). In fact, I take pride in being part of the disability community.

If we had a kid with a disability, they would be lucky to get me and my wife as parents. Some of the greatest parents I've ever known have worked in the Independent Living Movement, too. As a result, we're less worried about our baby being "whole" or "healthy" and more focused on providing a meaningful life for our child, disability or not.

No, I’m not worried IF my baby has a disability. Instead, I’m worried FOR my baby if it has a disability. I'm scared for my child's feelings being hurt because of the perception of others. I worry about how society currently views and treats people with disabilities. I am scared to death that he or she won’t have true equality or equal opportunity in our society. If it's a severe disability, I worry about lack of community based services, that to get the services we need, we would have to lock our child up in an institution. I worry about a staggering unemployment rate.

I have no problem if my kid has a disability. If she or he happens to end up with a disability, then the work I've been doing for the last ten years for disability equality and accessibility just becomes that much more real to me. And if you're inaccessible for whatever reason, watch out. Actually, either way, watch out. Because for everyone's child who could have been mine, I'm working even harder now for equal access. 

- Keith Hosey

Disability Rights: More Than After-Dinner Conversation

- Information provided by Cass Irvin of Access to the Arts, Inc. -

More Than After-Dinner Conversation

"Disability Rights: more than after-dinner conversation" was the slogan on a tee shirt The Disability Rag magazine created as an awareness tool for their catalog sales. The Rag did this to draw attention to disability--in the right way--and show a different image of disability. It promoted a concept evoked by the Rag's perspective of disability cool. The catalog had bumper stickers, postcards, buttons and tee shirts with slogans on them. One tee shirt had a mermaid in a wheelchair and it said "Disability Cool."
What is "disability cool"?* Is being a wheelchair jock cool? Or being an activist? Having a sense of awareness? Does it refer to an attitude in disability rights? Are people "disability cool?" Or just things?

"It's disability cool to travel with a pack on your chair, slung over one handle, just like college kids do with their packs, particularly a ratty one," said a loyal Rag reader. "It's having the attitude that what you're doing is normal--no big deal-that projects the sense of disability cool. You're flaunting convention. Nobody's making any big deal about the disability."

In those day The Rag listed designer glasses and books on tape recorded by authors, like Nancy Reagan. Today examples include neon wheelchairs, glucometers in designer colors and Oxygen bars touting flavored scents and colored cannulas, just to name a few. www.ragged-edge-mag.com

October is Disability Awareness Month.

As disability advocates, Access to the Arts, Inc. tries our best to "get the word out." You might see something about it in the news but probably not. Unlike other minorities, people with disabilities don't have a good public relations campaign. They're either trying to cure us or rehab us.

By the way, the proper term is people with disabilities, disabled people. No cutesy stuff like "physically challenged." That's a term that gives us a false attribute. It makes it sound neat to be us: we are physically challenged! And, please, no "differently abled," or "able bodied." And three words about "crippled children" : we grow up.

To be honest, disability involves many aspects of life so sometimes it's hard to explain why our history, our issues are relevant or should be of interest to you. Media coverage of disability too often focuses on courage and cure and overcoming. Or the cost of health care. (We, by the way, know excellent ways to curb the high cost of disability but no one asks us.)

Why, you may be asking yourself, should you be more aware of disability? Well, when we got started in this disability advocacy business thirty years ago, there weren't so many of us, only about 10 percent. Now we are over 20 percent. So we'd be surprised if you didn't know one of us or aren't one, especially if you were here thirty years ago!

Disabled people are not thought of as a minority even though we are the largest. And the most diverse in nationality, ethnicity, gender, persuasion, size, age . . .

People with Disabilities in Movies

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will dedicate the month of October to exploring the ways people with disabilities have been portrayed in film. Lawrence Carter-Long, recognized for his expertise in the arts, access and media, will join TCM host Robert Osborne for The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film. The special month-long exploration will air Tuesdays in October, beginning Oct. 2 at 8 PM (ET).

Twenty-two years after the passage of the ADA and over a century since Thomas Edison filmed 'The Fake Beggar,' TCM will provide an unprecedented overview of how cinematic projections of isolation and inspiration have played out on the silver screen--and in the lives of people with disabilities.

"This is a valuable opportunity to take a deeper look at the movies we all know and love, to see them from a different perspective and to learn what they have to say about us as a society," said Osborne. Carter-Long will provide a historical background and insight on how cinematic portrayals of disability have evolved over time.

And--in a first for TCM--all films will be presented with both closed captioning and audio description (via secondary audio) for audience members with auditory and visual disabilities.

TCM's exploration of disability in cinema includes many Oscar-winning and nominated films, such as An Affair to Remember (1957), in which Deborah Kerr's romantic rendezvous with Cary Grant is nearly derailed by a paralyzing accident; A Patch of Blue (1965), with Elizabeth Hartman as a blind white girl who falls in love with a black man, played by Sidney Poitier; Johnny Belinda (1948), starring Jane Wyman as a "deaf-mute" forced to defy expectations; The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the post-War drama starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy and real-life disabled veteran Harold Russell; and Charly (1968), with Cliff Robertson as an intellectually disabled man who questions the limits of science after being turned into a genius.

A complete schedule can be found at www.tcm.com

Ways You Can Be Cool*

Disability Cool is learning ASL (American Sign Language) not because you have to but because you can. The Center for Accessible Living conducts a "Conversational" Sign Language class. To register, please contact: Meg Deckert at the Center for Accessible Living, 502-589-6620; mdeckert@calky.org Accommodations available upon request. If this goes well they're planning to do it all around town.

National White Cane Safety Day is October 15. Come celebrate at Fourth Street Live from 11AM-1PM and learn more about this symbol and tool for independence. Blind and visually disabled people have used canes as mobility tools for centuries but it was not until after World War I that the white cane was properly introduced. The first of the state laws regarding the right of blind people to travel independently with the white cane was passed in 1930. It granted blind pedestrians protection and the right-of-way while carrying a white cane. Today there are different varieties of the white cane, each serving different needs.
www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/white-cane-safety-day

To celebrate National Disability Awareness Month last year, Starbucks released a Starbucks Card with Braille lettering. The Braille card was first suggested at a symposium with national disability leaders in 2007. Starbucks has also taken steps to make stores accessible, including large print Braille menus available upon request. The reloadable Card is available now at participating Starbucks stores and available online at www.Starbucks.com/Card.

Each October, KQED as PBS affiliate in the San Francisco bay area, hosts a Celebration of Disability Culture, airing special programs that explore the complex web of experiences and issues faced by people with disabilities. To view the schedule go to: www.kqed.org/community/heritage/disability/index.jsp

Remember the song "Save the Last Dance for Me," and how the man tells the woman to go ahead and dance as long as they leave together at the end of the night? It's so romantic. She dances. He watches. And when the music's over, they put their arms around each other and go home. A huge Drifters' hit in the 1960s. The back-story: The songwriter was Doc Pomus, a blues singer who had polio and used crutches and a wheelchair. His wife was a Broadway actress who liked going out on the town.
www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20071007/NEWS/71005012/1005/SPORTS0106

For a complete history of people with disabilities

Go to the Encyclopedia Of American Disability History. Susan Burch, Ed. Facts On File, Inc.: New York, NY. 2009. Burch and her colleagues have created a foundational text in the fields of Disability Studies and Disability History. www.dsq-sds.org/article/view/1291/1322

This information is provided by Access to the Arts, Inc., an arts and disability advocacy organization, in Louisville, KY. www.accesstothearts.org. For questions about this information, contact the links listed or contact us at DisaCool@aol.com

Find the Funny

-- By Stephanie Hickey --

They say laughter is the best medicine. And I think this is true--especially in the case of our own disabilities. Living through a difficult situation taught me this. One of the facets of my disability is that I often lose my balance and frequently have a little wobble-wobble in my walk.

My grandfather developed Alzheimer’s and it devastated my family. He’d become disabled and no one in my family knew how to deal with the pain of that. A strange and funny facet of Grandpa’s disability is that he forgot that I had Cerebral Palsy. So when he’d see me trip or walk my wobble-wobble walk, he’d nudge my mother and mime drinking from a glass (to imply that I was drunk) and even went so far as to tell me that I needed to “lay off that hooch.” It bruised my heart to know that he’d forgotten my disability. I spent my childhood days at my grandparents, and my grandfather would sometimes be there during my therapy. He’d be sitting on the front porch watching my therapist and me jog around the block. How could he forget that? The reality of my grandfather losing his memories meant that we would lose him.

And you might think his self-explanation for my condition hurt even more, but the first time he’d made a crack. I found it funny--so I laughed. I laughed so hard! And it felt so good; it was a weird release for me (and my mother). Every time my grandfather would make a funny crack regarding my “alcoholism” (I soon began making jokes about my drinking problem) it made me laugh because I heard the affection in his voice. I could hear that he still cared for me and that eased my fear that I was losing him. Yes, he no longer knew I had CP, but he knew that I was I still someone he really cared for. Those moments also became some of the memories of my grandpa that I most cherish

It’s not the same as when someone points at you for walking funny or someone mimics the way you talk. But you finding the humor in your own disability can be strangely empowering. You are defining yourself, and in that definition a little self-effacing is always a good quality. And when I’m having a bad day--feeling low because I’ve hit some barrier in regards to my disability, I turn back to the memories of my grandpa and instantly feel better. Finding the funny in your disability is not easy because--for many of us--has been a point of mocking and/or cruelty from others, but it is possible. Even if it’s as simple as saying a word wrong, don’t be afraid to laugh about it. Embrace those embarrassing, silly moments because they can become great memories that give you strength to get through the bad days that we all have.

Photo Credit Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcolman/2344915398/

Why Don’t We Use ‘Disability’ and ‘Pride’ together more often?

- By Keith Hosey -

Why don’t we talk more about disability pride? I believe that disability is natural and that people with disabilities can do anything non-disabled people can do, we just do things a little differently sometimes. I understand that not everybody feels like I do about their own disability, but consider this: Eleanor Roosevelt once said “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” If we can’t be proud of who we are, how can we ever expect society to treat us as equal?

We need more pride in the disability community. We need to celebrate our heritage and our abilities. Other minority groups celebrate their proud heritage, so why not us too? This community has athletes, comedians, professionals, actors, CEOs, etc. People with disabilities have climbed Mt. Everest won Ms. America and even became President. We have quad rugby, paralympians and the third most used language in America (ASL). We are the largest political minority and, as consumers, we have huge spending power.

Even though Club Foot is one of the most common congenital disabilities in the world, I only knew of one person who was like me when I was growing up, a female figure skater. I could identify with her because we shared the condition of club feet. Only one person who I could say, “hey, she’s like me, I can be successful too.”

We need to recognize and celebrate those people who are role models with a disability. We have Marlee Matlin, Ray Charles, Penelope Trunk, Muhammed Ali, James Durbin and Mark Zupan. We have Leroy Colombo, a Deaf man known as the “world’s greatest lifeguard,” who saved more than 900 lives. We need more role models – and not just the famous ones, but neighbors and friends - to be proud of their abilities and of this community so that kids can say, “hey, he/she’s like me, I can be successful too.”

Are you a person with a disability? We need YOU. Celebrate your disability pride.