disability

Went back in to Remploy, turned out my adviser had had a word with the guy about the cane-snatching after I left. I told him if it happens again, I'm walking and there will be a serious complaint put in. Cane-snatcher apologised then spent the rest of the afternoon ignoring me and refusing to look at me while in the same room. (Yes, he is in fact a grown man and not a six year old. Allegedly.)

So that was sorted... and then my adviser promptly started lecturing me again on how he was sure I could use a phone if it was "Just a bit". Thing is, I know how "Just a bit" works - you start off with a little, then they go "he's coping fine, see?" and give you more, then they ask how why you're not doing your job. He also doesn't seem to understand that I'm not used to phones and I actually don't respond to them. You know how if someone calls someone else's name, you don't look up or respond because it doesn't apply to you? That's me - I'm just not used to phones, so I tend not to register they're ringing. It's a habit rather than a disability but it's due to my disability. It's not me "being awkward"

I don't get it. I'm hard of hearing, why are they the ones not hearing what I say? Why is it so hard to understand that no, I can't hear/understand you if I'm not looking at you? I've told the adviser a few times - get my attention, then when I'm looking at you, talk. Saying "But I called your name" when I had my back to you working on a computer isn't helpful.

And yes. These are the people whose entire job is to help with disability issues.

jackandahat

Right now I'm looking for work, and I've just been sent to an agency - Remploy - who deal with getting disabled people into work. I'm hard of hearing and I have arthritis so I walk with a cane.

I was sat with "my" advisor, Jonathan, getting lectured on how I would be wonderful in this job and I had to think positive thoughts. He yet again pulled the "All you need is adaptive technology" speech - I've discussed with them several times that adapted phones just don't work for me - I've never met one that does, and frankly, it's too much of a bloody struggle.. I was sat down, my cane was propped against my backpack.

The other advisor - I don't know his name, call him Stupid Fuck - picked up my cane and put it behind his back, and started giving a speech about how now no-one would know I was disabled, and I had to think of it like that.

The only thing that kept me from getting up and punching him was knowing I'd lose my benefits if I did. Oh yeah, and the fact he had my cane.

Did I mention this is an agency designed specifically to deal with getting disabled people into work?

So there was absolutely nothing I could do. If I did anything, they'd have stopped my dole money and I wouldn't have been able to afford to, you know, pay rent and eat. I told Jonathan that being told "You don't look disabled" is not helpful, but I was too much in shock to work out what to say about the cane thing - when I go in tomorrow I Will be having words with Stupid Fuck, I just didn't know what to do and he was standing over me.

Anyone else faced this kind of thing? Any ideas what to do/say to him? (I know the obvious is "Put in a complaint", but if that's how the staff act, I suspect they'd laugh in my face.)

avendya

We're hosting the 63rd disability blog carnival, and the theme is relationships.

This does not necessarily mean romantic relationships - how has your disability affected your relationship with your family? How do you manage balancing friendships with a limited number of spoons? How well do your coworkers deal with your disability?

If you haven't been or identified as disabled for your whole life, how did becoming/identifying disabled change your relationships? How does your disability affect your expression of your sexuality? What kinds of things do you wish your friends/significant other(s)/family understood better? How do your friends and family make your life better, even if you're running low on spoons? Basically, how does your disability impact (or not impact) your relationships with the people around you?

Submissions are due February 20th. I'll have the roundup post up by February 23rd. To submit a post, just leave a link in the comments of this post - anonymous comments are allowed - or email me at avendya@gmail.com. (Note: if you're a Blogger user, you can use OpenID to login and to sign your comments. Here's how.)

Your submissions do not have to be new posts. Feel free to submit older essays or posts; however, I'd prefer if they have not previously been submitted to the disability blog carnival. (If it's been submitted to other blog carnivals, it's still fair game.) The carnival is open to both people with disabilities and allies.

To subscribe to the community, you can use RSS or email. If you use Dreamwidth, you can subscribe to the community or add a notification for all blog carnival related posts (tagged "disability blog carnival").

I'd really like to see both the Dreamwidth and Blogger based disability communities submit posts. Most previous carnivals seem to be dominated by people who use Blogger, but I know there are lots of insightful disabled Dreamwidth users.

For more information and for links to previous blog carnivals, check out the Disability Studies blog. Last month's carnival was on holidays.

shirasade

Saw this post on one of the blogs I follow, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and thought it might be of interest (despite some language fail):

When you have a chance, I’m hoping you can assist me with information about a particular type of romance heroine. I’m thinking my question might be eligible for your HaBO feature. A friend of mine and I were discussing how we’d like to read romances involving a handicapped heroine—one where the heroine gets the hero without any serious cop-outs.

( By cop-outs, we mean... )

>Link to original post, with a ton book recs in the comments.

angelikitten

Does anyone have any advice for what I should keep in mind when buying a walking stick/cane?

(For those who are wondering, I've been using one for about a month and it's helped so much, but it's really old - it was my great grandmother's - and I'm forever scared that it'll break.)

sasha_feather

Insurance may pay for your wheelchair, unless you need to go someplace with it by Haddayr Coppley-Woods

I had to prove I needed it to help me eat, sleep and use the bathroom. That's about all the federal government -- or my insurance company -- thinks I need to do.

kitrona

I am having trouble. I got a referral from my primary doctor to go to a pain clinic, but my insurance doesn't have anyone within 30 miles of me, so they said they'd approve someone outside the network. But I've called probably 7 or 8 different places (some of them more than once when I got transferred around) and the places I've found either a. don't accept outpatients (inpatient only - hospitals) or b. refuse to even consider taking the approval from my insurance.

I don't know what to do, and with the weather changing, I'm in a lot more pain than usual. Does anyone have any ideas?

(Crossposted)

Current Mood: cold

mariness

Open Letter in support of the WIPO proposal to improve access to books in formats accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired or have other disabilities.

I never know how much good these open letters actually do, but spreading the word.

sasha_feather

Normal was Never Cool: Inception of Perception

by Aimee Mullins

An article on prosthetics and self-image. Includes cool pictures.

mariness

High tech wheelchair causes Disney ruckus. (Their title, not mine.)

Beware some jaw-dropping stupidity in the comments. Edit: Also anti-Semitic comments. Apparently the Orlando Sentinel is not monitoring comments.

This isn't the first time that the Segway issue has popped up at Disney. The Segway ban is supposedly for safety issues - Disney doesn't want Segway riders careening into guests on crowded days - and supposedly to allow guests to identify Disney security/parking assistants, who use Segways, without confusion. What is interesting here is a point made by one of the commenters (which unfortunately disintegrated in the resulting discussion) - Disney actually featured this chair for a couple of years at its Innovations site and gave out information regarding the chair to interested guests.

jadelennox

I need to purchase a portable wheelchair ramp that can go the five steps to my front door but can be stored in the basement or the garage most of the time. It has to be relatively light and easy to handle, because I can't deal with it at all unless it is lightweight. I can see there are a lot of different versions of such ramps when I use basic google-fu, but I was hoping that some of you might have personal testimonies about brands or types or models which are particularly good or particularly bad.

Thank you so much.

sasha_feather

Learning his Body, Learning to Dance (New York Times)

Gregg Mozgala, a 31-year-old actor with cerebral palsy, had 12 years of physical therapy while he was growing up. But in the last eight months, a determined choreographer with an unconventional résumé has done what all those therapists could not: She has dramatically changed the way Mr. Mozgala walks.

In the process, she has changed his view of himself and of his possibilities.

The story also contains images and one (uncaptioned) video.

mariness

From the New York Times again, answering reader questions:

http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/readers-ask-a-virus-linked-to-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/?hp

mariness

New York Times: Hearing man in deaf role stirs protests in New York.

The play is "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."

avendya

In today's news shocker (yeah, right), there is a (possible) physical cause to chronic fatigue syndrome.

The NYT actually did a decent job not being patronizing, and even pointed out that "It has sometimes been stigmatized as more mental than physical, with patients labeled neurotic, depressed or hypochondriacal. Many patients find even the name of the disorder offensive, a not-so-subtle hint that it is not a real disease." Reuters was a lot more problematic ("Symptoms last at least six months and can be as disabling as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, the CDC said."), although it is still important information.

At the moment, the NYT story tops their "most emailed" list.

trouble

Superhero Sign Names as part of Learn to Sign Week

So I got to thinking what would the sign names of the superheroes be? Signingtime, an American site has a forum which asks this very question. That is however the only site I can find that deals with this issue. If anyone knows of any others, please let me know in the comments.

In the UK, the sign for superhero in general is your right arm stuck out in a fist, a la flying. That also works for Superman, and Supergirl would be the main sign + girl. I expect that Batman is Bat plus Man. Buffy the vampire slayer is 'B+vampirefangs+a staking action'. I expect Wonder Woman has her own sign

As I don't know any Deaf comics fans I cannot ask them what signs they use, so I will speculate. Sign names are never official anyway, they are given by those who know you, or you give one to yourself. I will approach this from the point of view of what will those people who know and love the heros, e.g. friends and family, use.

(I missed Learn to Sign week in the UK.)

Fat Hatred & Disability on the Cleveland Show

Riding in a scooter is not the easy way out, that it seems to those who have never been forced to use one. Stores that able bodied people access without a problem often have steps that bar access. Even those that have a nice flat access, sometimes don’t have an automatic door opener. To enter my favourite market, I have to wait outside and wave my arms until someone inside notices that I need assistance.

McDonald's in row over mobility scooter

McDonald's is yet to deliver on a promise to say sorry to a woman who was denied service in a drive-thru, because she was on a mobility scooter.

Margaret Todd says she could not squeeze her scooter through the front door of McDonald's in Blenheim, so had no option but to head round to the drive-thru.

It's been a busy week for me, both on and off line, so not much today. Thanks,

sasha_feather, for your posts!

sasha_feather

http://liz-henry.blogspot.com/2009/10/disability-blog-carnival-59-disability.html

For this blog carnival, please write about anything you please on or tangential to Disability and Work.

Here are some suggested starting points: What work do you do? How's that going? Do you get paid for it, or is it volunteer work or something you do because you just love it? What blocks you from employment? If you're employed, what could be better? Do you want a paying job, or do you feel you contribute to society just fine without one? What unpaid work do you do that you value or that others value, for example, emotional support in relationships? If you're a family member, friend or ally of a person with a disability, what thoughts do you have on work and employment? What's the employment situation like for PWD in your country or region ?

Email your post URL, title, and the name you go by, to me, Liz, at
lizhenry@gmail.com.

I'll post the final Carnival on Composite: Tech & Poetics and
Hack Ability: DIY for PWD on October 25.

sasha_feather

Working Women with Disabilities (BlogHer) by Liz Henry

Well, how do we get to that culture of fostering and encouraging employment opportunities? What's blocking people with disabilities right now from having jobs?
How about all the disabled people I know who are working incredibly hard. Doing fantastic, great work.
Who's paying them? Often, no one.

The Anxious Mind (NY Times)

This article is not specifically about disability, but rather about scientific research around anxiety as an inborn trait. It addresses the positive and negative aspects of having an anxious nature, how people cope with it, and anxiety as a difference rather than a pathology.

The Claim: Loss of Sight Heightens Other Senses (NY Times)

Apparently it can in some circumstances-- people who were born blind or lost their sight at an early age.

trouble

We are pleased to announce that you can now listen to a special audio interview
with Len Barton, Founding Editor of the journal Disability and Society on the
Routledge Education Arena.

Professor Len Barton is one of the most highly respected academics in his field.
Having drawn international attention to disability studies in the 1980's, Professor
Barton, through this active support for disabled people continues to encourage
and support research and debate, today.

This interview is the fifth in our series of audio interviews with the Editors of some
of our key Education Journals. You can now listen to Len Barton answer
questions on topics including:

* The rationale behind the creation of the journal
* Contentious issues in contemporary debate and research in disability studies
* Advice on how to write for the journal
* Aspirations for the future

You can listen to the full interview at:
www.informaworld.com/smpp/educationarena_interviewarchive_interview5~db=educ <http://tandf.msgfocus.com/c/11egkhotwmxlzgdoe>

You can also read a full transcript of the interview at:
www.tandf.co.uk/journals/routledge_interviews/cdso_lbarton_transcript.pdf <http://tandf.msgfocus.com/c/11egkuksktc9pc7od>

For further information about the journal including full instructions for authors visit
the journal homepage at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/DisabilityandSociety <http://tandf.msgfocus.com/c/11egkhg1z0gxfy1p2>

Kind Regards,

jesse_the_k

Just stumbled on this today:

Overstream.net is a free service where you can create a subtitle file for an existing video (currently including videos hosted at YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv, and more).

You use Javascript and Flash in a web interface to author the subtitle text (which can be in any Unicode-supported language). Overstream stores the subtitle file with a link to the video source; you send a link to the Overstream file and both are displayed simultaneously. (You can also download the subtitle file for later user, although I know zero about the format issues involved.)

They have thousands of subtitled videos (not all in English), a chatty blog, and they've just launched a subtitling/captioning service. (Which makes total sense, as more educators use web-hosted content in their lessons, Overstream offers a way to create captions and meet USA section 508 accessibility without having a captioner in-house.

I'm definitely gonna check this out for the next video I link to!

Current Mood: bouncy

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Follow up to yesterday.

Why I don't trust anyone who claims to have my best interests at heart.

Disability Blog Carnival #63: Relationships (February 2010 edition)

Romance novels with disabled heroines

Walking stick help?

Recommended Reading

(no subject)

Open Letter in support of WIPO treaty

"Normal was Never Cool"

Disney's Segway policy impacting wheelchair user

question: good portable wheelchair ramp?

Article about Actor/Dancer with cerebral palsy

More discussion of the retrovirus/CFS link:

Casting a hearing actor in a deaf role

(no subject)

Recommended Reading for October 11

Disability Blog Carnival for October

Recommended Reading

Interview

Create Onscreen Captions/Subtitles for Online Video

Profile

Syndicate

February 2010

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