I’m really disappointed in my home city just now. I’ve always looked at Seattle and said “That is my favorite city” but today, I’m not super pleased. You see, King County didn’t pass a statute to keep public transit funded. Before that, the City Council voted to clamp down on Uber and lyft in order to support the taxi unions…. Read more →
Today is the FDA hearing for the Judge Rothenberg Center on the issue of using aversive shock therapy to correct behavior in people with autism. The things coming out during this hearing make me sick. Use of shock therapy on people with disabilities is not new. There is a long history of the use of shock therapy on people with… Read more →
A lot has been said about trigger warnings in the past few months. Much of it is derisive “What’s that going to do to help?” or “But where does the line stop, when are we just labeling everything a trigger?” Yes. Sometimes trigger warnings get out of hand. Sure, when there’s ten of them on a single post, that’s probably… Read more →
I always pay special attention to episodes in which people with significant disabilities are part of the story. This morning I poured myself some tea, and settled in to watch my guilty pleasure show, Grey’s Anatomy. It’s set in my hometown. I have no other excuse. This week’s episode had a very minor Deaf storyline. Representations of Deafness on tv… Read more →
It has been several weeks since the episode “The Grove” aired, and it continues to sit with me. It is the episode in which the storyline of Lizzie ends, and with it, so does the character Lizzie. This past Wednesday I attended Cripping the Comic Con at Syracuse University, and had the distinct pleasure of meeting Bill Peace, and hearing… Read more →
Naomi Grossman is not what I expected. For one, I hadn’t done much digging around, but I assumed she was disabled when I arrived at Cripping the Comic-Con this week. And if she wasn’t, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Arriving for her performance on Wednesday morning, I was surprised. Not only was I surprised, I was delighted. Naomi’s one… Read more →
Last Wednesday I filled out a checklist. It was a list of symptoms for sexual assault survivors, and I was asked to circle each one which I experience. Out of something like 20 symptoms, I have 17. This is normal, the counselor tells me, this is what tells them that what I’m telling them is true. This is what gives… Read more →
A few very exciting things have happened – and now I can share them! 1) I’ll be at Syracuse University this week attending “Cripping the Comic-Con” to present on cosplay and disability. Like with the Living Games conference, I’ll be talking about issues of representation and creating equanimity and safety for people with disabilities. If you’re a disabled cosplayer, shoot… Read more →
I just saw a science fiction movie (ish). That is basically all about a woman. SPOILER ALERT. THIS IS A REVIEW. Is it perfect? No. Of course not. It’s a movie written by two men and directed by a man. But seeing a science fiction film which is essentially a soliloquy is beautiful. The story itself is harrowing, and… Read more →
