Freak Shows - Representation of People with Disabilities in Media

09/02/2022

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/a-disabled-activist-speaks-out-about-feeling-disposable?fbclid=IwAR2FgAHGKh9_ZudP_z79H7tTPQbatTdTpn9sWr0R69_hSSRjhh969t7EpkY



Oh goody. So only the vulnerable are susceptible to death form omicron. What a relief. The unspoken, yet very loud and clear message, is that the lives of the disabled are disposable.

Ableism in the pandemic.

Alice Wong, a writer and organizer in San Francisco, says the isolation and loss of the pandemic have shown society what it’s like to be disabled.

04/01/2022

I find this able-ist AF. Surely the woman's evaluation of her husband (and his of himself) is not measured by the 20 seconds of supported swaying. This feels like inspiration p**n done more for the audience than to serve a purpose.

30/12/2021

I'm usually in favor of accommodations that do not single out a student even if the accommodation itself was fabulous. Example: if a student needed a ramp to get to the stage, it would just be put on the sidelines and no one would announce "we are using a ramp this year so Susie can roll up in her wheelchair. Everyone use the ramp please". It would be an example of universal design so that everyone could access the stage. Sure, Jack could "access" the stage this way, but it singled him out, which is not the point of inclusion. I would rather they do a silent handing out of all diplomas, with sign language "clapping", allow Jack to exit, and then do a big cheer at the end. Many large schools do this anyway, because with 473 graduates (my own high school class), it would take ages if everyone got cheered and clapped and hooted and hollered.

Instead of the click-bait headline and the principal's getting to pat himself on the back (silently, of course), how about asking for the entire room to "hold your applause", which would allow Jack to exit before the very end?

28/12/2021

Okay, now *that's* some holiday inspiration I can get behind. Representation and inclusion are for everyone. Love it! (even as I despise The Elf)

19/06/2021

The dirty side of ableism-- inclusion only when it suits the organization. Why bother to include kids in sports only to leave them on the sidelines as the "manager"?

There are two lessons in the viral story of girl with Down Syndrome being left out of a Utah cheerleading team's yearbook photo, writes David Perry: adults need to be more aware of the harm they do when they exclude disabled children and school officials need to consider the deeper failures of inclu...

04/05/2021

The 16-year-old's albinism led to her being abandoned as a baby but she is now a successful model.

30/07/2020

But influencers say the fashion industry has been slow to embrace them.

05/03/2020

Hey! How about people of color have products and medical equipment that represents them?! What a concept. Can you imagine having to use a prosthetic that doesn't even begin to match your skin color?

John Amanam, a 32-year-old Nigerian sculptor, has used his extensive experience and knowledge to create hyper-realistic prosthetics.

24/02/2020

Walk a mile in a someone else's shoes, did they say?

Many of my OT colleagues have had to do this as part of their training in graduate school. Shift your perspective, literally.

An 8th grader at Friendship Christian School in Lebanon approached the state legislature with a challenge. He said he'd only need them to take part for a day, and what

23/02/2020

Why not push for inclusion in other troops instead?

This unique troop modifies Girl Scout traditions to match girls’ interests and abilities.

06/02/2020

Ok, this kid is cute and relatable. He's actually interested in his topic, like many many 5-7 year olds. I met one once who was obsessed with Titanic. Not the movie, but the disaster. He knew how many deck chairs there were, how many people survived, etc. This clip is not as exploitative, but why are we still quizzing him?

I met 5-year-old Xander, and 3 minutes later I had a degree in Astrophysics. pic.twitter.com/weu0KIYnCI— Ellen DeGeneres () February 5, 2020

“I met 5-year-old Xander, and 3 minutes later I had a degree in Astrophysics. https://t.co/weu0KIYnCI”

31/01/2020

Because that’s what it is. It’s a display of fat people where others get to yell at them under the guise of “wellness”.

The Biggest Loser is back. But it’s been given a makeover from its origins in the openly, cheerfully exploitative reality TV environment of the early 2000s. Now it’s about wellness, about lifestyle changes. Or at least, that’s what the producers want you to think, even as the show retains all ...

24/01/2020

How do you guys feel about putting teeny tiny "geniuses" on TV? The kids who speak 7 languages, the ones who know all the elements, the ones who know the world's flags by heart before they're toilet-trained? It's a 21st-century version of the side-show.

I'm not even going into the questionable decisions the parents make, the drilling that went into this display, and the societal value we place on displaying (nearly) useless troves of knowledge. I just think it's exploitation. And people ooh and aah.

Here's Ellen's "kid expert", who, despite being the next Albert Einstein, still speaks like a 2 year old and needs his mom to translate his speech for Ellen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1220410864274067456

15/01/2020

Ellen, you're very entertaining, but you're one of the worst at promoting Inspiration P**n. I mean, this child is still autistic. I'm so glad he's found a voice and is able to use it functionally. Kids with autism have fixations with certain subjects -- IronMan is that subject for this kid. It certainly didn't "cure" him.

Oh, and let's throw money at this family the way we've been throwing money at the disabled for centuries.
https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/1217142619307823105?s=20

“This 10-year-old boy with autism became verbal after getting an Iron Man helmet. Today he meets ❤ https://t.co/1cg2u0t0t2”

13/01/2020

Did you know that American Girl will customize any of their dolls with a hearing aid/cochlear implant? And did you know that this year's "Girl of the Year" has hearing loss! Yay for representation!!

Joss, the American Girl Doll of 2020, gets unboxed in this video. Super fun!

12/01/2020

Local news writing at its finest. Not. They don't go into any depth about what the record is for. Is it for a paralyzed man to complete a marathon? Is it for this specific guy? Is it for a paralyzed man to complete a marathon on his own legs (using whatever cool tech device was not mentioned)? Many questions. All I got from the "news reporter" footage was that he is an "inspiration", and man, he looked like he wanted to sit down.

What do you think? Ableism? Or a celebration of the human spirit?

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The 2019 Charleston Marathon saw a record get broken by a man with an incredible story. Adam Gorlitsky was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident on Dece…

12/12/2019

>>"(The media) portrays disabled people and especially disabled children as little children who just don't have their own real lives," Flores said.

Texas teen sets out to disprove disability stereotypes by starting her own magazine.

09/12/2019

Coney Island was not unique in displaying premature babies in incubators as a side-show attraction. Looks like Minneapolis shared in this "tradition":

http://www.citypages.com/news/welcome-to-the-infantorium-minneapolis-premature-baby-sideshow/565897341?fbclid=IwAR0kPkAJM4FNF_AE6hhutoMS5Lk8RRGKGHPLR_hDOwDwkKNfMirU1GZ_B2Q

Fascinatingly:

Journalist Katie Thornton used to bike past the big, old apartment complex on 31st Street and 31st Avenue in south Minneapolis.

04/12/2019

Dr. BJ Miller, whom Terry Gross interviewed on NPR this week. He had an accident involving a train and electricity when he was 19, resulting in the loss of both of his legs below the knee, and also part of one arm. His mother had had polio, and he saw her abilities and health declining over time.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/12/03/784401787/after-a-freak-accident-a-doctor-finds-insight-into-living-life-and-facing-death

In 1990, BJ Miller was hit with 11,000 volts of electricity. That accident took most of his limbs, but the event and his recovery inspired him to pursue a career as a palliative care physician.

12/11/2019

07/11/2019

With very limited exception (the "Connect" teacher saying Ruby is an "inspiration", her mom talking about why she was put on this earth), this video is
a dynamic and wonderful piece, not because it shows Ruby as exceptional, but because it shows her being a 13-year-old girl. Her school has clearly put so much effort into inclusion that my SLP heart is swelling. If you've read "Out of My Mind", which is a story of Melody, a young girl with CP who navigates the difficult landscape of inclusion, then you'll be able to contrast this real account with Melody's fictional account, which almost uses kids with disabilities as mascots, placing them in music class with able-bodied kids to just listen to music, not to sing it. Ruby's speech and language goals are centered around building social closeness, which has clearly paid dividends. I don't know where this school is, but I'm getting a very midwest vibe from the accents. So wonderful to see positive examples of kids with disabilities being served well by public schools. It's a long watch, but completely worth it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkcakBySs18

Ruby is 1 of 12 known cases of Stromme syndrome in the world. Join her as she goes about a typical day at school. SBSK Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SBSK ...

29/10/2019

Did you know that it's AAC month? AAC stands for augmentative and alternative communication. You're probably thinking of Stephen Hawking and his high-tech "voice", but AAC can run the gamut from an eye-gaze board of the alphabet to machines that turn text into speech. For too long, people who couldn't speak (or who struggled to speak) were thought to have no ideas, nothing worth sharing. Hence, the original use and the meaning of the word "dumb". People who couldn't speak were spoken for, advocated for, cared for as someone "less than" human.

But we've come a long way in understanding how to help people communicate without voices. I was at a local elementary school the other night (where my community band rehearses), and on display in the hallway were "All About Me" posters for each child in a given grade. What struck me was the one who had had some assistance in writing his letters and had had an adult scribe some of the responses. Under "Three things you should know about me," number 2 was, "I use a talker to communicate." Yes, it's just one part of this kid, beyond his interests and his preferences and his family structure. My heart was full to see his inclusion in elementary school, to hope that his peers will help to normalize the experience of communicating with someone who uses assistive technology.

Have you ever met someone who uses an electrolarynx or a speech-generating device?

https://www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/how-to-speak-when-you-dont-have-a-voice/p07693kc?playlist=redefining-disability

Watch the "How to speak when you don't have a voice" video at BBC Ideas. Explore other related content via our curated "Rethinking disability" playlist.

03/10/2019

Pretty Couch Potato (aka Lauren Reimer-Ethridge) is a pretty freaking awesome instagrammer who is a health advocate my husband met at a conference last year. She deals with a form of severe gastroparesis (slow digestion) that makes traditional *eating* nearly impossible. She boldly puts her illness out there into the interwebs, not only talking about tube-feeding and all the joys that come with it, but because we live in a visual world, she posts pictures of herself with her tubes and TPN paraphernalia for all to see. I just spelled paraphernalia correctly on the first try, so I'm pretty excited already. In the picture below, she's also doing some modeling! She also links to another IGer with GI issues, I'M possible Mellie White, who regularly models with her tubes, her backpack full of equipment, etc. I love to see people not only unembarrassed/unashamed of their medical equipment, but celebrating it. I guess my point is, people are celebrating themselves with their chronic illnesses and the equipment that keeps them healthy. It's not a display in a museum of medical equipment, or an illustration in a medical textbook. It's not a TV miniseries or a tabloid docudrama about "The Girl Who Can't Eat!!" These are real people advocating for their hashtags while also determining their own path. Self-actualizing and all that. People with disabilities and diagnoses and chronic illnesses need to have the right to live their own lives, and make their own career choices. And it's freaking awesome.

25/09/2019

H/T Penn Pritchard. Another way representation matters in playthings. Major toy manufacturers are finally making and marketing gender-neutral toys for kids who don't see themselves in what's available.

I never had Barbies as a kid because the angular bodies didn't appeal to me, and dressing them was an exercise in fuility. I did have my Cabbage Patch Kids, both boy and girl dolls. My brother and sister did as well. And when I learned to sew, one of the first things I sewed (for years actually, because scraps of fabric were plentiful) was doll clothes. Here's one more way towards self-expression.

Yay!

https://time.com/5684822/mattel-gender-neutral-doll/?fbclid=IwAR0e0ZuABw9122KwMhHVNYfnxDTXvsr1bN22XJi5XvV0dFFXnf8BbLChexs

Mattel hopes to appeal to a new generation that demands brands with a conscience

17/09/2019

Our kids' soccer league is inclusive not only of religious difference (practices on Sunday allow observant Jews to join), but also of kids with developmental disabilities. One little boy on our kids' team appears to have autism, but I was remarking last week how, with some support from Dad on the field, he seemed to get the hang of what to do, and was even much more engaged that a couple of other kids, one of whom made a dart for the playground when he first arrived. No one made a big deal of it at all, which was nice. I can't speak to how his parents feel to watch him/help him join in, but I have to think it's a pretty cool moment without any media circus required.

13/09/2019

Representation matters!

The smile on their faces makes it all worth it.

11/09/2019

In his own words! And here he is, doing a thing. Not on display, not someone who has "overcome" a disability or decided to go skydiving, but just sharing his story to build "social closeness" and increase visibility of people living with disabilities who just want/deserve access. That is worth celebrating!! HT Emily Kaplan

Last week on our blog, we shared “The Art of Accessibility,” noting how for more than a century, The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh has celebrated the achievements of our amazing kids, young people, and families. We see every day the impact a person makes on their world when they have acce...

10/09/2019

Better story here! There was a need, there was a barrier in accessibility, and two guys teamed up to fix the gap.

Matthew Shifrin and his babysitter came up with a way for blind people to build Legos. Almost a decade later, Lego is finally releasing similar instructions to customers.

10/09/2019

The actual article is great! It focuses on his journey as a chef and how he came to leave his first restaurant, and evolve into what he's doing now. However, the click-bait title makes me want to punch whomever at the PW chose to reshape the story arc (or the promise of it) into a "triumph over adversity" story.

The Chris Kearse you see today is not the same Chris Kearse one would have found bobbing and weaving up and down the East Passyunk Avenue restaurant strip exactly seven

09/09/2019

Currently listening to this series, which was broadcast on NPR 20+ years ago. If Laurie Miller (producer) had made it today, it would have been a podcast. It's a fascinating look at the origin of poster children in part 1.
I was listening to part 2 on the drive
to work this morning, and thinking about representation in a different way. Whom do young children with disabilities have to look up to? Do they see themselves in people in the workforce? For centuries, it was not expected they would work, or even grown to adulthood.
https://www.npr.org/programs/disability/ba_shows.dir/index_sh.html

04/09/2019

What a concept! Designing for the same people as will be modeling the clothing on the runway!!

New York Fashion Week will once again feature a show that highlights adaptive clothing, or clothing that is specifically made for people with special needs. 

04/09/2019

Here's a nice list detailing the stereotypes placed on wheelchair uses as portrayed in film...but no mention of whether the actor are in fact persons with disabilities themselves. https://www.disabilityfriendlylv.com/can-you-name-wheelchair-characters-in-television-film-media/



Can you think of other films that use these stereotypes for people who use wheelchairs?

If you can’t, that’s not a surprise. Wheelchair users, like most people with disabilities, are not well represented in films and television programs. Even

04/09/2019

My inspiration for this page was Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins whose tragic story is dramatized in the musical "Side Show". As we left the performance of this moving and underappreciated show, I was struck by how we claim to have moved beyond gawking at people with disabilities, but we still sit glued to endless TLC programs about people with unusual conditions (drug and alcohol addiction, hoarding, dwarfism, extreme morbid obesity) or uncommon family structures (sextuplets, sister wives). This page is meant to be a forum to post and discuss representations of people with disabilities in media, whether positive or negative.

I also hope to bring light to "inspiration p**n" and the underlying ableism that drives endless displays of people with disabilities serving as inspiration for the able-bodied.

Share what you find, comment on what I've found.