Text Tuesday: A Disability History of the United States Party 2: Sign Language in Indigenous North America

Hi All!

Its that time of the week again. Today is the second installment of the Text Tuesday series on "A Disability History of United States" by Kim. E. Nielsen.

Sign language has existed for a long time. In fact indigenous North American tribes utilized sign language for both general communication among hearing individuals as well as deaf individuals. Therefore individuals who were deaf were able to communicate among their community without social isolation. No healing ceremonies to rid deafness existed because deafness was not seen as a condition to be cured, deafness was an integrated concept. Elders in the tribes used sign language when their hearing lessened, but also to help with storytelling. Even today many elders still utilize indigenous sign language and pass it on to their children.

Sign language in indigenous North American tribes was commonplace. Different tribes had different dialects. The most widespread was Plains Indian Sign Language. It was used in trade agreements, political negotiations between tribes and for courtship.

A little food for thought! Thanks for reading!

In the following video you can learn some of the history and signs of Plains Indian Sign Language:

Text Tuesday: Oscar Ad

Hello All!

Its another Tuesday which means I'm writing about writing.... so redundancy aside let's jump right in!

Here is this weeks article: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/02/20/academy-awards-ad-pitch/20079/

I found a commercial during the Oscars quite intriguing. A part of me just wanted to find something wrong with this commercial. Despite my cheery demeanor I tend to be cynical when it comes to disability in the media. To my surprise I loved the commercial. I especially loved how the little girl described the Wizard of Oz. Her perception of the movie involves more of her imagination, which is awesome.

“We want to create opportunities for people who love film and television, but who might not have the opportunity to experience it to its fullest,” said Tom Wlodkowski, Comcast’s vice president of accessibility who is blind himself. “By bringing the talking guide to as many people as possible, we can help to bridge that gap and make entertainment just as compelling, captivating and fun for people with a visual disability as it is for anyone else.”

I think he has a solid mission and this feature will ad more to the television viewing/listening experience. What do you think? Does this feature sound like a good idea? Do you know anyone with a visual disability who can speak to their experience of film and TV?

Still of Comcast commercial for Talking Guide

Text Tuesday (Wednesday): A Disability History of the United States Part 1

Another Text Tuesday is here! Yay! Since life got in the way yesterday I'm here with the Text Tuesday on Wednesday.

In my first Text Tuesday I briefly discussed a book called A Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen. If you are so inclined you can buy it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Disability-History-United-ReVisioning-American/dp/0807022047/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424725645&sr=1-1&keywords=disability+history+of+the+united+states

I felt like one post just doesn't do this book justice so I am creating a Text Tuesday series.

One topic that resonated with me was disability in indigenous American tribes. The traditional world view of indigenous American tribes was anyone and everyone (regardless of physical ability, mental difference, sensory differences etc.)  can contribute to the growth and nurturing of society. With this worldview the concept of disability didn't even exist. Societal focus was about creating relationships and contributing as a part of the community.

Once the Europeans came to the Americas they set up institutions and essentially forced disability on indigenous Americans. The Europeans set up specific institutions that were geared specifically toward the indigenous American community. The conditions of the institutions were abysmal. Of course families in the tribes didn't want their family members going to those institutions for outside care because it meant being away from their community.

The United States has a very sorded past concerning oppressed groups. While reading this book I became increasingly aware of our nation's past. I felt a slew of emotions while reading but I'm glad to finally understand American history from an oppressed perspective.

 This book will lead to increased awareness of the truths of how oppressed groups have been treated in the United States. It will give you a clear picture of disability history both the good and the bad. I guarantee there is a lot to learn. Thanks for reading!

Another Text Tuesday next week!

Disability and Sexual Positivity



sexualityanddisability.org

 I did a cursory Google image search of disability and sexuality this weekend. I was pleasantly surprised with what I was able to dig up just from one search. The images I found show people with visible physical disabilities portrayed in a sexy way. I wanted to share these images because I think too often people with visible physical disability aren't seen as sexy or capable of engaging in sexual behavior.

Really we are all human and we all have a right to sexuality with disability or without and I think as a collective society we need to redefine what it means to be sexy. These images are a celebration of sexiness and disability.

I'm totally just throwing this out there, but I'm totally considering making stickers out of the wheelchair sex positions and putting them on handicap signs (of course with the permission of sexualityanddisability.org). Even though the sex positions assume male-female I'm sure they apply across the spectrum of gender and sexuality. If you have a moment check out their website. It is very insightful on all things sexuality and disability.

Enjoy!


https://sarahmurrayphotographer.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/access-sex-sarah-murray-kyla-harris-collaboration-2006-current/

http://hollynorris.ca/americanable#h39067524



Text Tuesday: Shannon DeVido

Hello all!
Today's installment of Text Tuesday is based on this article from Bustle.com http://www.bustle.com/articles/62017-comedian-shannon-devido-on-being-an-actor-with-a-disability-being-yelled-at-by-billy

This article discusses a comedian named Shannon DeVido who also happens to be a wheelchair user. I'm a huge supporter of her comedy. She is just plain awesome. It is important to also address (as Shannon does in the article) that many people in American culture are afraid to laugh at people with disabilities. There is this weird fear that if I laugh at a person with a disability then I'm a horrible human being. Lets be honest comedians come in all shapes and sizes there is no shame in laughing at a comedian with a disability.

I love Shannon's web series because it is hilarious but also because it shows how people with disabilities are treated differently in public. I love that she fucks with the unknowing public and catches people off guard. This needs to happen more. I'm inspired by her comedy to start making the unsuspecting public feel really super awkward because it is so much funnier that way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcl5dN5wBEo This is a link to her Stare at Shannon web series Supermarket Edition. Pure genius in my opinion.

Text Tuesday!

Hi all!

Welcome to the second installment of Text Tuesday. Today I will discuss an article from the Fox news website. Now I do not condone Fox News as a reputable news source at all. I highly advise anyone consuming Fox News media to take it all with a grain of salt. Aside from my ranting against Fox News I was both surprised and disappointed by the following article: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/02/02/17-year-old-boy-with-devil-hands-undergoes-life-changing-plastic-surgery/

I hate to say this but what intrigued me to read this article in the first place was the title. I immediately felt disappointment towards the title due to the term 'devil hands'. I get that Fox News wanted to rope people in, but that term seemed quite offensive at first glance (and it continued to be offensive after I read the article). Through further reading of the article I found out  this boy was living with a type bone configuration that caused his elbows to bend inward and wrists downwards. This caused the boy to be unable to straighten his arms.

The term 'devil hands' was used as an insult/taunt by his peers. For shame fox news for utilizing this insult as a buzz word to rope people into reading the article in the first place! Maybe I'm just stuck on the sheer fact that this is a shitty way to identify Mamadou.

Now clearly Mamadou saw an opportunity with the Mercy Ships and was proactive and sought help. He proceeds to tell the nurse on the ship that he was capable of so much more than what people assumed about him. This is a common problem among the community of persons with disabilities.


Towards the end of the article he speaks of the fact that his arms scared people away and he felt shame about his arms. I think this just shows that this type of problem is a worldwide problem. People with not typical limbs or bodies are misconstrued and not even seen as real people. The problem is pervasive.

All in the all I was pleasantly surprised the article wasn't more inspirationy. Yup I just made up this word and I i'll use it again. Let me know your thoughts on the article! I'm happy to hear them. Lets get this dialogue on the road.

Inspiration Porn: Super Bowl Edition

Happy Wednesday!

Yup I'm back on the subject of inspiration porn. In fact I feel like it follows me everywhere and it needs to be discussed. Here is a super bowl commercial just brimming forth with inspiration porn: http://youtu.be/wLXRt-qRBfU

This commercial hits a nerve of inspiration porn with the general tone of the commercial. They first ask a question: "what can you do?"And at the end of the commercial they leave us with "Empowering us all".

The tone is this little boy is brave and courageous because he has no legs. If he can triumph in life without legs than so can we all! This boy is being used as an object for inspiration.

Inspiration porn is a form of objectification. It objectifies people with disabilities in order to make able bodied people feel better about their lives. I've heard this directed towards me and it drives me nuts because I'm nobody's object. I exist for the same reason we all do: we are just human. The little boy in the commercial will probably do just fine. The human body is awesome and can adapt and change for many circumstances. Just because he happens to have no legs shouldn't change the way he is viewed as a human being. 

Let me know your thoughts! Have you seen inspiration porn in everyday life?