Disability Blogs Roundup, #10

As promised, a mid-May edition of the Disability Blogs Roundup. You'd think the job was made easy by Blogging Against Disablism Day at Diary of a Goldfish--there were something like 117 blogs posting on disablism/ableism on May 1, including DS,TU. I won't repeat the collection here, but it's definitely worth a browse--it includes two German-language blogs, and one blog in Chinese. But no.... in the weeks just before and after BADD 2006, there have still been plenty of interesting posts to make our roundup here, too.

We just passed Mothers' Day in the US, and a few roundup regulars made note: Kristina Chew remembered the "refrigerator mothers" of autism's past (and present too, sadly--the mother-blaming is far from forgotten); in a lighter vein, Mark Siegel encountered a Mom screening dates on Match.com (he seems to have passed the Mom's test, anyway).

In the news: The Gallaudet student protests seem to have ended for now, but read through the events of recent weeks at Deaf in the City, or DeafDC. Mark Siegel (again) and Kristina Chew (again) commented on the case of Jared Guinther, the Army recruit who was released from his contract when his autism diagnosis became known; Liz Spikol caught this Katrina aftermath story, and has been collecting stories about Iraq War veterans' mental health. And at Edge-Centric, analysis of the "Story They've All Been Waiting For." Jesse Kaysen at the Media Circus blog on Ragged Edge found the New York Times story on a "special" ballet class "sticky" (for an alternative reading, check Croneway's personal response). Oh, and it turns out you can stab your disabled roommate to death in New Zealand, and the judge might believe it was about mercy.

Disturbing developments: the National Autism Association's controversial new "Butterfly" ad campaign has Kristina Chew musing on the appeal and danger of fairytales, while AutismDiva calls it "creepy". The National Library Service has suddenly taken web-braille offerings offline--see Ahistoricality's tale; here's the Ragged Edge roundup on the topic; and yes, there's a petition (photo at left shows Judy Dixon, one of the architects of web-braille). Angry Gimp and Chaironwheels are talking about CILs gone wrong (or at least gone lost under paperwork and funding shortfalls and other pressures). BlindConfidential's been covering the efforts of Apple to patent some audio feedback technology (in a series of posts, starting here, then here, then here, and more here). And why did the London Times send Rod Liddle to review Dans le Noir?

Access and travel are perennial subjects here: GetAroundGuide and Rolling Rains always have good posts on the subject. Dave found that his detailed planning was too often for naught on his recent holiday in Darwin, because at airlines and hotels, "people just don’t care about details - even though they appear to." Pretty much the same story in Albuquerque, it seems: "[Reward] Points are nice, but I’d rather take a shower without having to call someone," explains Katja at Broken Clay. (On the other hand, English blogger Lisy Babe was delighted with the accessibility of San Francisco on a recent visit.) New blogger Cheryl at Steps wasn't traveling, just trying to go to an "accessible" theatre that wasn't so accessible after all. And Katja (again) is curious about the steps in front of a "wheelchair-friendly" two-story model house. (Access hidden in a closed garage isn't exactly "visitable" or welcoming, she notes.) Meanwhile in London, Damon Rose is on Cinema Watch--keeping track of which theatres are showing which movies with Audio Description.

Then there's the ever-popular genre of unhelpful advice. Gimp Parade has a newsflash for medical professionals: sometimes disabled people get sick or hurt. Gimpy Mumpy was told by a physical therapist to try and "Move normal." Someone has an advanced degree and that's the best they can offer?

Wheelchair adventures: Charles Dawson was fixing up an old wheelchair that apparently once belonged to "Doris"; Sarah reposted Harriet McBryde Johnson's recent NYTimes Magazine essay, "Wheelchair Unbound"; Sally spent a lovely day at the accessible Salisbury Cathedral (right)--before her van was damaged on the way home, by a hit-and-run (they caught the guy). Ziggi at Wheelchair Diffusion just says "It's about enough"--people should have chairs that work for them. Seems basic, doesn't it?

Ending on the high notes: Google is rolling out a more accessible audio CAPTCHA verification scheme; Blind Chance is beginning its third year as an audio blog; Teri at Crip Chronicles recommends the "Helping the Handicapped" photo essay and speech (go have a look, and understand the irony in artist Ju Gosling's title). Estee Klar is preparing for an Outsider Art exhibit and lectures in Toronto (outsider art is getting a run in England too, with some controversy). And be sure to check out Dave Wallace and Mike Seyfang's new podcast, "The Extraordinary Everyday Lives Show"--it's not exclusively about disability, but that's part of the Australian show's focus.

A final heads-up: The Society for Disability Studies meets in a few weeks in Bethesda; I won't be there, but Eastern bloggers might be. Meanwhile, here's one presenter's SDS paper, already online.