BADD 2012: History is still happening

A day late--I was hoping something would go up on DSTU yesterday, but as it hasn't, I'll write this, rather than missing a year of BADD.  To read our past six, more punctual entries, see 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.  The official list of contributions for BADD 2012 is growing at the Goldfish's blog, and you can follow the @BADDtweets account on Twitter for updates.

A few years ago, I started a Flickr group for disability history images--called, cleverly enough, Disability History.  Today it contains over 200 images contributed from libraries and personal collections, including images of family life, activism, art, technology, war--all topics I was hoping it might address.  It's true that most of them are black-and-white, or rather that warm sepia tone that makes the past look maybe a little rosier than it should.  But some are in color, because history didn't stop with the invention of color film, and indeed, history is still happening.  I certainly welcome contributions to the growing collection of recent disability history images there--we could especially use more images from non-US/UK contexts.  Here's a sampling of the generous additions so far, by the Flickr users credited in each caption:

Lilibeth Navarro leads a Not Dead Yet protest in Hollywood, on a sunny March day in 2005, 
against the film "Million Dollar Baby" (which went on to win best picture).  In the image, several protestors 
in power chairs roll past stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with walking protestors behind them.  
(I'm just barely visible at the way back.)  Photo by Cathy Cole.

Candid undated snapshot from shows three people.  The young man at rear, left, is violinist Itzhak Perlman, 
smiling and flashing a peace sign; his arm crutches are both visible.  The other two people are not identified; 
one is an young Asian woman, and one is an older white man with a mustache.  
Photo from the account of Erin Corda, who writes, "I found this 120 color transparency of 
Issaac Perlman while clean out my fathers sheet music cabinet."

Informal snapshot from the 1960s, shows a smiling blonde little girl with glasses, a green print dress 
with very white collar and cuffs; white socks and black maryjanes.  She's standing outdoors, in front of blooming flowers and a stone wall.  Photo from the account of Joshua Black Wilkins, who writes, "My aunt Karen. 
Who had Downs Syndrome."

Art piece by Al Shep, titled clinical waste / institutionalisation, which addresses the history of asylums.  
In the image, two trash bins are marked with stenciled block lettering and images.  The trash bin on the left says 
"Empty Unreal Unable to Feel" with the face of a woman labeled "Annie, May 1900 Melancholia Recovered"; 
the larger blue bin on the right is stenciled with a definition of "institution" (the wording wraps around the bin so 
 we can only read part of the definition, with words like structure, social, behaviour, community, 
permanence, rules).  Other images of the project are here.  Photo by Al Shep.

A portrait of Jack Smith, of Rhodell, West Virginia, made by photographer Jack Corn in 1974; he is a white man in his early 40s with sandy hair.  His arms are crossed, showing his watch and wedding ring; he does not have legs.  Jack Smith was disabled in mining accident, and became active with the United Mine Workers Union during his eighteen-year struggle for worker's compensation.  Photo from the US National Archives, Documerica set, in Flickr Commons.

March 15: Sue Boyce (b. 1951)

[Visual description: family portrait of Australian senator Sue Boyce, who is shown with her three adult children, two women and a man; one of the daughters has Down Syndrome. All are smiling and embracing each other.]

"Anytime we allow people with a disability to be treated as special people who should live or learn or work or spend their leisure time in special places, we are shutting people with a disability out of the mainstream."

Happy birthday to Australian senator from Queensland, Sue Boyce, who has made disability rights issues a priority of her legislative work. She's currently serving on the committee to consider Australian immigration laws on the subject of disability. She is also a past president of the Down Syndrome Association of Queensland. Last week, she called a controversial decision of the Family Court in Brisbane concerning the sterilization of an 11-year-old disabled girl "appalling....completely discriminatory and inhumane."

Say what?

From last night's debate (transcripts here):

MCCAIN: She'll be my partner. She understands reform. And, by the way, she also understands special-needs families. She understands that autism is on the rise, that we've got to find out what's causing it, and we've got to reach out to these families, and help them, and give them the help they need as they raise these very special needs children.

So... Sarah Palin understands about autism, because she has a six-month-old with Down syndrome? Walk me through that one, please. (Not surprisingly, Kristina Chew has the same question, with links. Yes, Palin has a nephew with autism. So do a lot of other people. That fact alone is not so impressive a qualification as McCain seems to think.)

And still, again, and again, only families with "very special needs" children are mentioned in the campaign's discussions of disability. What about disabled adults who need healthcare, jobs, access, transportation, etc. etc.? No mention of adults. What do they imagine happens to the "very special needs" children after about twenty years?

A hug and a wink from Sarah Palin won't keep my kid alive and well. Niceties are not a substitute for the programs and regulations that protect his rights--and his life.

Be sure to check out William Peace's commentary on the same passages in the debate transcripts, for further discussion.

'Praying with Lior'

We highly recommend this film to those looking for an engrossing, wrenching and tender documentary film (an audience favorite at several film festivals) considering the spiritual life and key rite of passage of an adolescent with Down syndrome. Temple University's Disability Studies Program featured the documentary at its meetup this past Wednesday: dinner was followed by a screening at the Bala Theatre. Local and regional scholars and activists came together for an exciting and educational evening. Philadelphia's Fox affiliate recently aired a story about the buzz that is growing around the film as its run is extended in Philadelphia and DC: text + video.

We would love to learn about your responses to the film - add them as comments to this post. A public discussion of the film will be held at the Institute on Disabilities, University Services Building Suite 610, 1601 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19122. The brown bag discussion will take place this coming Monday, April 7 starting at 12 noon and lasting until 1:00 pm. Feel free to call for directions and information on parking, 215 204-1356.

If you happen to live in the Philadelphia metropolan area or are willing to make a trip (one of our most frequent attendees lives in metro DC) then we invite you to sign up to Disability Studies, The PHILLY Meetup! for regular announcements on our upcoming events.

Meet Marianne McHugh (1930-1978)

It pays to read other blog carnivals. I was clicking along, enjoying the unsung stories of teachers and suffragists in the latest Genealogy Blog Carnival, a special edition for Women's History Month, when there she was, Marianne McHugh. Colleen at Orations of OMcHodoy has a nice long reminiscing post about her aunt, Marianne, was was born with Down syndrome in an era when that wasn't a promising start, to say the least. The many photos are such a treasure--baby Marianne with a favorite doll, smiling over the stroller of her new little brother, laughing with her little sister, playing in sand, dressed in her Sunday finest as a teen, in a cowgirl outfit at a Halloween party, posing with relatives (silly faces or solemn, she was great at both).

Go, meet Marianne McHugh.

Cute kids, betrayed parents

(Learned about this story from Nicole. Thanks for the heads up!)

Jan in Indianapolis was excited to learn that her handsome little son Nash (front and center in the image at left) was going to be featured on the cover of Indy's Child, which bills itself as "Central Indiana's Only Parenting Publication." She understood that the kids--all found through a call to the Indianapolis Down Syndrome Foundation-- were photographed at a pool, in swimsuits, because they were shooting the cover for a "Summer" issue.

That's not what happened. Instead, the photo was used for the current special issue on "Maternity" (shown here, below) --where it is apparently meant to relate to a story about pre-natal testing. The story features a mother saying, "I was fortunate. My daughter was born May 12 and shows no signs of Down syndrome. That's reassuring." There are no quotes from families who are happy to have children with Down syndrome, no suggestions toward learning more about parenting a kid with Down syndrome if you get a pre-natal diagnosis.

Did someone at the magazine think the families of these smiling children were, by contrast, unfortunate? The parents would never have consented to have their children pose as someone's worst-case scenario.

As you'd expect, Jan is feeling terribly betrayed. She's posted the address of the Indy's Child editors at her blog, in case others want to express dismay at this misguided juxtaposition. The families surely deserve an apology, and the magazine's readers deserve better information.

UPDATE Wednesday morning (5 July): Indy's Child has now pulled both the pre-natal testing story and the cover art from its website.

UPDATE Thursday (6 July): Jan writes at her blog, in an update to the above link, "Received a call from the VP of Indy's Child today. The Publisher and the editor (married couple) are in London vacationing and will return July 10th. Profusely apologetic he was, they never have received a response like this, positive or negative, in their 20 year history, meeting to be scheduled asap upon their return. While its good to be acknowledged, what is sad is that he said they had NO IDEA what they did.....we have some advocating to do people." Indeed.

UPDATE Monday (24 July): I just clicked on the Indy's Child link again--now the cover art is back up--but without the "Special Maternity Issue" or "prenatal tests" headlines. So, the cute kids stay, the story goes. And according to Jan's blog, the magazine is going to make it up to the IDSF by covering the annual Buddy Walk prominently, and featuring a story about families and Down syndrome sometime in the near future.