Disability Blog Carnival #70 is up NOW!

[visual description: Disability Blog Carnival logo featuring an old patent drawing of a back brace, with "the Disability Blog Carnival: a bracing event" superimposed in blue text]

Yes, #70.

Astrid has gathered up and organized a wonderful collection of links around the theme of "identity," with tantalizing extracted quotes that will have you clicking to read more. Thank you, Astrid.

Next month's edition will be hosted by lilwatchergirl at Through Myself and Back Again. At least, that's what the schedule said back in June. I'll confirm asap and point to any further announcements about this.

Stony Brook University's Center For Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, And Bioethics To Offer Masters Track Beginning Spring 2011

Program serves students from a wide range of academic disciplines and professional backgrounds

STONY BROOK, N.Y., September 14, 2010 Press Release – Stony Brook University is now accepting applications for its Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics track in the Master of Arts in Biological Sciences. Courses begin in the spring 2011 semester. Named for the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics founded in 2008, the new MA track will serve students from a wide range of disciplines and professions.

The 30-credit masters track can be completed in one to three years. The Center encourages MA applicants from a variety of backgrounds, including nursing, social work, ministry, journalism, philosophy, humanities, the social and life sciences, administration, business, the arts, law, public policy, religious studies, and others. Applicants who hold a baccalaureate degree without professional experience are welcome, as are clinicians and other professionals.

"Seasoned professionals, medical students and undergrads who just finished up and want do something for a year before marching on to law school or medical school will find this track of great interest,” said Center Director, Dr. Stephen G. Post.

Situated in the Department of Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine, the Center is equally attentive to the three thematic components in its name. It builds on a commitment to medical humanism and ethics that has defined education for Stony Brook students over three decades.

"This is a Center in which the human side of medicine is elevated, examined, and revered," said Dr. Post. "It provides students an education not just in the dilemmas of bioethics, but in medical humanities centered on the experiences of patients. We want students to see patients as more than biological puzzles. We want them to be aware of the importance of relationships and compassion in the art of healing. It’s the loss of care in this most basic sense that is currently being singled out across the United States as the most pressing concern not only of patients, but of physicians and other healthcare professionals."

More information on the Center for Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics and the masters track can be found on the program site. For more information, contact DS,TU editor Michael L. Dorn.

Why I love biographical dictionaries (#3)

For earlier installments in the series, see #1 and #2.

Again, the Australian Dictionary of Biography comes through with a winning disability-related snippet:

Although she dressed 'carelessly in skirts and sweaters', Dreyer had 'a passion for ornate drop earrings and exotic perfumes'. Humorous and warm hearted, she gave an annual party for 'Annabella', her wooden leg.

That would be from the entry on writer and journalist Marien Oulton Dreyer (1911-1980), who used a prosthetic leg from her childhood. She wrote a script for the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1951 called "Story of a Lame Duck" which was "largely autobiographical," and another script in 1953 about tuberculosis recovery from the patient's perspective.

"Aunt Carol" by Mista Cookie Jar

I've got kids, so I've got kid CDs, and they're not really so bad as you might think--I came late to the game, never had Barney or Raffi, straight into Ralph's World and Laurie Berkner. And there are definitely songs that make me happy from a disability perspective. But this one just came across my desk, by a friend-of-friends, and it's not like anything else I've run into:



Visual description: Mista Cookie Jar, the singer, is a young Asian-American man with long hair and a mustache; he's wearing a hat and floral shirt. The video shows a birthday party for Carol Ware, an older white woman who uses a power chair. There are a lot of children and other older folks too, and there are scenes of the singer doing Carol's nails, marveling at her sunshine tattoo, and generally having a grand time.

The singer has posted all his lyrics online at his website (yeah!); find "Aunt Carol" in the lyrics menu (I can't seem to link to them directly, but they're there). (UPDATE: Katja put the direct link in comments.)

What I like here: Carol Ware is a real person, and the YouTube video label explains this. The singer has known her for years and this song is a genuine, specific tribute. He shares in the lyrics that she was a kindergarten teacher, that she likes Elvis, that she likes her coffee with Splenda, that she smokes (deal with it, she's an adult), that "we call her Aunt Carol, you can call her Ms. Ware," and that "she's a masterpiece from head to toe." All with a fun celebratory tone, and with Carol's participation and the participation of her fellow nursing-home residents. When so many kids live far from their older relatives and may not feel drawn to seniors, this song has a chance to change minds, and will definitely spark some smiles.

ETA: There's also a "making of the video" slideshow.