“There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more.”
― Robert Hensel
"We must leave evidence. Evidence that we were here, that we existed, that we survived and loved and ached. Evidence of the wholeness we never felt and the immense sense of fullness we gave to each other. Evidence of who we were, who we thought we were, who we never should have been. Evidence for each other that there are other ways to live--past survival; past isolation. Leaving Evidence is a blog by Mia Mingus." This post is from January 2022. (medium)
The author, who has Cerebral Palsy, offers several suggestions to include disability awareness in the curriculum and describes the impact it could have on students with and without disabilities. (short)
What is ‘disability wisdom’? We’ll learn more about this and so much more with Dr. Arielle Silverman, disabled activist and social scientist. In Episode 1, Qudsiya interviews Arielle about her own disability journey, the road to disability rights, and how much further we need to go to reach full inclusion, beyond the limits of the law. (35:22)
Etiquette is strange, man. Disability just makes it stranger, right? Doesn’t it? Let’s talk about it. (42:00)
Ambika Rajyagor is a 24 year old Indian-American Outdoor/Adventure Blogger, Special Needs Advocate, and Activist. She is also the cofounder of DisablednOutdoors an online BIPOC-run community focused on representation and accessibility in the outdoors, wants to ensure that these efforts are intersectional, too—especially after nearly four years of policies that worked against Americans with disabilities. As someone who goes outdoors to look within, she can’t stand silent knowing that there is no real “outdoors for all” experience when racism and ableism exists. (1:06:09)
Visit a park or trail and look for important features like curb cuts, playground equipment, ramps, and braille signs. Then, walk around your neighborhood and notice what places are not accessible to people with disabilities. Consider physical, hearing, sight, cognition, mental illness, or someone with multiple disabilities. What areas would be challenging to visit and enjoy? How could those areas become more accessible?
New York Panorama by Stephen Wiltshire
Stephen Wiltshire is best known for drawing incredibly detailed panoramas of cities from memory after flying above them for only 20 minutes.
Some disabilities are seen and some are not. Some require accommodations that are seen and some interventions are not visible. What strategies do you have, or can you develop, to ensure "everyone gets what they need" and not “everyone is equal”?
After today's challenge work:
Did you have any ‘a-ha’ moment?
Did you feel any discomfort?
What will you do differently based on your challenge today?