Simple cartoons

I do not feel like spewing words today, so I will let a few cartoon links give a message for me...

http://www.disabilitygrapevine.com/Prejudice.JPG

http://www.disabilitygrapevine.com/SSAMarriage.JPG

http://www.disabilitygrapevine.com/Nursinghomes.JPG

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/gen/callahan.htm

http://www.hi2u.org/images/x-r2033.gif

Dancing Disability, 'two-way type casting.'

There are many modern dance companies that feature people with and without disabilities on the same stage. These companies are often called Integrated or Mixed-Ability Dance companies. Individual artists that are accociated with these groups have writen about their frusteration of being considered just a disabled dancer, and not a dance artist, not allowed to do "mainstream" dance. It is true that non-disabled people often type cast, but I also have seen similar type casting within the disabled community when certain artists are "too gymnastic" or "supercrip' or "too mainstream." It goes both ways. (Note: I am not talking about those who simply prefer one type or another due to their personal taste, but those who believe that one type or another simply should not be done because it is "too gymnastic...")

There should be many options to dance for all people. SOme will want to do turns and flips, and others will desire something more easy going, or sometimes less structure is preferable to more structure or vice versa. There is room for DanceAbility classes, and room for classes that are run by the Axis Dance Company. Both will challege you in different ways. Non-Disabled people should learn that dance can be done in many ways by all types of people, and Disabled people should learn the same thing.

Can One disability Be More severe Than Another?

Well, can it? To answer this question one has to keep in mind that a disability is a pre-defined set of physical and/or behavioral characteristics that are devalued on a societal level. Disability is a social construction, which stands in contrast to a person's impairment, which is the biological reduction in the ability to functiontion in a specific way. Both have social implications, being that an impairment probably would not exist if there were no roadblocks in how a specific culture expects you to live, but with disability, there is a specific definition placed on you that you have a disease, that you are sick, that you need to be fixed or cured in some manner. WIth a disability you are not normal. That is what society says to the disabled indvidual. Society calls the disabled less than fully human.

So, if we consider disability to be the social oppression that society places on the individual, can there be a disability that is more severe than another? Yes, depending on the time and place. If disabiliy is the opression that society places on the individual, thn that oppression can be felt more by a specific person at a specific time and place. For example, if a non-verbal Autie is able to hold a job and pay his bills, and a very verbal Aspie is not, due to the fact that he is not able to get through the interview process and interpret how much eye contact he is giving someone, that the Autie is less disabled than the Aspie. If a quadriplegic is being treated with respect as an adult and a paraplegic is being talked to like he is five and/or incompetant, than the quadriplegic is less disabled than the paraplegic. The severity of disability in my mind is relative to the moment. What society considers more severe recieves a stronger medical definition. Keeping this in mind, why would a person want to claim disability as a positive part of who you are?

The answer to this lies first in the aceptance of your impairment as a positive aspect of who you are, being that impairments interact with the dominant social structure and elicit reactions that effect your preceptions of reality. The acceptance of disability lies in your relationship to the opression that society has for you and the reclaiming of it for yourself, like the queer community has in appropriating theword queer as a banner of pride. We can take the flack that society gives us and grow with it as individuals, and we can develop ideas together in the arts we produce (dance, paitings, music, etc.) as a means of cultural expression, expressing solidarity in our common restrictions imposed by the AMERIKAN superstructure.

Reproducing Disability

When asked whether or not I would prefer to have a disabled child over one without a disability, the answer was a wholehearted "yes!!!" I woud love a non-disabled child just the same, but after one has claimed an identity as a valuable part of who you are, a part of you wants to reproduce yourself for the next generation. No, I would not attempt to smoke or drink or do some other funky thing to damage my child, but I would never do anything to alter my child in the womb if I had the oppertunity. For example, if someone wanted to perform a test via amniocentesis, then suggest an abortion if my child showed positive results for Down Syndrome or some other label, I would have to slap that doctor if he did not offer another solution with equal emphasis. Aborting 70-80% of all babies who test positive for Down Syndrome is a crime against humanity!!! AMERIKA is beautiful. (not in this activity)

Of course, amniocentesis would probably not be performed on anyone in my family because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk of miscarriage from amniocentesis is between one in 200 and one in 400, depending on the skill and experience of the doctor performing it. Also, by engaging in such a procedure, the woman also has a slight risk of uterine infection in the days following, which can sometimes lead to miscarriage. However, the more a doctor has done this procedure, the better he becomes and the lower the risk, but why put yourself through that if you have claimed your disability title. If you are soon to give birth, give birth. Be thankful for the baby you were blessed with, no matter the size, shape, color, or ability level. Babies are blessings!!!!

Disability is Useful

Disability is a word that will sometimes bring heated discussion and violent rebuttals. Some think the term should be avoided and others think you should claim it. I am in favor of the latter. A disability is a set of physical, behavioral, or both physical and behavioral characteristics that are devalued by society. This is not to be confused with an impairment, which is a restriction in the ability to perform some task, which may or may not have societal implications. Disability is socially constructed. For example, if there were no steps, lots of low cupboards in buildings and curb ramps at every corner, etc., a wheelchair user would not be disabled. They would simply have impairment in their ability to walk.

Society disables people from doing specific tasks. Disability is not a word describing the complete absence of ability. Disability simply indicates that certain abilities have been taken away by the larger culture in which a specific person resides. If we acknowledge that, then as a society we can work toward giving back these abilities to the citizens receiving this imposed violation. However, just because someone claims the word disability, does not mean that you should refer to them as a “person with a disability.”

People first language tends to separate people from their disabilities, and if we do that a terrible disservice is being done to the disabled individual. Disability affects the ability to relate to the world on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. Disability should not be separate or unseen. A person is more than their disability, and society should be aware of this and that is where advocacy work should lead, not to restructuring terminology, but to addressing value structures on a sociologic level.

I like the word disability in comparison to Handicap, Differently-Abled, DiverseAbility, or other such euphemisms that distract people from the issue at hand. I encourage anyone reading this to stop using people first language and be clear, honest, caring, and very blunt about any message you communicate. As an Autistic person, I function much better when people pay attention to my issues than when they do not, and when I educate people as to why I claim specific language, they tend to see a greater depth of personality and I receive more humane treatment. Maybe you will too.