The Meteor’s Post

John Roarty’s “Captives of Care” is an important Australian book that was published in 1981. It takes the reader into the world of disability activism in the 1970s – an activism that was pitched against a matron-knows-best / “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” environment that had little to no regard for the rights of people with disability. John Roarty is a down-to-earth storyteller. In his own words he says: “I thought seriously about how I could go about something as large as writing a book. I began putting incidents and ideas on tape. I felt nervous and foolish about it at first and would press the “record” button with my stick and sit there in front of the microphone, unable to force out a word. But gradually it gathered momentum and took shape and grew into this book.” “Captives of Care” is a record of an institutionalizing past that we wouldn’t want to see repeated and yet we sadly know – from submissions to the Disability Royal Commission – that the same stifling and controlling ableism is still around. The book gives a first-hand account of the way that rights awareness can begin to grow and find voice in a group of people and it also tells of the many and varied ways that the authorities looked to re-assert control. This is an important story about a group of residents who wanted a real say in their lives and in the decisions that were made about the home they shared. They were adults who had to fight against curfews, who had to assert their right to free social association, and who even had to campaign for the right of residents to have electric wheelchairs. This is an immensely readable and important short book that’s understandably written in the language of the era. It is almost impossible to find a copy of it now save for two copies that are kept at the National Library of Australia. It’s a book well-due for a reprint. 

As of 2022, there are still 31 states where forced sterilization can be authorized by a judge and/or performed without consent by a doctor as long as it’s considered to be in the best interest of the patient. And the majority of these patients are people with disabilities. Read more about activists like Cokley fighting Buck v. Bell’s enduring legacy, and watch the full video of her remarks: https://lnkd.in/enqYc5QK

#KwaraStateMentor, Jawondo Rahmat Ejide and her mentees were a part of a Rally on the Implementation of Child Right Law at the Ministry of Women's Affairs. The purpose of the activity was to enlighten people about the Child Rights Law and to rally the Government to implement it. Apart from the Child's Rights Law, society needs to know that there is no difference between Persons Without Disabilities and Persons with Disabilities. This came up because Persons with Disabilities are stigmatized because of their disabilities. Some people can not hold or push a wheelchair as they think that if they touch it, they may contract the disability. The mentor and her mentees were able to prove that disabilities are not contractable and even showed examples of people who have pushed wheelchairs before. The belief is that this act (example) will correct some of the stereotypes. There were accessibility concerns raised to the Ministry of Women's Affairs. This came up as some of the mentees were unable to access the Ministry of Women's Affairs building and the rally held from the Ministry of Women's Affairs to the post office. This project is supported by the Disability Rights Fund Photo: In the two images, the mentor and mentees are being pushed in their wheelchairs by male participants in the rally. Two women are holding a banner behind the women in wheelchairs and others follow behind in the walk (rally) towards the Post Office. #Jonapwd #Drf #KwaraState #StateHouseAssembly #Mentorship #YoungWomenWithDisabilities #Crpd #DisabilityAct #Nigeria #Advocacy #DisabilityInclusionNg

Poor Things is a spectacular film that has garnered critical praise, scooped up awards and has 11 Oscar nominations. That might be the problem. Audiences become absorbed in another world, so much so our usual frames of reference disappear. There has been much discussion about the film’s feminist potential (or betrayal). What’s not being talked about in mainstream reviews is disability. This seems strange when two of the film’s main characters are disabled. Set in a fantasy version of Victorian London, unorthodox Dr Godwin Baxter (William Dafoe) finds the just-dead body of a heavily pregnant woman in the Thames River. In keeping with his menagerie of hybrid animals, Godwin removes the unborn baby’s brain and puts it into the skull of its mother, who becomes Bella Baxter (Emma Stone). Stone has been praised for her ability to embody a small child who rapidly matures into a hypersexual person – one who has not had time to absorb the restrictive rules of gender or patriarchy. But we also see a woman using her behaviour to express herself because she has complex communication barriers. We see a woman who is highly sensitive and responsive to the sensory world around her. A woman moving through and seeing the world differently – just like the fish-eye lens used in many scenes. Women like this exist and they have historically been confined, studied and monitored like Bella. When medical student Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef) first meets Bella, he offensively exclaims “what a very pretty retard!” before being told the truth and promptly declared her future husband. ignoring disability as a theme of the film seems determined and overt. Even the film’s title is an expression often used to describe disabled people. The charity model of disability sees disabled people as needing pity and support from others. Financial poverty is briefly shown at a far-off port in the film and Bella initially becomes a sex worker in Paris for money – but her more pressing concern is sexual pleasure. Disabled women’s sexuality is usually seen as something that needs to be controlled. It is frequently assumed disabled women are either hypersexual or de-gendered and sexually innocent. In the real world disabled people experience much higher rates of abuse, including sexual assault, than others. Last year’s Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability found women with disability are nearly twice as likely as women without disability to have been assaulted. Almost a third of women with disability have experienced sexual assault by the age of 15. Bella’s hypersexual curiosity appears to give her some layer of protection – but that portrayal denies the lived experience of many. Watch but don’t ignore Poor Things is a stunning film. But ignoring disability in the production ignores the ways in which the representation of disabled bodies play into deep and historical stereotypes about disabled people.

"Thirty-three years after the Americans with Disabilities Act legally required access, much of American life is still inaccessible. This is true even for a U.S. senator." It's the last day of Disability Pride Month 2023 and this news story grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, ADA violations are still incredibly common. Largely due to limited enforcement. People can file complaints with federal agencies but enforcement is underfunded. This causes response times to be slow due to the sheer volume of complaints filed. We need to improve these enforcement efforts. But it is more than that. To quote Alice Wong of the Disability Visibility Project: "The A.D.A. is important, but culture change, real culture change takes much longer to achieve. Anyone can create this change by speaking up in everyday situations, such as considering someone’s dietary restrictions at a dinner party, asking for an accessible venue at a company event and or simply believing that those who request accommodations need them. We all have a shared responsibility to consider others, regardless of whether they reveal their disability. Speak up not only for your own disability but for invisible disabilities, and disabled people of color as well. Be more deliberate. We are here, and we will always be here." https://lnkd.in/gxgh632d

Invisibility and stigmatization of persons with disabilities is rampant in our society. While the primary responsibility for protecting and promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities is vested in States, businesses have a duty to respect and promote those rights and do what they can to change perceptions, particularly among younger people who are heavily invested in the "Barbie" franchise. I recently wrote about this in my chapter on Businesses and Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities [https://lnkd.in/gPWN9ZQY]. Entrepreneurship and Human Rights Project #disabilityawareness #disabilityrights #inclusion #businessandhumanrights #barbiemovie

Are you afraid to speak to a disabled person? According to Scope's attitudinal survey in 2014, 67% of people felt "uncomfortable" speaking to a disabled person... When I discovered that figure, I was stunned. Were the majority of people that I met fearful to interact with me? Was I really that scary! 😯 Back when I was at #ShawTrust, our Disability Equality Network ran an event called "Are you one of the 67%?" We invited questions to a panel who volunteered to be totally "unscary" and give those much wanted answers! Admittedly some of the questions were a bit wild and I wouldn't have wanted to field those queries in the aisles of my local Morrisons when out shopping! But it was a very popular event. It was well received and people learned a lot about disability. As for #AskDontAssume, perhaps it's as simple as there's an appropriate "time and place"? We have to remember that disabled people face abuse every single day. I know that hostility is often borne from ignorance and misunderstanding, but is it really OUR job - as the disabled community - to educate others in order to avoid prejudice, discrimination or mistreatment? I'm willing to be open. To share my lived experiences. And when I'm out and about, I'm utterly grateful for someone asking me if I need help - strangers regularly ask "can I get that for you?" when I'm in the supermarket aisle and they notice I can't reach the goodies on the top shelf! This is an example of the right time and place, for me. If I'm looking at a top shelf and clearly can't reach it, then yes. Please do ask if I need help to reach that packet. If you spot me struggling to navigate my wheelchair through that heavy non- automated door, please don't overthink it. Ask me if I want help, or perhaps just hold that door! However, I think there's also a type of question you should not ask. Would I be grateful to be quizzed on why I'm in my wheelchair? No. Absolutely not. Would I want to share my night time experience of partial hip dislocation and how I need help to fix that from my Hubby? No. Of course not. I'm choosing to say it now to illustrate my point. There's a time, place and type of question to ask. Read the SCOPE survey here : https://lnkd.in/e3nEVtUc #AskDontAssume #ERG #DEN #Disability #WheelchairUser #Inclusion #Awareness #Learning #LivedExperience ImageDescription: Woman with brunette hair, dark pink lipstick, wearing black and silver striped top. She is smiling to camera.

Reason 1️⃣4️⃣ of #25Reasons to #support #give #donate to Disability Rights New Jersey, a #nonprofit organization this #GivingSeason. Disability Rights New Jersey receives federal funding to #educate people with disabilities about the importance of #voting through the Protection and Advocacy for Voter Access (PAVA) program which ensures that every qualified person with a #disability can vote on Election Day. 👉To achieve this goal, we meet with the Board of Elections to ensure that voters with disabilities have #access to the political process. We ensure that polling places are #accessible, we conduct voting #rights #presentations and #outreach events to the disability community. We participate in REV UP NJ as well as collaborate with a variety of voting rights coalitions. 👉In addition, we coordinate with the developmental disabilities network and produce a voting resource guide “Voting, It’s Your Right” which explains the process of voting, how to educate yourself on candidates and how to cast an independent ballot. As a non-partisan agency, we do not endorse candidates, however Disability Rights New Jersey offers a free voter #hotline to answer questions leading up to and on Election Day, in the event a voter has a question about voting or encounters an issue trying to vote. Support our work to ensure every qualified person with a disability can vote on Election Day. Make a donation at https://lnkd.in/ejbFy37M 🫶

As a woman with a disability and an entrepreneur, I recently had the privilege of assessing a pitching competition featuring ventures in the disability space. Many ideas were presented, and while some garnered enthusiastic responses from able-bodied individuals, they left me feeling uncomfortable. Several of these ventures focused exclusively on employing people with disabilities, which raised significant concerns for me: 1. Advocating Exclusion: By creating separate environments solely for disabled individuals, these ventures unintentionally promote exclusion rather than inclusion. True inclusion means integrating disabled people into mainstream workplaces where they work alongside their able-bodied peers. 2. Inspiration Porn: The applause and admiration often come from a place of sympathy rather than genuine support for equality. This "inspiration porn," as the late disability rights activist Stella Young called it, objectifies people with disabilities, using their stories to make able-bodied individuals feel good rather than addressing the real issues of inclusion and accessibility. 3. Paternalistic Behavior: Such ventures can inadvertently adopt a paternalistic approach, treating disabled individuals as needing special care rather than empowering them as equals. This undermines the dignity and autonomy of disabled people, reinforcing negative stereotypes instead of breaking them down. From an able-bodied perspective, these initiatives might seem like wonderful, altruistic efforts. It’s not easy to understand this feeling, and people who undergo this experience will know better and can tell you more. It’s hard to see that what might be perceived as empowerment and support often comes from a place of sympathy and paternalistic attitudes, rather than fostering real equality and integration. Even the PwDs employed there may not know how such opportunities come at a cost of their dignity. They are so deprived that they accept such charity with gratitude without realising that they have been objectified. This is my personal take, and I believe it's crucial to shift our focus towards creating inclusive environments where people with disabilities can thrive alongside everyone else. Let's aim for genuine equality and integration, where disabled individuals are seen and treated as equals in every aspect of life. It took immense struggle and effort for me to transition from a potential beneficiary to a formidable social entrepreneur. It was only possible because I got an opportunity to be included as an equal. #Inclusion #Equality #DisabilityRights #Entrepreneurship

Great summary of intersectional social issues affecting disabled people. I think if people are uncomfortable with "political" topics in work arenas they should evaluate their level of privilege, because chances are they are not affected by these issues personally. In order to have an equitable workplace we do need to talk about and address inequality in society.