The Empty Room – Indifference to Disability is Ordinary

One of my absolutely favorite writers on disability, Lydia Brown, is at Georgetown. She’s an increasingly well-known voice on disability issues and, not surprisingly, was asked to provide a training to student organizations about accessibility. She agreed. No one showed up. In a powerful post, Brown explains what the empty room means. Nothing demonstrates more … Continue ReadingThe Empty Room – Indifference to Disability is Ordinary

Transphobia and Miscegenation – Won’t Somebody Think of the (Cis-gendered) Children

My first ever op-ed was published in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Star Tribune. It was in 2006 and on the use of medieval rhetoric to talk about modern problems in the Middle East, a situation that continues today. Over the weekend, the Star Tribune published this full-page ad raising the worst kind of fear-mongering about transgendered … Continue ReadingTransphobia and Miscegenation – Won’t Somebody Think of the (Cis-gendered) Children

Presume Compliance – Miller, Hunt, Crawford

In the world of Down syndrome, we talk about “presuming competence” (hey, go buy a shirt!). That instead of “awareness,” we’d like to see a shift to a general presumption of competence first. More on this in pieces to come. I’ve been working, though, on ways of re-describing the strategic problems with police procedure as … Continue ReadingPresume Compliance – Miller, Hunt, Crawford

Highlights from CNN comments – #AbleistAbuseIs

Ableism in Action – These are comments from my recent CNN article on Kanye West. These are not trolls. These are people genuinely trying to express their thinking. Italics are me. Many of the issues here relate back to my post on “Hidden Disabilities,” featuring longer comments from readers. hgflyer lollardfish • 7 minutes ago … Continue ReadingHighlights from CNN comments – #AbleistAbuseIs

Update – Special Olympics Washington Apologizes, sort of.

Special Olympics Washington tweeted to me this: Special Olympics WA@SO_Washington@Lollardfish Our apologies. The intent was not to glamorize or offend. The name has been changed to “Run with the Cops”. Plz read below: They then deleted that tweet (hence no link), but later re-confirmed that they are changing the name. Here’s their statement in full. I … Continue ReadingUpdate – Special Olympics Washington Apologizes, sort of.

Special Olympics – Run From The Cops; Fund-Raising Based on Privilege

In Washington State, the Special Olympics organized a number of “Run From the Cops” events, with the final one taking place next week. I’ll let them explain. Grab a “partner in crime” and support the more than 10,000 Special Olympics Athletes across the state in this unique nighttime 5K. Walkers, runners, kids and costumes are … Continue ReadingSpecial Olympics – Run From The Cops; Fund-Raising Based on Privilege