tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post6527408063188048878..comments2024-03-16T16:44:18.220-07:00Comments on Bad Cripple: Disability as a Complex Cultural Constructionwilliam Peacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-37503368057152574832009-05-11T05:31:00.000-07:002009-05-11T05:31:00.000-07:00Annie, The East and West coast of the USA are very...Annie, The East and West coast of the USA are very different culturally. The San Francisco area is ground zero for disability rights and in stark contrast to the suburbs of New York. There is zero commitment to inclusion and I think it is purposeful. Wheelchair access costs money, "special education" costs money. Neither is valued and if at all possible such expenditures are avoided. Tight budgets make this even more pronounced. Once in a while a kid in my son's school will need to use a wheelchair and the kid and parents are always shocked at how inaccessible the school is. My son must be the go to guy in this regard as he or I am asked for advice. We say the same thing every time--welcome to our world where the law is ignored and your existence is perceived to be a problem. Ignorance of the civil rights of people with a disability is a piss poor excuse as is cost cutting.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-10405839968708128522009-05-10T14:24:00.000-07:002009-05-10T14:24:00.000-07:00Your point about the absence of conversation about...Your point about the absence of conversation about disability in schools is thought provoking. Despite growing up in san francisco and attending what had to be some of the most PC of schools, disabilities were simply never talked about. These were schools that welcomed speakers on transgender politics, had multiple teachers arrested during the war protests, and had a twice-yearly "diversity day". I don't think disability and issues of inclusion were intentionally absent from discussion, it's just that nobody thought to include them--far from avoiding them, many administrators didn't even know these issues existed. In the same way, schools claim that they don't have to make accommodations simply because they do not have any students in wheelchairs in their district, without exploring why that might be (hint: the two issues are connected. shocking, i know)<br /><br />I don't know how you would go about incorporating disabilities and issues of inclusion in schools. Many schools wait until they have a token disabled student, which incorrectly individualizes the problem and often focuses exclusively on physical accessibility.<br /><br />thanks for the great post,<br />annieAnniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17498598965267453106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-69227735647218344792009-05-09T13:30:00.000-07:002009-05-09T13:30:00.000-07:00Claire, Yes, I get your drift. I also share your f...Claire, Yes, I get your drift. I also share your frustration. For some children with cognitive and physical disability the chaos of a school environment can be overwhelming and too much to bear. I have seen kids have major melt downs due to stimulation over load at adaptive ski centers. It is an experience I will not forget. There must be a way to incorporate or education such kids--where and how is the key issue. To me this gets to a the larger issue I have repeated here many times--is educating children with cognitive and physical disabilities a priority. Sadly, the answer is no if a child's need are perceived to be outside the norm and hence too expensive. We each want the same thing--education and approach it differently.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-11775087048344925722009-05-09T13:17:00.000-07:002009-05-09T13:17:00.000-07:00I am yet unable to properly express what I am thin...I am yet unable to properly express what I am thinking about in terms of full inclusion and what you are talking about as the opposite...yet I know we share similar frustrations. In our area it is a full inclusion philosophy that keeps my child and children like her unable to attend school...because in "fully accepting diversity as the norm" they end up denying the reality of severe multiple challenges, i.e., cognitive and physical...which precludes successful and joyful participation in a school community. Sure, you can get around in a wheelchair, but if you have sensory issues and can't handle a regular classroom environment...too bad...because you belong in a regular classroom, because we are just so darned progressive...I lack subtlety here but I think you get my drift.Clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13070297384173508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-24003601184991194472009-05-08T03:46:00.000-07:002009-05-08T03:46:00.000-07:00Stephanie, The Berube quote is in the essay "Ethic...Stephanie, The Berube quote is in the essay "Ethics Matter, Disability Studies: Exploring the Full Range of Human Life. It is in the Penn State Rock Ethics Institute website. It is a a great very short essay. <br /><br />Frida, The Cub scouts and Boy scouts are very different even though the BSA is in charge of both. The Cub scouts are run by parents and nothing but trouble in terms of disability. The Boy scouts are run by the boys. Thus it is an organizational disaster but access is rarely an issue. The boys actually value access and inclusion--or the boys in our troop do.<br /><br />Yes, they make left handed bow just like desks in classrooms.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-42432634682277920632009-05-07T21:07:00.000-07:002009-05-07T21:07:00.000-07:00With secondary schools, drill teams, marching band...With secondary schools, drill teams, marching band, and other activities require a high degree of conformity (makeup has to be the same brand and applied the same way, weigh ins--hello anorexia). With band, people's personalities often start grouping by the type of instrument they play. The message to students tends to be that you are cattle herded through a chute between classes. Be alike. Mooooo. Wheelchair? Moooo. If you can't fit in the chute, you either have to stand outside it or are shoved through it whether your chair fits or not. Stampeded sometimes.<br /><br />Me to husband: soooooo, do you guys have left-handed archery bows? The Cub Fun Day site is not wheelchair accessible, so I don't know. Even though we've had a couple of cubs in wheelchairs!FridaWriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321658097813377806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-25361783730724251842009-05-07T16:23:00.000-07:002009-05-07T16:23:00.000-07:00Thanks for this post. Where is the Berube quotati...Thanks for this post. Where is the Berube quotation from?mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04069632940893946342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-74837318595770292832009-05-07T12:59:00.000-07:002009-05-07T12:59:00.000-07:00Frida, Your comments about left handedness is astu...Frida, Your comments about left handedness is astute. It reminds me of an experience I had in the Boy Scouts. We purchased a few archery bows. It turned ou we had a high number of lefties--at least four boys. In spite of this, we never bought a single left handed bow. Too expensive and it would not be used was the justification. Now this sure does sound familiar. No ramps are needed or bus lifts because we have no kids that use a wheelchair. Duh, why are no kids with a disability present? No ramps and no lifts. The entire educational system in this country is profoundly flawed. A business model instituted by Bush has been a disaster. Obama can not possibly do any worse.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-84243544889533072732009-05-07T10:22:00.000-07:002009-05-07T10:22:00.000-07:00Last night I was thinking of similar issues with m...Last night I was thinking of similar issues with my kids' school. <br /><br />Though not a disability issue, we can see what we're up against with the ways schools refuse to accommodate any physical difference. One example of this is in the refusal to accommodate left-handed strings players, with all kinds of excuses made, from "appearance" to poking one's neighbor's eye out to lack of accommodation in orchestras (i.e., since others discriminate, we need to). Umm, sit the chairs further apart or group left-handers. So almost all left-handed strings players play right-handed, with the exceptions being truly rare. My son wants to play his sister's 3/4 violin next year, and he's left handed. I know it would be difficult for me to bow right handed and that many strings players say they do far better when they learn to play left-handed. Why the resistance? Because they cannot tolerate, for the love of God, anyone being different. We're not pushing this because we can't purchase a left-handed violin on our own right now, but to me the financial aid programs should allow a left-handed option and left-handed students should be given a choice. Some of us are strongly dominant with one hand or the other (as my daughter is with her right hand).<br /><br />When this kind of difference can't be tolerated, of course they can't tolerate wheelchairs or learning disabilities. The school teachers have also grown up in this system and many of them are black and white thinkers as well since their college major and education rhetoric teaches them to think this way.<br /><br />My response to, "but we never have anyone disabled come here" is: "because we can't get in or don't have access!"FridaWriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321658097813377806noreply@blogger.com