Journalist – Historian – Speaker
I hesitated to write this blog post, because it jeopardizes a potential outlet for coverage of disability-related stories. Being a freelancer means that criticizing anybody threatens future income streams. Tonic, the health page at Vice (and thus a disability venue) has a good article on the failure of colleges to teach consent. It looks at …
I’m always interested in tracking the ways that hatreds intersect and magnify. Here’s a classic one, still vibrantly alive among American racists. The New Yorker published a long article on the racists behind the mustard-based South Carolina BBQ sauce. The family that developed it has a long history of racism, and the man behind “Piggie Park” …
Every time there’s a new interview with Donald Trump, my social media feeds pop with people speculating about the president’s mental condition. For example: Scarborough & @ABC‘s Stephanopoulos were the 1st to normalize candidate Trump doing phone-in intvu’s, so this is both late & disingenuous. https://t.co/eKGHCUMBsq — Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) May 2, 2017 Here’s a …
Alabama GOP congressman Mo Brooks said that people who make “good choices” deserve better healthcare, thus framing the sick as morally inferior, as culpable. It’s not a new argument. “It will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool that helps offset all these …
A man who trains security guards sprayed pepper spray in the face of an autistic man who was taking a free cookie. He was the training director of one of St. Paul’s largest security companies — a man certified on when and how to use Mace.Which left police mystified as to why Timothy Knutsen would …
The New Statesman reports on deaths in restraint or otherwise in custody of mentally ill civilians in Texas. There’s a new bill pending, the Sandra Bland Act. The paper reports on the bill, but also investigated deaths. Excerpts: Klessig is one of at least 33 people with histories of mental illness who died after being …
Disability rights are under attack in DC. Right-wing politicians want to slash Medicaid, the shift towards “school choice” is a blatant attack on special education rights, the ADA is being dismissed as overwhelmed by frivolous lawsuits, and the GOP argues that SSDI is mostly fraud. It’s not, but narratives can overwhelm data so easily. So …
My son just demonstrated a clear understanding of the concept of time and the function of clocks. /1 — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) April 25, 2017 For the past year or so, Nico’s expressive discussions of time have been emerging. He’ll be in the bath, I’ll ask him he’s done, and he’ll say no. “Two …
@Lollardfish #CultofCompliance meets type 1 diabetes. https://t.co/8YVou3CcGD — Julia Boss (@juliaboss5) April 24, 2017 Mom arrives at school to make sure her son has had his insulin, is told that the nurse is late, that she can’t give the injection without the nurse, and that her son has to wait in the office, isolated from …
NOS Magazine published an anti-choice and a pro-choice piece, back to back, last week. The anti was written by Ivanova Smith and makes this argument: Even though some in the disability community don’t see this as a modern form of eugenics, I do. Eugenics is advocating for the death of those who are seen as a …