Journalist – Historian – Speaker
“Mindblind” is the phrase coined by Simon Baron-Cohen to describe how autistic people view the world. The Wikipedia entry I think does a fair job of exploring the origins of the theory and the many, many, many critiques. For many autistic people, it in no way describes their lived reality, to which pro-mindblind folks reply, …
I forgot about this story and hadn’t thought about it as a disability-related case until I clicked on this tweet. With appreciation to @radleybalko for keeping what happened to the Burleys alive. https://t.co/TXiVrRO86f — Scott Greenfield (@ScottGreenfield) September 1, 2016 Radley Balko writes about the case here. It’s the consequence of a no-knock raid by …
I follow zoos and accessibility issues because zoos are super important to Nico. Here’s one from Omaha. It uses “handicapped” a lot (still so commonly in use) and is about a communication failure that gets resolved. At least a few children with disabilities have been turned away from the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium’s new …
A double amputee (legs) not matching the description of a robbery suspect was told by police to get out of the car with his hands up. 8th Circuit Court has reversed a district court granting “qualified immunity” to the police in question. I’m going to be referring to this case a lot as it embodies …
When I talk about the immediate relevance of the humanities and its skills to contemporary life (which I do), I always like to bring up Of Mice and Men. In Texas, people who are intellectually disabled are considered eligible for the death penalty only of they meet the “The Lennie Standard.” Now that’s being reconsidered. …
Notes: Ableism and extremely stigmatizing language follow. Note 2: Looking for autistic responses to this piece, if any. Mostly folks I follow on Twitter just seem tired and really, what else is there to say? Let me know if you see something I should link to here to signal boost. UPDATE: @Erabrand on Twitter produced an …
Elizabeth Picciuto and I collaborated on a piece in the Los Angeles Times today on abortion and disability rights in the age of Zika. Two key paragraphs: We are parents of children with disabilities who are also pro-reproductive rights. David Perry’s 9-year-old son has Down syndrome. Elizabeth Picciuto’s 6-year-old son has Cri du Chat syndrome and …
In an unforced error, the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago published a letter welcoming students to the university by telling them there would be no safe spaces or trigger warnings at his fine institution. The letter went viral, and we returned predictably to the same conversations we’ve been having about this for …
Today I’m part of a workshop on how Dominican might develop more curriculum around ableism. I’ll be talking for about 5 minutes on my basic definitions of ableism – focusing on violence – and then participating for a few hours in a group effort to propose a set of linked classes. It’s just the start …
Modern xenophobic Europeans have adopted medieval crusader imagery for their cause. As a medievalist, and more specifically a historian focused on imagination, memory, narrative creation, myth, and political culture focused around medieval crusading, I find this at once worrying and fascinating. Fascinating because it replicates many of the medieval processes by which crusading became a …