Blindsight- Climb Every Mountain?

At the Chicago premier of the 2006 documentary film Blindsight I was reminded of Werner Herzog's The Land of Silence and Darknes (1971), on the work of German deaf- blind activist Fini Straubinger. It's disheartening to note the lack of substantive documentaries on blindness to follow Herzog's first feature length production. And Herzog can still be recognized as one of the first directors outside of the disability rights movement to cast actual disabled people in his films (as opposed to coddled Hollywood directors/ actors cloying grabs for Oscar nominations with their touching portrayals of disabled people's lives- a.k.a. the "Blackface" of Ableism). So, just in time and in the spirit of the season, here's my take on the new documentary film.

Blind people are no strangers to strories of overcoming- something producer Sybil Robson- Orr and director Lucy Walker (Devil's Playground) are certainly conscious of in their treatment of extreme sports enthusiast Erik Weihenmayer's bold concept for the film. Responding to an invitation to speak at Braille Without Borders following his historic climb to the top of Mount Everest (Weihenmayer is the first blind man to claim that distinction), Erik encouraged a group of six blind teens from the school to join him on an expedition to climb a 23,000 foot peak. Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is its surplus of "firsts" competing for attention: Braille Without Borders is the first school for the blind in Tibet, where, prior to its founding by Sabriye Tenberken in 1998, blind children were shunned and denied access to education. The word "zhara," meaning blind idiot, is a common slur in the region despite the unusally high number of blind people living in Tibet.

Rejected by the German peace corps because of her blindness, Sabriye traveled on horseback to the outlying villages of Lhasa on her own to recruit students to attend school. In its short ten year history Braille Without Borders has expanded to include a massage therapy training program and a working farm in addition to offering traditional academics, Braille and Orientation and Mobility classes.. Many students undergo a process called "self- integration" wherein they enter the general school system. The school now operates under the leadership of BWB graduate Kyila, one of the students featured in the film.

It is against these dramatic backstories that the teens' thrilling climbing expedition unfolds. As the team begins training exercises each student is paired with an experienced mountaineering guide . Erik coaches the teens on alternative techniques like walking with two staffs on rugged terrain as opposed to the white canes normally used for mobility. Sabriye voices her concerns about common dangers such as altitude sickness but ultimately consents, hoping for a memorable learning experience for her students.

For me the most interesting passages in the film took place in the kids' homes where parents' reactions to the expedition subtly and succinctly reveal truths about family dynamics and the diverse attitudes towards blindness found in Tibetan culture. One father recounts the day that smoke from fish frying on the fire seemed to aggrevate his daughters' vision, adding that he knows that her vision had likely already been affected prior to the incident. Another parent casually jokes with his son that, of the 200 annually reported climbing accidents, "you'll be the one to fall off the mountain."

A couple of summers ago, I worked with blind teens at a training center in Colorado where rock climbing are popular confidence- and trust- building exercises. I carry a lavalier keychain to remind me of that summer in which I scaled a sheer cliff or two of my own- literally. Rock climbing is a great tactile sport when combined with good training in responsible alternative techniques. I can tell you that the ropes and harnesses supporting one's weight in case of a mistep (or grab) are reassuringly thick. It's a sport requiring teamwork, trust, guts and a respect for others' natural strengths and limits. It also challenges you to live in the moment in a way that few activities can.

That said, Blindsight is a film that examines hubris and acceptance in equal parts, and the personalities of Erik and Sabriye are well- suited to the task of examining our complex relationships to each. Tension plays out most vividly during the climb itself as the western- trained mountaineers and Sabriye debate the true measure of a successful expedition, brining to light the underlyuing cultural differences between the American adventurers and Tibetan teens. It's reasonable to add that blind people need not "climb every mountain" in order to acheive self- confidence, particularly in a country already having to contend with things like nationalist oppression, poverty and foreign influence.

Braille Without Borders is itself a western import, though ultimately a valuable one for the people of Tibet. According to the producer in a Q&A following the Chicago screening, the school now has to issue vision tests as its popularity has grown to entice sighted applicants.

Learn more about Braille Without Borders and how to support their efforts in Tibet and India. More information on the film can be found at blindsightthemovie.com.

Blindsight, Chicago Premier

Starts April 11 at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago! Meet the Producer on Opening Night!

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, Blindsight follows the gripping adventure of six Tibetan teenagers who set out to climb the 23,000-foot Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Mount Everest. The dangerous journey soon becomes a seemingly impossible challenge -- made all the more remarkable by the fact that the teenagers are blind.

Believed by many Tibetans to be possessed by demons, the children are shunned by their parents, scorned by their villages and rejected by society. Rescued by Sabriye Tenberken, a blind educator and Nobel Peace Prize nominee from Germany who established the first school for the blind in Tibet, the students invite the famous blind American mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer to visit their school after learning about his conquest of Everest. Erik arrives in Lhasa and inspires Sabriye and her students Kyila, Sonam Bhumtso, Tashi, Gyenshen, Dachung and Tenzin to let him lead them higher than they have ever been before. The resulting 3-week journey is beyond anything any of them could have predicted.

Directed by Lucy Walker/Produced by Sybil Robson Orr

Released by Spark Entertainment/104 minutes/35mm/MPAA Rated PGIn English and Tibetan with English Subtitles.
For the trailer and more information please visit:

www.blindsightthemovie.com

Starts Friday, April 11: MUSIC BOX THEATRE, 3733 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL 60613, 773-871-6604, www.musicboxtheatre.com

Daily Showtime April 11-17: 7:20pm; Sat/Sun Matinee at 2:30pm
Audio Description for the visually impaired available at all BLINDSIGHT shows.
SPECIAL EVENT AT THEATER ON OPENING NIGHT:A discussion and Q&A will follow the 7:20 show on Friday, April 11 with Sybil Robson Orr, Producer of BLINDSIGHT.

For more information contact Karen O'Hara at karenoh@aol.com or 520-326-0813

My Touch Lecture's Available from College Art Association

In February I had the pleasure of giving a talk on contemporary dis/ abled artists who explore the sense of touch in their work. I now have a copy of the panel discussion on cd for anyone interested in the topic. Maybe if I'm feeling ambitious I can figure out how to put it up on the blog. You'll get to hear me stammering away about the minor offenses of Derrida, the intrigues of Judith Butler and the awesomeness of artitsts Catheine Sherwood, Sandy Yi, Stepehn Lapthisophon and me. You might even be able to hear the old school chook- choocks of a slide projector in the background!

In Search of Vision's Body: the Role of Touch in the Practice of Painting and Architecture can be purchased online, along with the entire catalogue of events from the 2008 College Art Association Conference in Dallas. Be sure to check out my co- panelists and organizers Sanda Iliescu, Thomas Berding, Phoebe Crisman, Nathan Coleman and Derek Brueckner.

The Texture of Cyclops and Supernovas

I'm rereading a passage from James Elkins's chapter on blindness in The Object Stares Back. This piece was really important to me as an undergrad painter. It opens with this surprising observation.

Because we cannot see what we do not understand or use or identify with we see very little of the world- only the small pieces that are useful and harmless.

This statement had an odd impact on me at the time, perhaps it was the weight of 500 years of ocularcentricism lifting from my shoulders. Artists definitely pick and choose what themes will be central to their work though the single- mindedness of their choices aren't always harmless. In their own lifetimes, painterly obsessions are often treated as professional liabilites. I'm reminded of a 19th century critic's snippy comment about J. M. W. Turner's "cyclops-" those exuberant globs of yellow ochre and cadmium red suns stamped like a wax seal on his canvases.

When I was younger looking at reproductions of Turner's paintings I'd wonder, what's with all the seascapes? Turner's work isn't meant for remote viewing; standing in front of one of these paintings is the best way to explore physical evidence of the gestures that first ignited the chemical surf.

Painting has everything to do with residue, films, sheens, traces and other forms of pigmentary reffuse. Now that we're well into the second decade of digital imaging and with more than a century of photographic processes behind us, I'd argue that this textural alchemy is what makes painting great.

In Blindness Elkins' attention turns to the stars themselves when describing vision's remarkable exclusivity:

Perhaps ordinary vision is less like a brightly lit sky with one blinding spot in it than like the night sky filled with stars. He asserts that vision is immensely troubled. Sight is not merely partial blindness or selective seeing but a determinate trading of blindness and insights. I couldn't agree more, and I appreciate it when he positions blindness firmly in the physiological sense of the word. At least he recognizes that blindness exists on a continuum with vision; at one end is 20/20 vision, at the other, total blindness. Most of us (including most blind people) occupy a space on the bell curve falling somewhere between these two coordinates.

Supurban- thanks for asking!

I can't think of it as the suburbs- my apartment's only a couple of blocks from the El after all, but after ten blissful years in the city my street address no longer contains a Chicago zipcode. I'm still just 30 min from the Loop, and to my knowledge there are no kids picking banjos on their front porches. The public library, a 40's style diner and parks are all within a three block radius of my house and the big fur tree ourfront brings me disproportionate amounts of joy. I don't miss Pilsen- not yet anyway. I will miss my landlord, a Polish grandma/ architect who drove me home from the hospital once and brought me soup when I was sick- but I digress.

I haven't been homesick for any of my old apartments in Chicago, with the possible exception of my first, a historic women's international dorm in the Gold Coast which has since been turned into condos.

As for Alabama, well I'm always homesick for Cheahah and miniscule hillside towns swimming in pine trees. I miss the geophraphy of forest and foothills and indigo ridges in the distance. I do NOT miss the flatness of the prairie or the brown shrubs midwesterners stubbornly refer to as trees.

Fissures

When I began this blog, I never imagined Id be reporting on hate crimes, but here we are. There are infinite ways for the heart to break over this stuff, a kaleidoscope of faces and stories that flicker across the Internet and are never heard from again. Documenting hate crimes against people with disabilities should be handled with the same swiftness and professionalism as crimes committed on the basis of race, sexual orientation or religion. We know this, so why hasn't the media gotten the message? It's unconscionable for a crime like the premeditated beating death of Brent Martin by three teenage boys to go unnoticed by the major networks.

Meanwhile, my friend "Saul" is concerned about going to a birthday party at a friend's house. He's afraid his sister won't let him go. He thinks she doesn't trust him to be on his own. It may be true that ableism clouds her perspective, but Saul's sister is also influenced by the very real fear that what happened once will happen again. Saul is the survivor of a hate crime. I doubt anyone in his neighborhood would classify it as such. They tell themselves, these things happen. Better keep him home from now on for his own safety.

Punishing the victim, restricting his freedom- this makes sense to some people. As solutions go it is a fairly low maintenance one. Apprehending the assholes who target people with disabilities, prosecuting them and raising awareness about such offenses takes work. It takes a zero tolerance attitude and cohesive action on the part of law enforcement. More importantly, it takes a commitment from the community to assert that these things don't just happen. When a person with a disability is assaulted- this is major news, because we should all be on the same page on this one! Is our culture really so degraded that we're incapable of acknowledging the thugs who do this, which, let me point out, is an attitude that is still painfully, pitifully, far from voicing public outrage?

When my friend Saul is discouraged from going out for fear that he will "get into trouble" or more accurately that trouble may find him, it sends the message that Saul's freedoms are held in lower regard than those of the punks who assaulted him. It suggests that there is no middle ground- no cell phones, for instance, that he could use to call someone if he happened to need assistance? It implies that there is no safe public space for people with disabilities. It smacks of the "women ask for it" myth. I'm loathe to even go into the various ways Saul could achieve his goal of traveling independently because that's so not the point of this post.

Look how easy it is to give into a lie when dissenting voices of those in the know are kept at the periphery.

Media Musings: Rock the Loud Minority!

Every blog carnival that I've had the pleasure to click through leads me to the same conclusion. I am thrilled at the range and depth of talent of the writers in our blog community- and stunned at how many of us type away each day delivering consistantly fabulous, illuminating contnet- for free and easyInternet consumption. I do believe that writers should get paid for their craft, but we all know the significant challenges involved in getting quality disability- related content out to the masses by means of popular media outlets- i.e. those that write checks.

The reason we invest our valuable time and limited resources- essentially reporting the news for free- is simple. We care about the issues that affect people. Regardless of one's position in life, the concerns affecting people with disabilities affect us all. Americans can no longer afford to hide behind an "us/ them" mindset. We in the community understand the nature of the dividing line, that it is infinitely porous, fluid. Maybe it changes its course as you enter your senior years, have kids, when new neighbors move in across the street. The line arches to encompass friends and relatives at all stages of life, colorfully winding its way through our communities. When did your "them" start to bear an uncannty resemblance to those you call friend, colleague, lover, parent, child?

If you are under 40 you likely shared a classroom with a disabled student. Maybe you hung out, went to each others birthday parties. You did not attend a segregated school system, why accept media that is one- dimmensional and lazy with the facts about a vital segment of your community? Take this as fact instead: disability issues influence YOUR legislators, YOUR community leaders, YOUR bills in congress, YOUR healthcare providers, YOUR school districts, YOUR places of business, YOUR economy.

It is my hope that disabled journalists, with or without a venture like [With-tv] will figure out a way to fill the gap created by popular media's consistant misrepresentation and cliche- ridden content. This week's blog carnival hosted at [With-tv] is a fine compilation of voices and a testament to the possibilites of engaging a broader audience.

With the current writer's strike network television is at a standstill. But writers in the disability blog community won't go silent because we understand that the price of media complacency is a debt of devastating proportion. Turn to this week's blog carnival to read some of the facts the mainstream media overlooked.

Happy Holidays!

Polar bear sculpture using "found" mosaic pieces- I love the teapot nipple on her belly! This expat Berliner Bear stands outside a popular Canadian restaurant where we retreated for a hearty breakfast during our stay in Berlin (Germans eat a lot of cold cuts for brekfast, this gets tiresome).

More of photos of my vacation to Berlin and western Czech Republic can be seen here.

Jeanne Assam Dealt Charlie's Angels Treatment

I don't know why I even bother turning on the television anymore, seeing as how the morning news has a tendency to pulverize an otherwise affable mood. I probably should have flipped the switch on Tuesday's interview with Jeanne Assam, the born again security guard who shot Colorado's megachurch gunman on Sunday.

According to Assam it was God who guided her hand in the fatal shooting of 24 year old Matthew Murray shortly after he'd opened fire on parishioners of the expansive New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Murray killed two teenage girls in the church's parking lot before entering the building where he was apprehended by Assam and killed. The shooting followed on the heels of Saturday's incident at a youth mission center in nearby Arvada in which two were killed and others wounded. Murray is thought to be responsible for both attacks.

I don't believe in God, but if I did I 'd hope It wouldn't favor the micro-managerial style fundies often attribute as a divine presence dictating their actions. Does God really have to tell you to disarm a murderous gunman? This kind of rhetoric suggests that nothing short of a belief in God can inspire selfless acts like Assam's. Hearing people talk about their relationship with God is like listening to someone describe their own alien abduction, for me anyway. It's cool if you believe in that sort of thing but listening to you talk about it is just going to make me a little afraid of you.

It's sickening that more people have been killed in this manner- that goes for everyone including the gunman. Mainstream media's handling of these crimes is frequently cringe- worthy, but Tuesday's GMA interview with Assam was the most excruciating 30 seconds of programming I've witnessed in quite some time. A review of the facts of the church shooting were followed by questions about Assam's faith and how she came to be a member of the church (Assam stated that, like so many, she'd come to God "after hitting rock bottom"). As if that weren't painful enough the reporter turned the screws on Assam by delving further into her personal life. In a sing- song voice one might use on a kid he cooed something like, "And I hear that you've been looking for something...?"

Assam hesitated as if shocked before taking the bait, regrettably.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a good man. I know God will reveal him to me in His time."

Did the reporter set out to make Assam look foolish? I may not agree with her ideology, but there's no denying that she acted heroically in a horrible situation and should be commended for her level- headed marksmanship. What saving hundreds of human lives has to do with her dating prospects I'll never know. The 9/11 firefighters wouldn't have been subjected to discussions of their match.com accounts, so why was Assam considered fair game? I suspect it had something to do with the need to defuse a fine example of female spiritual power. Because it's much easier to reduce a woman to her sexuality than to form a portrait of her character in the space of time of a soundbite. ABC producers took the low road capitalizing on the (easily consumed) titillation afforded by casting Assam as a hot, gun- slinging ex- cop who kicks ass- AND she's single!!

IIt kind of freaks me out to learn that megacurches have security guards (though I'm not entirely surprised). The church did state that its security force is made up of volunteers, not hired mercenaries as some had suggested. Interesting.y, Christian fundie blogs were among the first to report that heightening church security had been Assam's idea following the Arvada attack.

As usual scant commentary has surfaced on the fact that the current epidemic of shootings are carried out by people who are MENTALLY ILL. Suggesting that such crimes might be preventable just doesn't make for good infotainment (best stick to good old fashioned woman bashing). Certainly extending blame to include anyone but the shooters is met with derision. I fear that the subliminal message being sent is that the sick and disenfranchised must always act alone, preferably with an eye towards a violent flourish.

Violent criminals are just that- regardless of the severity and scope of their destructiveness. Lone shooters have ample access to fire arms and limited exposure to psychiatric treatment options. Getting connected to useful mental health care supports is very often a long and complicated process that demands sustained motivation on the part of the individual seeking care, the collaboration of trained professionals, not to mention personal skills like patience, assertiveness and planning. A patient that can make that level of effort and commitment to her mental well- being is probably farther from the types of extreme emotional states that precede deadly shooting sprees.

Americans still cling to the idea that unfettered access to health care is somehow unamerican, the hallmark of mamby- pamby governments that coddle their citizens with soft core "socialist" perks. Want to be healthy? Here in America we still gotta work for it.

My thoughts on all of this sort of landslided into a slushy heap of disgust. I have to admit, I feel a little guilty about criticizing fundie rhetoric given the timing, but Tuesday's newsbite was all about dueling cliched rhetoric.

Last night I dreamed that Jeanne Assam had been drafted by the CIA to work in Lisbon under the cover Excessive Shoe Shopping. Diabolical.

Jennifer Justice, Works on Paper on View Now in Denver

My work is on view at VSAC in Denver. Hope some of you will head on over to this unique exhibit.

It's All About Touch
A juried show of tactile artwork from across the country. This show is all about artwork that is accessible through the sense of touch. National and local artists have contributed pieces to make this a memorable show including Ann Cunningham, Paul Bouchard, Jennifer Justice, Tina Blatter, Pam Cooke, Naomi Marrow and special musical guest – Eddie Salcido.

Featured Artist: Michael Naranjo is a recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award from the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. Mr. Naranjo has pieces of work in the collections of the Vatican, the White House, and Phoenix’s Heard Museum.

Opening Night Reception, Friday, October 19: Close Your Eyes and Open Your Mind. The entire gallery will be darkened so patrons can experience the art tactually. Hosted by The National Federation of the Blind of Denver and the Colorado Center for the Blind with food provided by Little India.

Family Art Day, Saturday, October 27, 11am-1pm: Making your own tactile art, Ann Cunningham, author and nationally know tactile artist, and Pam Cooke will lead this workshop. Free and open to the public.

First Friday, November 2, 6-9pm: Hosted by The National Federation of the Blind of Denver and the Colorado Center for the Blind with food provided by Jose’s Restaurant. Special Musical Guest: Eddie Salcido.

Gallery Talk, Wednesday, November 7, 11:00am-1:00pm: A workshop for educators, arts administrators and designers facilitated by experts in the field Ann Cunningham and Buna Dahal on how to make shows more accessible for people who are blind or have visual impairment. Space is limited so please rsvp to vsaco@earthlink.net.

Lately

I've been pulled away from blogging due to a couple of self- imposed deadlines concerning vague academic ambitions that I'd rather not get into in detail just yet. Let the record show that personal statements are loathesome exercises in self- doubt. It's not that I have a problem with self- promotion, but I hate having to represent myself to an audience I know nothing about- save the fact that they are a shadowy ring of academics perhaps installed in a bunker atop the Alps. It's a daunting task. What do the high priests of intellectual taste want to know? Probably they'd like to know if I'd be any fun at a faculty party, but the zombie dialect of academic writing bars me from mentioning the time I was bitten on the knee under a bar table by my very inebriated and otherwise gay advisor.

The best I can do is mention this site, so that maybe someone will click on over on break from reviewing applications.

The nature of the work I want to do necessitates that I talk about my disability. Again, it helps to know your audience. Have they been educated on the rights of people with disabilities? Do I have some 'splainin' to do ? Or will revealing too much offend some one's need to perceive herself as politically correct and "supportive of diversity?"

Personal statements are a crazy maker.

I'll follow up on this thread soon.

She's the epitome of Asian eyes

Words spoken by one young Tammy on the train from Naperville.

Notes on How to Draw a Pile of Rocks

When drawing a pile of rocks it is wise to start
at bottom, sisyphean this three flat walk up once day dreaming of all God's houses-

to believe would have been so much easier,
coughed up at Normandy, spitting ember sand pelt
hairline fissures issue soothsayer.

Visions would be embracing waves
and this would not be happening.
For it is necessary to build one's house on the rock

or so it was written before anyone bothered to write
things down, recollecting cataclysm best
thrown back on the limey ransomed shores.

Thought the Romans recycled their soldiers
in aftermath of Pomepie ticker- tape parade
reckoned all art was dead carbon, was okay with it.

Statues scrapped from quarries runners turned to ash
ancients forever spinning mannah, you could blame alchemy.
Mummy was a god was saint and monster

inlaid with ossuary cobbles.

Naysayers

"Ernesto" runs the cafe at the agency where I work. I noticed that my colleagues weren't encouraging E to do his job independently. I'd had some prior experience teaching cooking classes to blind teens, so I began working with him on grinding and brewing the coffee using nonvisual techniques. It's been a couple of months and he's completed training. He no longer needs our assistance to do his job. In fact, he's really great at it. He's a natural salesman, which I really envy.

My colleagues's have responded to all this not with encouragement as you would think but by grumbling about his "non- compliant behavior-" which I translate to mean that: they (the sighted staff) are made uncomfortable by the fact that Ernesto is doing his job independently- why? because said job involves handling hot liquids? And in what bizarre universe does wanting to do your job on schedule mark you as non- compliant?

Ernesto has come to me complaining about how these same staff members continue to tell him how to do his job. I suggested that he could go on strike on the days these folks' interferance becomes too much, but he has chosen to take the high road and negotiate, calling on a winning combination of charm and humor in dealing with these naysaysers.

I really don't care what they think. Ernesto loves his job and does it well. His social skilss are better than mine. End of story.

Blog Carnival #23- Consider It Brought

Simply the Best My friends are forever promising (or is it threatening?) to write a comic based on the antics of Jennifer Justice. I can live with it- kids need as many positive role models as they can get. But some of us are way too modest! I thought I would encounter more grandstanding, more swagger from our ranks. Not so!

True, we have good reason to recoil at terms like inspiring, amazing and heroic. But it is ironic that while so many of us work to reverse harmful Super Crip stereotypes, Able- Bodied America clamors at the high alter of shameless self promotion. For better or worse, our culture has decided that success should bare an uncanny resemblance to fame- mongering egotism.

We are an aggressive people inhabiting impossibly fragile bodies,

I don't believe in excessive modesty. But then again, I'm not sure I want to take on our megalomaniac culture, not all by myself. From what I've been reading, that culture ain't pretty. Maybe I'll just stick to being a snob who practices passive resistance in her spare time. And I'll rely on your words when I need to be inspired or need to be reminded of the dangers of thinking in superlatives.

Anti- heroes- the New Black I can certainly relate to this Top Ten List from The Blind Bookworm's poison pen, er, keyboard? Apparently, not all blind people are gifted musicians! Some of us even require an intervention. Thanks to Evil Kestrell for saying what I so often think! I too am bored by the whole "bad blind person" debate!

Critical Bogle explains why it's not easy being green when you have a disability and the "dolphin killing" big box stores are the only ones with accessible aisles and parking. And if you're in the mood for a more scholarly read, you can head on over to peer review Super Crips, Disabled Anti- heroes and the Women Who Care for Them, wherein Bogle examines gendered relationships in films like My Left Foot.

I love the premise of Thailand Gal's blog, on planning a move to a new country. Submitted for our reading pleasure a Theravada oasis of a sparsely populated forest far from ego. She encourages us to "tell someone else in your life what he or she does that matters to you."

Forget about inspiring others. We have better things to do. To quote Goldfish, "Impairment is something that happens to you or the way you happen to be, not something you take on." We look to our own friends and allies for affirming words. I know that when I feel like shit, the last thing I want to hear is how strong everybody else thinks I am. I'd much rather get someone else's take on a difficult experience, someone who shares a bit of my own philosophy (I'd be a fairly lousy existentialist).

What happens when an autistic kid saves a life? Is he twice as heroic as NTs who have found themselves in similar situations? Or is this an example of one cliche amplifying another?

Hidden Talents? "Stay tuned for the launch of my next website: The 19th Floor After Dark. it's sure to be your one-stop location for all things naked and disabled and lawyerly." Why does lawyerly sound so dirty? Better ask Mark.

Consumer Reports For a Wheelie Catholic, Ruth has some choice words for Medicare, sung to the tune of If I Had a Hammer.

On a happier note, Zuska and Mom offer their rave review of the funkadelic beach wheelchair.

Unsolicited Advice from "the Experts" Wow, we should consider ourselves lucky to have so many experts on our side. So many noble souls consulting on on our behalf. They claim to know what is best for us. Many of them work pro bono and they are remarkably persistent. Miraculously, they seem to know everything about us regardless of prior acquaintance, from what clothes we should wear to the type of medicines we should be taking. Ruth explains.

Thailand Gal discovered this week that the pharmacists at Target are more than eager to dispense life coaching in addition to scripts.

Snake Oil Celeb Now I have one more reason to despise Jenny McCarthy- just what I need. It took a D List Celebrity to find a cure for autism!

Best Explored Shilo examines the sensitive topic of guardianship for the Council on Developmental Disabilities- an engrossing topic and one that doesn't get anywhere near the amount of attention it deserves.

I received several reports on the disturbing child services case involving Fran Lyon in England.

Shaheen Lakhan at Brainblogger celebrated ADD Awareness Day by losing her car keys.

Stephen at Planet of the Blind offers scathing satirical commentary on the Defective People Industry. I can't believe I'd never heard that term before.

Finally, Emma reflects on the people who have come into her life as a direct result of having CP.

Eat Your Vegetables Robert embarks on one of the sacred rites of parenting. Check out that adorable Baby Afro!

Best of Show I was originally introduced to Creativity Explored by way of Michael Bernard Loggins, whose poem Fears of Our Lives was featured on This American Life a few years ago. Well known for their ambitious exhibitions and roster of talent, the folks at CE recently launched a new website where you can buy/ license original artwork, browse the events blog and get to know studio artists. Penny notified me of their upcoming show Super Heroes Super Villains.

Jodi at Reimer Reason just held a contest to come up with a "cool" alternative title for her son's new respite worker. Looks like they have a winner.

Best All Around I'm fast becoming addicted to Dave Hingsburger's blog Chewing the Fat, but it's hard not to when one encounters passages like this:

It came clear to me that 'choice' could only be made where there was both self-esteem and assertiveness. I saw a definition of choice for people with disabilities that helped me think this through. Choice is uncoerced selection.

Most agencies are concerned about the opportunity for an increased number of 'selections' but have not put much emphasis on the 'uncoerced' part. There is only choice where there is no fear of punishment. Where there is safety to select. Where the word 'REALLY' as in, "Do you REALLY want dessert?" "Do you REALLY want to buy that blouse?" does not exist.

Also, Dave wants you to label him- that's right. Hang a handicapped parking sign around his neck, folks, he's done. Here's your reward. Sorry we can't offer you a virtual beer buzz what with the limitations of current technology. A picture will have to do for now.


Thanks to Penny for calling my attention to some fab posts for this topic. The next disability blog carnival will be held at Disability Studies.

Visual Description: At top, a blue ribbon in closeup lying on its side. At bottom, Dave's "virtual beer" is a six pack of Pabst of course!

Tyra Banks, America's Moral Compass

Last week as America railed against national tragedy (no, not that icky war stuff! I'm talking about our fallen mouseketeer- where are you priotities people?!), Tyra Banks was back in the talkshow studio tending to the thankless job of saving America's youth from themselves. Here's a brief recap of Wednesday's Teenville episode:

Brave kids from various races and backgrounds spend time in a fabricated community, where they are faced with making quick decisions based on their first impressions of each other. From assigning occupations such as garbage man, mayor and prostitute to deciding who to marry and even who should be exiled, the outcomes reflect stereotypes that still exist in society today.

Wow, I feel safer knowing that Tyra is tackling this insidious social problem. I mean who knew that teenagers were succeptable to shallow, stereotypical behavior? What a scoop!

Tyra's mystified and outraged at some of the teens' mean choices, though a glimpse at the reasoning fueling her indignation is what's most appalling. In an interview with GMA, she talked about the groups' appointment of an overweight teen as the "Homeless Person." Tyra's noted that she herself had interviewed homeless people for a previous show and had observed that the homeless tended to be thin as they were in fact hungry. Deconstruct these words for yourselves, folks. I'm too tired.

Tyra's troubled not by the groups' cruel stereotyping so much as by what she views as its inaccuracy. Perhaps if her casting crew had pulled in a couple of disabled teens one of them could have lent the role more authenticity?

In reality, casting crews won't touch disabled people with a ten- foot pole. I throw up a little imagining the conversations that went on during production meetings for Teenville.

"Hmmm, let's see- garbage man? homeless person? Ooh, we'll need to pull in some uggos for those jobs."

"Are we looking for tv ugly or really ugly?"

"TV ugly, of course! This isn't Maury! Now, be a dear and get me headshots of some fat chicks..."

Am I too cynical? No, no I'm not.

For in the bizarro language of television, the fat girl is trotted out as a stand- in for ALL undesirable body types.

As for the girl the teens' decided was wearing too much eyeliner, she is SO NOT a prostitute! She looks beautiful, so don't even go there! Except that they did go there, coming down as hard on excessive makeup as they did on weight.

The thing I find most sad about the experiment is that none of the teens elected to reject or modify the occupations they were given, printed on dopey board signs. They followed the rules of the exercise, letting the group determine who they would be based on first impresions.

Tyra's clearly addicted to her own self righteousness, as evidenced by her two shows' preoccoupation with chiding perfectionism. The psychological landscape of Tyra's entertainment enterrprise should be studied. And I love the Dungeon of Self Absorption that is the Tyra Banks Show's website with links like Tyra's World.

Visual description: Five sad teens onstage at the Tyra Banks Show each with a white plaquard sign hanging around their necks. The two male Caucasian kids signs read Religious Leader and Mayor. The two African American girls' signs read Secretary and Garbage Man. The slightly heavier teens' sign reads Homeless Person.

Disability Blog Carnival #23 Is Simply the Best

The Resilience edition of the Disability Blog Carnival is up today at Reimer Reason. Next issue's theme is "Simply the Best," and girl, we are bringing it! And right on our home turf. That's right, I'll be throwing down and talking trash with the best of 'em right here at PH headquarters.

Simply the Best Your responses to this phrase may range anywhere from "whatever the hell that means!" to exploring the highs and lows of the SuperCrip phenomenon. You may have thoughts about those institutions that seek to decide what is "best" for others. I'm interested in everything from public swagger to revelations on personal folly. Of course, if you're really all that, or think you are, then be my guest honeyand bring it on!!! Send entries to thisislivingzine@gmail.com.

P.S. you don't have to be a saucy- mouthed teenager to participate, but it certainly can't hurt!

There's one thing I have on all y'all and that's my name which one could argue is both a blessing and a curse- but perfect for a disability rights activist/ SuperCrip heroine. I'm in talks with Marvel Comics as we speak! What makes you so special? Oh, right...

Visual description: This is a photo from an ABC news item about Jessica Parks, a high school cheerleader born without arms. Here Jessica practices a routine on an athletic field. She is held aloft by her squad mates who appear at the bottom of the frame with arms outstretched to catch her.

Whine and Cheese- I can't believe this thing is still around...

I'm taking part in Blogging Against Charity Day, hosted by Kara and Miss Crip Chick. Enjoy!

I remember watching the AMD telethon as a kid. I thought it was cool that kids with disabilities (who I totally identified with) got to hang out with celebrities for hours on end all in the name of a "good cause." The telethon looked like one big party- spoiled only by the pious whining of the host, who posed for pledge spots with children positioned like fashion accessories at his side.

The unease I felt towards Jerry Lewis was similar to the heeby-jeebies I experienced at Christmas in the presence of Mall Santa.

Mall Santa was inauthentic, tatty, an impostor whose job it was to affect paternalistic concern, the careless voyeur to my fledgling consumerism. Mall Santa had freakishly youthful skin and eyes. he said "like" and "cool" a lot. He could have been my older brother pulling a prank.

"So you want a Snacktime Kid? Dude, I heard those things bite kids' fingers off! Better not let it near your hamster, if you know what I mean!"

Mall Santa had surprisingly muscular legs, a high school jock in a fat suit and beard. I was mortified knowing that if I could feel leg muscles through the cheap velour suit, then surely he could feel my bony little butt. I felt dirty, like I'd signed up to make kiddie porn without knowing it.

When I was three, my mom was interviewed for a local fundraiser for the March of Dimes. I watched the show from home with my grandmother, talking to my mom through the television's speaker. For years I thought laugh tracks were the guffaws of people watching the same shows I was in their own homes. I'd laugh extra loud trying to hear my own voice in the chorus of chuckles.

My mom sat on a carpeted stage next to a large mounted television monitor. On the screen was a picture of a young mother pushing a child on a swing in a wooded playground. I don't remember what was said about me during the interview as a second generation disabled person. My mom was wearing a wool plaid skirt, the kind that always makes me think of librarians, and I remember the host asking her about the crutch that lay at her feet, about having polio as a kid and the effects it had on having kids.

My disabilities were too rare and too numerous to warrant a telethon. Nor did my disabilities elicit the classic "aww" factor favored by TV execs. Too many extraneous troubling things going on with my body at any given time to be easily "read" by viewers. Looking back I have to face the fact that I was a punk right out of the gate: too brassy, too bold, too weird to be typecast.

Righty Tighty

Don't ask what forces led me to the pages of nursinghomeapparel.com (occasionally I run aground in my search for sculpture materials). But, I do have a thing for hospital swag. Hell, considering the price of in- patient care, an ambulance should come to your house and heap first aid supplies at your door all tied up with a pretty red bow!
Fleetingly obsessed with the absurd possibilities posed by buying 100 sets of disposable slippers, I noticed this photo of a pair of paper slippers reminiscent of pointed toed wooden clogs. But, do you have to have two right feet to be able to wear them?

Visual description: Two brown paper slippers against a white backdrop, both made to be worn on the right foot.

Summer Reading- Top Ten Disability Lit Titles

1. Sulah by Toni Morrison
Though not the title character, the one- legged matriarch of this novel reveals the enigma behind motherly love.

2. Cuckoo by Madison Clell
A powerful graphic novel exploring one woman's experience of dissociative personality disorder

3. Lessons in Taxidermy, a surgical memoir by Bee Lavendar

4. Lilly Daw and the Ladies by Eudora Welty
I love this story for its black humor and impeccable character studies of pathologically righteous church ladies, hell- bent on preserving the "innocence" of a developmentally disabled woman. Fortunately, Lilly has made her own plans, and the ladies are the ones who are forced to adapt.

5. A Worn Path by Eudora Welty
I read this one in high school- it's been a while so I can't really say much about it except that the grandma in the story is a blind African American woman.

6. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Griley
My favorite chapter from this memoir of childhood cancer unfolds in the under- staffed wing of a children's ward and ends in an animal testing lab.

7. A Christmas Memory Truman Capote was famous for publicly undermining colleagues on the New York literati circuit, deftly eviscerating his foes with an acerbic wit. It's hard to believe that the same mind produced this astonishingly sweet memoir, the unlikely love story of a lonely boy and his favorite aunt.

8. Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor

Note to Ph.D's- avoid hay lofts, door to door Bible salesmen. Why is it that southern writers have such an uncanny knack for disability lit?

9. The Incomplete Quad by David Sedaris

In this short story, David Sedaris revisits his experiences working as a PA to help pay for college. His employer is a disenchanted quadriplegic coed. The two combat ennui by hitchhiking, shoplifting, getting wasted and unapologetically exploiting ablists at every turn - a wickedly irreverent tale of friendship.

10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
wife + attic + seductive governess = glorious English melodrama!