The Deal with Disability "Hey, I’m Eva. I’m 26 and a recent college graduate. I like to write, to take digital photographs, and just chill. But this blog is not about what I like. This blog is about how people treat me. You see, I am physically disabled. Actually “severely” physically disabled. I have Cerebral Palsy, which for me means I can’t walk, speak, or use muscles in traditional ways. I use a power wheelchair to get around and spell out what I want to say on a letterboard. This blog will be videos of people treating me bizarrely." [more inside]
posted by heatherann on Sep 3, 2009 - 107 comments

"Elke Wisbey, 6, was born with brain damage and cannot walk or speak. After her community raised funds to purchase a state of the art communication device for Elke, the little girl was able to use tiny eye movements to speak her first words through the machine: 'I love you.'"
posted by An Infinity Of Monkeys on Oct 31, 2008 - 17 comments

Sophie Can Walk , a documentary that chronicles "the prejudice faced by baby-Americans born without the ability to walk" (Via BoingBoing)
posted by Del Far on Sep 18, 2008 - 11 comments

On inspiration, and more from Ragged Edge, the disability rights rag. See also: The Bancroft Disability Rights Collection, ADAPT, and Disabled in Action.
posted by serazin on Jan 29, 2007 - 4 comments

Information for Disabled Travelers Travel may be a basic human right, but it's one that some find harder to exercise; from getting past clueless immigration officials to dealing with a constipated service dog on a cruise ship, tourism presents special challenges to the physically disabled. Fortunately, there's a wealth of information online, including accessibility info for Eurostar trains and specific airlines (the latter courtesy of The Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality), and first-hand accessibility reports from Global Access, Access-Able Travel Source, Rebecca's Travels, The World On Wheels and The Gimp On The Go.
posted by yankeefog on Mar 8, 2005 - 2 comments

This seems quite a positive thing. Weird what some people have to say about it though.
posted by ed\26h on Mar 18, 2004 - 37 comments

Face blind: Imagine living in a world in which you are surrounded by blank faces. You see people all around you, but you can't recognize them by their faces, only by context, clothing, and hair. You don't recognize your neighbors when you see them in the grocery store, and you couldn't pick your co-workers' faces out of a line-up. You have to learn special coping methods to get through your daily social activities. This is what it is like to have prosopagnosia, or face blindness.
posted by litlnemo on Nov 10, 2003 - 7 comments

Deaf Gamers is a terrific resource containing electronic game reviews with the hearing-impaired in mind. Digging a little deeper, I found a still-in-work but promising Gamers With Disabilites FAQ hosted by Gone Gold. We all love to play games and the resources contained herein will hopefully help us all play better. Any other resources out there that you'd like to share?
posted by WolfDaddy on Apr 29, 2003 - 6 comments

BookShare is a napster-like service that relies on volunteers to share e-books with as many people as possible, and it's completely legal. The reason? Thanks to a special carve-out in copyright law which states "if such copies ... are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities."
posted by mathowie on Apr 23, 2003 - 15 comments

A Sobering Message to Drunk Drivers. "Not everyone who gets hit by a drunk driver dies."
posted by uftheory on Oct 17, 2002 - 39 comments

Education and prevention are responsibilities of businesses also. The private sector can help take part in HIV/AIDS education and prevention, and should institute workplace policies. Has your workplace instituted a training program for managers and supervisors, implemented an aids policy, performed education on prevention, and reviewed the requirements that it needs to follow under disabilities acts and leave policies?
posted by bragadocchio on Dec 1, 2001 - 0 comments

Supreme Court gives golfer Casey Martin the keys to the cart. Can a private organization be forced to allow something it says is against the spirit of the rules of it's competitions? Will we see Casey play anytime soon? Who else will benefit from this ruling in golf and other sports?
posted by msacheson on May 29, 2001 - 65 comments

North Dakota Blind man gets weapons permit : FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Carey McWilliams has a concealed weapons permit from the state of North Dakota and isn't afraid to use a gun - even though he's blind...
posted by crunchland on Jan 13, 2001 - 14 comments

Now this is something you don't see everyday. There's this small Canadian airline that has an interesting legal disclaimer you see right before you start ordering a ticket. Scroll down to the paragraph that starts 'PERSONS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS' which includes some compassionate nuggets like 'The WestJet® Web Site is not designed for use by persons with special needs.' What a warm, caring bunch of folks, eh?
posted by mathowie on Jan 8, 2000 - 0 comments