Dear Imprudence: Yeah Hi I’m Actually Right Here
Back in July, the following letter/response ran in Dear Abby: Dear Abby: I am the parent of a child with special needs. To an outsider he looks different; adults and children stare at him when we’re...
View ArticleDear Imprudence: Interfering in My Friend’s Marriage is My DUTY!
In a recent Carolyn Hax column, a reader wrote in with the following: Dear Carolyn: A friend of mine is getting married to a woman who has multiple sclerosis. His family is very upset by this fact...
View ArticleToday in Journalism: Overcoming Adversity! Inspiration! Disability Tropes! It...
The Daily Gazette out of Colchester wants to apprise us of some ‘inspiring’ stories. No really. ‘Entrepreneurs’ inspiring tales are recognised.’ Says so right in the headline, so that’s one bingo...
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Accessibility Is So Much More Than Ramps
There’s a common idea I encounter among nondisabled people when it comes to discussing accessibility and making spaces accessible to all users. That idea is that as long as there’s a ramp, a space is...
View ArticleKeeping track
One of the more bizarre stereotypes (if one can call it that) about people with fibromyalgia is that we obsess over “every little ache and pain,” to the detriment of ourselves and much to the apparent...
View ArticleDisability Is A Feminist Issue: Gendering Health Access
When I tell people I write for a feminist site focusing on a disability issues, one of the most common responses I get is confusion. ‘What does disability,’ people ask me, ‘have to do with feminism?’...
View ArticleThey Call it ‘Reverse Discrimination’
Affirmative action has to be among one of the most contentious, controversial, and misunderstood social policies. I encounter all kinds of bizarre attitudes when it comes to talking about affirmative...
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What is Ableism? Five Things About Ableism You Should Know
Ableism is discrimination against people with disabilities, including the expression of hate for people with disabilities, denial of accessibility, rejection of disabled applicants for housing and...
View ArticleToday in Journalism: The Disabled
Usually I relish picking apart a crappy article in the news for this feature, but today, I want to take a moment to rant about a phenomenon so widespread in the media that I don’t feel fair singling...
View ArticleAn open letter to abled people who like to glare at people who use disabled...
Also see: An open letter to abled people who use disabled parking spaces by Annaham, which this is jumping off from. Since I drafted this, s.e. also wrote Dear Imprudence: Who Appointed You the Parking...
View ArticleA Conversation in the Lunch Room
I was sitting in the lunch room at work with a group of co-workers, flipping through the newspapers. I came to an article on the suicide of Marie Osmond’s son, which led to the whole table discussing...
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Go educate yourself (please!)
[Image via Tlönista in this comment thread at Flip Flopping Joy. Description: A shocked-looking cat perches on a chair, staring straight at the camera. Text reads: “Concerned cat is just looking out...
View ArticleAn open letter to non-disabled people who use disabled parking spaces
Dear abled/non-disabled people without disabled parking placards who use disabled parking spaces anyway, I don’t care if you want to use the space “because it’s so convenient.” I don’t care if you only...
View ArticleLiberal ableism
I consider myself to be a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, at least in the way that the term is commonly defined in the United States. Hesitant as I am to list all of my “liberal” qualifications, let’s just...
View ArticleNormalising Accessibility
The radio station I’ve been listening to for most of my life has a habit, when announcing community events, of indicating whether they are accessible. This generally refers specifically to wheelchair...
View ArticleConversations About Body Image: A Place at the Table for Me?
Conversations about body image come up often in feminist communities, and unfortunately, many of those conversations are predicated on the dual ideas that all people should love their bodies and that...
View ArticleDisability 101: Treatment Suggestions and Why They Are Not a Good Idea
I suggested a treatment/”cure” to a PWD for her/his/zie’s condition, and they ignored my suggestion/did not throw themselves at my feet with gratitude/got upset. Why? I was only trying to help! Many...
View ArticleLet’s Bust Some Myths: People with disabilities just want to sue the world...
One of my “favourite” disability stereotypes is that people with disabilities are rolling lawsuits waiting to happen. I first hit this stereotype when someone directed me to Penn & Teller’s...
View ArticleLess Than / More Than – My complicated thoughts on reproductive rights &...
When I’m not being a student, I typically get temp jobs working in a variety of offices. Once things get settled, and folks realise I am married, they often start asking about kids. “Do you have kids?...
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