Disabled Talk

TW: ableism, suicide, eugenics

(Mod note: This submission is discussing extremely triggering and dehumanizing reactions to the article about Ashley, AKA “the Pillow Angel.”)

tw: about Ashley the “Pillow Angel,” ableist reactions, (this is not properly tw’d for)

I don’t know why…I’m a sucker for punishment, I guess…but I read some of the commentary on that post and on the article itself.

1 person said Ashley wasn’t sentient because of brain scans.

1 person said ‘you don’t know what it’s like to be a parent of a disabled child.’

1 person said this:

It is the parent’s decision. Period. I, personally, applaud them. I would have done the same. I’ve worked with DD children and they ARE a burden, needing constant attention, services that they will not ever beneifit from, mega- appointments, apppliances and tools,transportation, special ed services, machines, caregivers, money pits that will never amount to a hill of beans. Annie was an exception. Draining the tax dollars right out of our pockets, as they are usually on State Aid. And then they start to grow! And it becomes a very physical burden on the caregivers. Which could lead to institutional commitment which could lead to abuse, sexual and otherwise. It was a decision only her parents could make. Walk a mile in the shoes of a parents that has a serverely handicapped kid, boy or girl. The surgeries were for the benefit of the child and the benefit of the caregivers. Protection for her …..peace of mind for her family.

You can find exact quotes for the first two in the notes of the tumblr post, if they aren’t deleted.

The last two are what concerns me. They seem to be saying that parents of disabled people have more of a right to speak about disability and caring for disabled people than we do.

And it breaks my heart. Because how many of us were abused, are abused, every day?

How much are we told that we’re worthless, a burden, nothing but a drain on the finances?

How much are we told that we don’t matter?

That we’re not human?

How much are we ignored and silenced, shoved into a corner and told to be grateful for whatever shreds of humanity they give to us?

Whatever choices we’re actually allowed? The little dignity we’re given?

How many of us walk the streets everyday, hiding our disabilities, pretending it doesn’t hurt, that we’re actually human?

How many days go by before we experience that small bit of joy, of being accepted, of being loved, and how many of us never experience it at all?

And how many of us can’t accept it from even ourselves, us inhuman blights upon the world, that sometimes move and communicate in ways that seem almost human, almost loving, almost real?

How many of us suffer under our damned angels? Those precious beings that deign to treat us like we actually matter, upon occasion, when we do the right things.

How many of us want it to stop? Want our world to end no matter the consequences, if only to stop being that burden, that horror, that pitiable thing that haunts our angels’ every thought?

How many of us just want it all to go away?

Tags: ableism developmental disabilities disability abuse eugenics tw: abuse tw: eugenics tw: suicide
13 notes

dissimilarto:

listerinemouthwash:

thepeoplesrecord:

Police murder man @ movie theater for disobeying orders
February 17, 2013

On January 14, 2013, a young man with Down syndrome went with his companion to see Zero Dark Thirty at the Regal Cinema in Frederick, MD. At the end of the movie, apparently because he wanted to see it again, he refused to get out of his seat. A Regal employee, rather than allowing him to stay and dealing with the situation later with his parents and the companion, called not one, not two, but three off duty Frederick County police officers who were working security for the theater at the time.

According to published reports, when the officers/ security guards asked him to leave, he mouthed off at them and “resisted arrest”. Those of you who know my son Landon can visualize what this would look like. In response, the officers wrestled him to the ground where he asphyxiated in handcuffs. The handcuffs were removed and EMS called and according to the police news release he later died at hospital. I don’t know how that reconciles with the coroner’s finding of asphyxiation which I thought was pretty immediate.

The price of a ticket at the cinema is between $9 and $11. The additional cost to Regal of allowing him to watch the movie again was ZERO. But instead a beloved young man died on the floor of a movie theater in his neighborhood at the hands of people he was taught would protect him.

The police officers remain on duty and were allowed to invoke their rights as police officers not to provide statements even though they were not on duty or performing official duties at the time. They were security guards in police uniforms.

The county police are investigating and the story has received local news coverage. Please share this everywhere both to ensure justice but also to raise public awareness.

Where is our humanity when a young, obviously disabled young man dies for the price of a movie ticket? My son is worth a lot more to me & society than eleven dollars.

Text source: Facebook - Awaken the mind

MSM source: Washington Post article

crying

fucking pigs godsdammit.

Tags: ableism violence fuck the police ableism kills developmental disabilities downs syndrome down's syndrome down's downs trisomy 21
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(Image text: Disability Problem #134: When parents and siblings of autistic people are “experts” but autistic people aren’t)

Tags: actuallyautistic autism autism spectrum developmental disabilities dds disability problem disability problems
218 notes

Far Below Minimum Wage

Thousands of adults with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities work in Ohio at jobs that pay less money than a teen-age baby sitter earns.

Some clean hotel rooms for 40 cents an hour. Others sew table linens for 79 cents an hour. Some assemble automotive parts for $2.15 an hour or answer telephones for $3.75 an hour.

The majority don’t earn half of the state minimum wage of $7.40.

A little-known provision in the 73-year-old federal wage law allows employers to pay less than minimum wage if adults have disabilities that limit their productivity.

The Fair Labor Standards Act once dictated how little was too little to pay a worker. But today, there is no floor, clearing the way for some to earn as little as a penny an hour.

[…]

At least 14,600 developmentally disabled Ohioans earn less than the minimum wage for the work they are doing. The number is likely much higher, but wage information is not public in 18 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Statewide, there are about 21,000 disabled Ohioans who receive services through their counties and are employed. About 70 percent work in sheltered workshops, quasi-industrial settings that resemble factories.

The counties that run sheltered workshops bid on jobs with government agencies and private companies for contract work, such as assembling Christmas packages for prison inmates, bagging stuffed animals and inspecting baby-food jar lids.

Worker pay is based on productivity. A disabled worker who can perform a task at 30 percent the rate of a nondisabled worker would earn about a third of minimum wage - $2.22 an hour.

More than 80 percent of the low-wage work force earns an hourly wage of $3.70 or less.

Tags: wage labour jobs ableism downs syndrome down's downs autism autistic spectrum united states developmental disabilities
452 notes

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goldenheartedrose:

bendingthewillow:

tee-m-kris:

thecolouroflemons:

Well, here are celebrities I don’t trust now. Thanks to them performing in a concert, of which some of the proceeds went to Autism Speaks. You can see evidence of that here

Past performers (if they’re on both lists, they performed more than once): Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, Jack Black, Lewis Black, Matthew Broderick, Steve Carell, Kristin Chenoweth, George Clooney, Stephen Colbert, Elvis Costello, David Cross, Larry David, Susie Essman, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Jim Gaffigan, Tom Hanks, Jonah Hill, Kevin James, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, David Letterman, Maroon 5, Joel McHale, Tracy Morgan, Mike Myers, Conan O’Brien, Bob Odenkrik, Rosie O’Donnell, John Oliver, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, The Roots, Paul Rudd, Adam Sandler, Martin Short, Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, Tony Sirico, Jon Stewart, Ben Stiller, Triumph the insult Comic Dog and Robin Williams.

Hmm…maybe we could plan a mass tweeting/facebook posting day.

We are such a small minority, and I don’t think that if we individually tweeted/posted to facebook it wouldn’t have much of an effect. However, if they see a sudden flood of facebook posts and tweets, it might have an effect.

I’m probably going to try to avoid this like the plague, because it’ll enrage me otherwise. Those who are braver than I, please speak out against this event!

It’s already occurred. I think it was last night, based on the number of posts about it in the autism tag.

(Source: tuimitchams)

Tags: autism autistic spectrum actuallyautistic autism speaks developmental disabilities
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autism resources in the us signal boost

Does anyone have any resources for getting a diagnosis of autism as a ~17yr old dfab person in the central maryland area?

-anon

I’m afraid our only american mod is away right now, and I’m not sure entirely how the system works there! I did find http://www.autismconnectmd.org/index.html which seems to be a site for finding government resources related to autism? Do any of our followers have any better ideas?

And I’m sorry it’s taken so long anon! This applies to anyone who sends in an ask: if it’s not answered quickly, please feel free to send it again or a reminder. A lot of the mods have memory problems and confusion when our disabilities act up, so if you need something answered soon and we’ve missed it please don’t feel bad about sending a reminder! We won’t mind, promise.

Tags: signal boost actuallyautistic autistic spectrum disability developmental disabilities asks anon resources
4 notes

(ableism including some in article, description of hate crimes, suicide, harassment, abuse, murder) 65,000 hate crimes against disabled people and rising. This has to stop.

(ableism including some in article, description of hate crimes, suicide, harassment, abuse, murder) 65,000 hate crimes against disabled people and rising. This has to stop.

Last night the ITV Tonight programme led the way with a documentary looking at the rise if disability hate crime, press propaganda and palpable apathy on the issue. There was a notable absence from Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People, who couldn’t find fifteen minutes out of her day to meet the show’s presenter, disabled actor and stand up Francesca Martinez. However she offered a short, bland statement, memorable only because it didn’t address Francesca’s concerns.

The programme makers allowed the stories of disabled people who have experienced hate crime to be told, like Peter Greener, a man who despite working all of his adult life had become disabled and had to rely on benefits. His fluctuating condition, which meant Peter sometimes used his wheelchair and sometimes his crutches, was too nuanced a concept for one of his neighbours to understand. They videoed Peter without his knowledge and targeted him with verbal abuse, even throwing stones at his house and painting abusive graffiti on his fence. The neighbour was found guilty of harassment and criminal damage, and because of the disability hate crime aspect, got a ten week suspended sentence and a restraining order.