The 'Almost Perfect' New York Times story

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Monday November 21, 2005 · 7:20 AM PST

2005/11/21 · 07:20

I'm not sure, but I think perhaps the New York Times had a "first" in its Week in Review section yesterday -- a story leading off with a quote from a person with Down syndrome. And not just in aid of a "gee-whiz" inspiration story, either. This was an in-depth trend story: The Problem With an Almost-Perfect Genetic World. Read More

"The Greatest" Hero

mjohnson

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Sunday November 20, 2005 · 1:20 PM PST

2005/11/20 · 13:20

The Grand Opening Gala of the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville last night drew celebrities and former Pres. Bill Clinton to honor "the Greatest." Louisville disability activist Cass Irvin took the occasion to write about Ali as one of her heroes as well. Read More

'Another obstacle on poor parents and children'

mjohnson

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Saturday November 19, 2005 · 1:30 PM PST

2005/11/19 · 13:30

From the op-ed Special-education failures run deep in yesterday's Baltimore Sun, regarding the recent Supreme Court decision Schaffer v. Weast (see earlier diary entry and comments):

I don't share the general celebratory mood. If school board members in Maryland and elsewhere understood more about the roots of the nationwide failure of special education, I don't think they would, either.

mjohnson

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Friday November 18, 2005 · 11:55 AM PST

2005/11/18 · 11:55

The story of 40-year-old St. Louis resident Elizabeth Bansen, who was was struck and killed by an SUV on Nov. 2 as she drove her wheelchair in the street from a corner store near her home, is far from an isolated incident.

On Sunday a Carmel Valley CA woman was hit and dragged by a vehicle as she traveled along the street. At the time of this writing, news reports had not identified the woman. Two weeks ago, Thomos Lacy of Kountze, Texas died after being thrown several feet from his motorized scooter. Read More

Activists Heckle Jerry Lewis -- Again

mjohnson

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Thursday November 17, 2005 · 6:20 AM PST

2005/11/17 · 06:20

Jerry Lewis -- the celebrity do-gooder that disability rights activists love to hate -- was at it again last night at the Chicago Library. He was talking to a packed house, promoting his new book "Dean and Me - A Love Story" (which is by all accounts an embarrassment, but that's another diary).

Guess it never occurred to him that Chicago is home to Jerry's Orphans. Or maybe he'd forgotten about the group that formed in 1990 in protest of his infamous Sept. 2 Parade magazine article that year, "What If I Had Muscular Dystrophy?" -- the article in which he imagined putting himself in "that chair, that steel imprisonment that long has been deemed the dystrophic child's plight" (he was talking about a wheelchair) and going on to proclaim that if you have a disability, you can be only "half a person"?

Well, orphans do often get forgotten.
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Supremes give school districts OK to 'pare back' special ed

mjohnson

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Wednesday November 16, 2005 · 8:51 AM PST

2005/11/16 · 08:51

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that "that the nation's school systems are not legally obliged to prove the adequacy of individualized educational programs set up for disabled children."

The 6-2 ruling in Schaffer v. Weast was another of those disability rights decisions in which the ruling rested on money. The Washington Post reported that the ruling "was a major blow to parents' advocacy organizations, which argued that most families are not financially able to bear the burden of persuasion when going up against a board of education or a school superintendent."

"Until now, there has been impetus for both sides to really mediate and work things out," Wendy Byrnes, a parent advocate at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund told the New York Times. "This decision tips the scale in the district's favor, so that a school district will not be so motivated to work something out." Read More

Alito 'Hostile to Disability Rights,' Says Bazelon

mjohnson

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Tuesday November 15, 2005 · 8:06 AM PST

2005/11/15 · 08:06

The Bazelon Center has just released its "highlights of a long and troubling record" of disability right cases decided by Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Judge Alito's record is his narrow interpretation of the powers that authorize Congress to pass civil rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and other laws of importance to people with disabilities. His rulings demonstrate cramped views of Congress's powers that would put critical disability rights laws at risk.

mjohnson

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Monday November 14, 2005 · 12:40 PM PST

2005/11/14 · 12:40

You gotta wonder about the timing of a press release from Wal-Mart announcing Wal-Mart Installs New Equipment to Protect Financial Privacy of Wal-Mart Shoppers with Visual Impairments, coming as it does on the heels of the leaked internal Wal-Mart memo of plans to get rid of "unhealthy" workers.

Right up at the top of the press release, Wal-Mart makes sure to add that "Blind Community leaders praise Wal-Mart's Actions." Read More

Liberal political conversation on disability: a way in?

mjohnson

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Saturday November 12, 2005 · 10:06 AM PST

2005/11/12 · 10:06

The very thoughtful comments to my Friday entry about news stories that Down Syndrome can be detected in the first trimester of pregnancy reminded me that I'd wanted to include a link to a thoughtful op-ed on this topic that ran in The Washington Post a few weeks ago -- ironically presaging this past week's announcement.

Patricia E. Bauer, a former Washington Post reporter and bureau chief, in her Oct. 18 op-ed article about The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have raises many of the very points commenters raised yesterday.

She begins her piece this way: Read More

Down Syndrome, Abortion and Disability Rights

mjohnson

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Friday November 11, 2005 · 4:36 AM PST

2005/11/11 · 04:36

Yesterday afternoon's web edition of The Washington Post's story Down Syndrome Now Detectable In 1st Trimester: Earlier Diagnosis Allows More Time for Decisions noted that "word of the study triggered criticism from opponents of abortion, however, as well as from those who object to its use to prevent the birth of children with Down syndrome."

But, as is often typical in stories like this, the only folks quoted were right-to-lifers. No disability spokespeople were quoted. It would be easy to get the impression that disability groups worried about the ability to abort Down Syndrome fetuses were simply right-to-lifers themselves.

Every major disability rights group I know of comes down on the decidedly pro-choice side of the spectrum. They do oppose abortion for disability, however. They oppose it the same way feminists oppose abortion of female fetuses specifically because of gender. Read More

Supremes Question Disabled Prisoners' Right to Sue

mjohnson

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Thursday November 10, 2005 · 12:33 PM PST

2005/11/10 · 12:33

Can prisoners use the Americans with Disabilities Act to sue for damages when the state prison won't even give them a toilet or shower that's accessible? Here we go again with "Congress Didn't Have The Right" -- the current disabilities hit from the Supremes. They were singing it again yesterday when the justices heard oral arguments in the case Goodman v. Georgia.
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MMORPGing into inaccessibility

mjohnson

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Wednesday November 09, 2005 · 9:04 AM PST

2005/11/09 · 09:04

On Nov. 15, Sony Online Entertainment will roll out its new version of Star War Galaxies, which I've learned is called a MMORPG, for "massively multi-player online role playing game." This is not the kind of stuff I know much about.

And what's happening is that a game that was fairly accessible is becoming inaccessible, on the Internet. That's something I do understand the meaning of.

The person on the email list who's been seeking advice is visually impaired.
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The 'Almost Perfect' New York Times story

"The Greatest" Hero

'Another obstacle on poor parents and children'

Dying In the Streets

Activists Heckle Jerry Lewis -- Again

Supremes give school districts OK to 'pare back' special ed

Alito 'Hostile to Disability Rights,' Says Bazelon

"Attention, Blind Shoppers!" Wal-Mart lobs one over the plate, maybe

Liberal political conversation on disability: a way in?

Down Syndrome, Abortion and Disability Rights

Supremes Question Disabled Prisoners' Right to Sue

MMORPGing into inaccessibility