(Due to an error in posting on Thursday, I'm doing a bonus Saturday round-up to make up for the absence.)
Welcome to the G.I.M.P. Daily Roundup - Growing Involvement in Media and Politics. This is a daily (Mon-Fri) diary series dedicated to highlighting disabled news, activism, politics and punditry.
In the May 29th, 2010 GIMP Round-up:
- Gimps Moving Mountains
- Today's Headline News and Action Alerts - VSA Festival, Bolder Boulder, and Blame Canada!
- Closing Thoughts
GIMPS MOVING MOUNTAINS
Via the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Stephen Wampler can’t walk, but if all goes according to plan the 41-year-old Coronado resident will become the first person with cerebral palsy to scale the 3,000-foot El Capitan granite monolith at Yosemite National Park.
He'll be climbing the mountain four to six inches at a time, via pull-ups. Four to six inches at time. Four hundred or so feet a day.
If anybody tells you that you can't do something, tell them to go fuck themselves, because THIS is humanity at its most determined.
He's doing it to raise funds - his goal is $2M - for his foundation that runs a camp for disabled children. A film called The Wall is being made about his climb, and is a part of the drive to raise money.
I was - to my knowledge - the first disabled Little League umpire in Arizona, standing on my knees behind the catcher at the plate in 1994. I was told for years by the local League officials that it couldn't happen, that it was pointless to get my hopes up, but one year the League was being run by a guy who decided to give me a shot. He even notified the state organization that I was doing it. Their response?
Go for it.
My Senior year of High School, 1994, I not only umpired the AA Minors (8-10 year olds), I was the division's chief umpire.
I coached flag football for 6 years, including a city championship.
I played goalie in floor hockey in PE, had the lowest GAA and we won the season championship.
This guy's going to climb a mountain.
NEVER take 'no' for an answer.
TODAY'S HEADLINE NEWS AND ACTION ALERTS
D.C. HOSTS 2010 INTERNATIONAL VSA FESTIVAL
Via HuffPo:
If you think a photographer has to be able to see, a dancer able to walk, or a percussionist able to hear, you are in for a surprise.
VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, will be hosting The 2010 International VSA Festival, an unprecedented event featuring more than 600 internationally acclaimed artists, performers, and educators, in Washington, D.C., from June 6-12.
From music to theater, literary readings to film screenings, and sculptures to paintings, the International VSA Festival will feature works by eminent and emerging artists with disabilities, as well as renowned educational experts who will share innovative and inclusive instruction strategies.
If you live in the DC area, you should seriously check it out. There will be a ton of talent on display all throughout the city.
DISABLED TACKLE BOLDER BOULDER
Via Colorado Daily:
Losing a limb doesn't have to mean the end of an active lifestyle.
For 33-year-old Chad Butrick, in fact, it meant the beginning of one.
Butrick lost his leg in 2005 after he was involved in a car accident in Missouri. He'd always enjoyed getting outside, but the accident brought the inspiration he needed to follow his dream: He wanted to climb mountains. So Butrick moved to Colorado and became a patient of Angela Montgomery, who manages Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics in Boulder.
On Monday, Butrick will join a dozen of Montgomery's patients -- some are also amputees, some use orthotic braces -- who are, for the first time, walking the Bolder Boulder together as a group.
Keeping in theme with our intrepid mountain climber, a group of disabled people in Boulder will be doing the Bolder Boulder event as a group exercise.
CANADA HAS ITS OWN STRUGGLES WITH ACCESSIBILITY
Lest we think America is alone in the uphill fight for accessibility for all, Healthzone Canada has a look at Canada's own struggles:
A man enters a restaurant in a major mall with his fiancée. They are asked to leave because the restaurant says his wheelchair is a fire hazard.
A woman plans to spend a couple of hours out with friends. Because the ride she has booked to transport her and her wheelchair is 90 minutes late, she can spend only 20 minutes with her friends before she has to leave.
Are people with disabilities discriminated against in this country? You bet.
In principle, Canada has great human rights legislation, both provincially and federally. We have laws on paper that forbid any type of discrimination on the grounds of disability. In practice, on the ground where it counts, these laws are too often meaningless.
Even Teh Soshulists in Canuckistan have some room to improve.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Thank you to all of you who are reading and commenting. If you've found this series useful, please add it to your hotlinks and consider hitting the Rec button up top. As always, I'm looking for stories and contributors, so feel free to email me.
I'll see you in the comments!
Larime Taylor