Month: May 2015

Dear Strangers who Just Want to Learn About Disability, I am Not an Infobooth

~ crippledscholar ~ 6 Comments

TEDxSydney has been getting a lot of bad press from the disability community lately. This is because of their very poorly thought out #StellasChallenge campaign. The campaign sought to capitalize on the message and popularity of late disabled comedian Stella Young. The campaign has similarities to the doomed Starbucks campaign Race Together which sought to … Continue reading Dear Strangers who Just Want to Learn About Disability, I am Not an Infobooth

My Love/Hate Relationship with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

~ crippledscholar ~ Leave a comment

So I type one handed and I'm an academic so a lot of typing is required, this poses a couple of issues. First I can't type very fast and second I regularly feel like I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome. I've been tested for the condition twice and in both cases the results were negative. While … Continue reading My Love/Hate Relationship with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Disabled People Don’t Exist to Make You Look Good

~ crippledscholar ~ 2 Comments

I have already discussed the issue of inspiration porn on this blog before. What I was discussing last time was the use of images or videos of disabled people doing everything from the mundane to highlighting actual achievement. The major issue in these images is that they either celebrate disabled people for simply existing or … Continue reading Disabled People Don’t Exist to Make You Look Good

My Excuse is Not Invalid, My Experiences as a Disabled Person in Athletics

~ crippledscholar ~ 1 Comment

I recently wrote a general post about the insidious undertones of inspiration porn. In it I explain why even using noteworthy accomplishments by disabled people as easy inspiration is problematic. I talk about how difficult and expensive it can be for disabled people to even participate in athletic endeavours. To give some further context, I … Continue reading My Excuse is Not Invalid, My Experiences as a Disabled Person in Athletics

Inspiration Porn is Not Progress, It’s a New Kind of Oppression

~ crippledscholar ~ 4 Comments

We've all seen the images. Those pictures of disabled people succeeding. They tend to fall into two general categories. Disabled people particularly children doing everyday activities. This is often accompanied by quotes like "the only disability in life is a bad attitude" The other uses images of disabled people doing something noteworthy like reaching a … Continue reading Inspiration Porn is Not Progress, It’s a New Kind of Oppression