We all do it

We all do it. We don’t mean to, but we do.

The audience and judges sneered when contestant Susan Boyle walked on stage on Britain's Got Talent. When she started to sing, the sneering quickly turned to awe. In the days that followed, discussions took place about how superficial we all were to laugh at her, since it turned out she possessed exceptional talent. The consensus seemed to be that, as Ms. Boyle was an extraordinary singer, it was wrong to snicker at her perceived lack of social graces and unglamorous appearance.

Hmmm…so, it’s OK to laugh at someone who looks different and who doesn’t possess exceptional talent?

A mother with a happy, smiling baby with Down Syndrome overhears other mothers talking in the park, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

A family with a child with Down Syndrome is less graced by God? Really?

On The Tonight Show, President Obama discussed his bowling score of 129 with some self-deprecating humor, "It was like Special Olympics or something."

I wonder….would this thoughtful leader have put himself down in jest by saying "Man, I bowl like a girl!" I doubt it; he knows in his heart one doesn’t put down another or even oneself, by calling someone “a girl.” And, if he slipped, Americans across the country would let him know that girls are not inferior beings.

An article in the May 2009 Diabetes Forecast focuses on the discrimination in employment against people with diabetes. It is an informative discussion about the necessity of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act and its protection of workers’ rights However, the author, almost in hushed tones, seems to need to make the point that people with diabetes aren’t really disabled. They just need the law to have a fair workplace.

What’s so terrible about having a disability, about being in that group? What’s so terrible about needing an accommodation to level the playing field, to do the essential functions of one’s job? The unemployment rate among people who are blind is 70%. Provide accommodation for insulin, snacks, and low blood sugar, but not provide text-to-read programs or Braille accommodations?

Why do we not want to be seen to be like others who are different? Can we not look a little harder to see that we share a common humanity?

Violence against children and adults with noticeable differences is much higher than against those without noticeable differences; it is prevalent in our neighborhoods, our schools, our homes. One Texas institution even ran a coordinated “fight club,” treating their clients like dog-fighting entertainment.

We, of course, don’t condone this violence, we may not even see its enormity. But we need to be aware of it. When people are beaten because of race, religion, or sexual orientation, it’s classified as a hate crime. Can we not demand that beating of people with disabilities be treated similarly?

Legislative opportunities to support our citizens with disabilities abound. The Community Choice Act would allow people the option to receive support services in the home. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes the essential human rights of all people. The convention has been open for signatures for more than two years, and 139 countries have signed, but not the United States.

Where are our priorities?


On this Blogging Against Disablism Day, I ask myself – where is my ableism? How do I reflect the deeply ingrained prejudices of my culture? Where am I an ableist in my individual actions? In my community actions?

I give you the same challenge. Ask the tough questions.



This post is part of a worldwide blogging phenomenon, Blogging Against Disablism Day. Be sure to head over to Diary of a Goldfish to read more perspectives on ableism/disablism. Thanks, Goldfish for your extraordinary efforts again this year.

Links: my BADD 2007 post and BADD 2008 post

A Blogswarm on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

One year ago today, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was opened for signatures. It had been adopted by the U.N. in December, 2006, and on March 30, 2007.

"There were 82 signatories to the Convention, 44 signatories to the Optional Protocol, and 1 ratification of the Convention. This is the highest number of signatories in history to a UN Convention on its opening day. It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and is the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations."

The goal of the convention is a simple one - recognize persons with disabilities as people - people with rights. You can find the complete document and also answers to frequently asked questions about the convention are answered are answered at the U.N.'s Enable site. To date, 17 countries have ratified this important human rights convention.


I hope you'll head over to Ratify Now for a blogswarm. What's Ratify Now? If you read the first comment below, Andrea explains that it is an organization with worldwide membership focused on the ratification of the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. What's a blogswarm? Head over and you won't be disappointed. You'll find information about the convention and the thoughts and perspectives on this historic convention of writers from around the world.


And the United States? We have not ratified the convention.



Check out the blogswarm!

April 2 - Edited to clarify Ratify Now.

Another assault on human rights

How can it not break your heart to hear of people being treated as less than human? I know it can be seen over and over again around the world, but it still feels like a punch in the stomach, knocking me breathless and sapping my energy.

Last January, I was shocked to learn of the decision and public support for the surgical and hormonal alteration of a 6 year old girl. Now it's happening again, this time in the UK, and this time I feel older and I am not surprised; I just feel great sadness. Why is it that our societies don't or won't support families challenged by the care of their loved ones with disabilities? How do we convince ourselves that we don't need to think creatively, that we don't need to problem-solve, that we can jump right in and tinker with the healthy body parts of another person?

I hope I never am convinced. I'd rather feel a punch in the stomach than cold, mind-numbing apathy.

Helpful links:

Penny Richards at Disability Studies at Temple U is continually updating links to bloggers' views on this issue.
When the Slippery Slope Becomes a Mudslide - Exceptional Parent's position statement
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Modify the System, Not the Person from the Disability Rights Education Rights & Education Defense Fund

"Tears of Shame and Embarrassment"

I had been searching for a news story about the United States and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and had found next to nothing. Thanks to Steve Kuusisto, for connecting me to this link. Like me, Steve is outraged that the United States has thus far failed to sign this important convention. The US did not even send a representative to the UN signing ceremony!

John Lancaster, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living and President of the United States International Council on Disabilily, attended the treaty signing ceremon. Here's what he had to say:

"As I sat in the observers' area on the floor of the UN's General Assembly Hall, delegates from 80 nations and the European Community took their turn at the official signing table to commit their country to the human and civil rights of people with disabilities. At several points, my eyes welled with tears. They should have been tears of joy and pride as an American, as a citizen in the country that had created this world-wide movement for the rights and empowerment of people with disabilities. Instead, they were tears of shame and embarrassment..."

Andrew Imparto, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, summarizes the importance of this UN Disability Convention:

"The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides the opportunity for tides of change across the globe. Because we've had 17 years to begin to see what a society can look like when people with disabilities enjoy broad civil rights protections, we must stay involved, sign, and continue to lead. If the U.S. is to remain a visionary leader on the rights of people with disabilities, it cannot stand by idly. Rather, with the same bipartisan enthusiasm as was seen in the signing of the ADA, the U.S. must sign and ratify the treaty and take a lead role in translating broad commitments into national action - to live up to our status as a world leader in the global fight for disability rights."

Over 80 countries, including Canada and Mexico, have signed this treaty supporting basic human rights for people with disabilities. The U.S. has not. Please sign this petition urging President Bush to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Description of pictures: one shows a sad eye, overflowing with a tear and the other one shows the UN flag

UN Disability Treaty Open for Signature Today

"The existing human rights system was meant to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities, but the existing standards and mechanisms have in fact failed to provide adequate protection to the specific cases of persons with disabilities. It is clearly time for the UN to remedy this shortcoming."

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour

Today, in a ceremony at the United Nations, the U.N.’s Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities becomes open for signature. More than 70 countries are expected to ratify it.

The treaty was first adopted by the U.N. in December after three of years of negotiations, the fasted negotiated treaty ever. Representatives from more than 350 disability organizations worldwide attended the ceremony. Disability rights organizations from around the world came together to work for a treaty that would establish and fight for the rights of all people with disabilities.

Thomas Schindlmayr of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs summed up the treaty’s goal, “It’s not asking for persons with disabilities to have any new rights. It’s not asking for anything else that other people don’t enjoy already. It’s asking that persons with disabilities enjoy the same opportunities in society that everybody already enjoys.”

Disability rights are human rights.

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons With Disabilities. This document formally affirms the rights of people with disabilities as human rights. It aims to ensure that people with disabilities are full contributing members of society and to end the discrimination that the 650 million people around the world who live with disabilities experience each day. The convention includes such rights as education, health, and work for people with disabilities.


"Today promises to be the dawn of a new era -an era in which disabled people will no longer have to endure the discriminatory practices and attitudes that have been permitted to prevail for all too long,” said then U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. He had strong and insightful words about the treatment of people with disabilities throughout history. Annan urged all 192 member states to ratify the convention.


According to the U.N. News Service, the convention “provides that States which ratify it should enact laws and other measures to improve disability rights and also abolish legislation, customs, and practices that discriminate against persons with disabilities."
Starting March 30, 2007, countries can sign and ratify the convention.

Hopefully this United Nations convention will make countries think about the lives of their citizens with disabilities in this new year. It’s a good first step. However, just saying disability rights are human rights is not enough. It’s up to each country to fully embrace this important principle. Actions speak louder then words.