Welcome to the 21st Disability Blog Carnival! Thanks to all who participated, and thanks to our fabulous organizer, Penny Richards. The topic for this carnival is Top Ten Lists, and people put together a variety of lists on a variety of topics. There were, however, some common themes to our lists.
Charles Darwin said, “Adapt or Perish." Well, we’re adaptable…
"If you hung with us long enough you might be too,” says Midlife and Treachery's I'mFunnyToo in her post, "Top Ten Reasons for the Able to Pay Attention".
Greg Traynor from Pitt Rehab talks about how his service dog helps him in "Top Ten Reasons to have a Service Dog". “Having a service dog empowers and enables me to become more independent."
Tokah, of From Where I’m Sitting, talks about places to go to find people who need to adapt their attitudes in "Top Ten Day" - antique sailing ship, anyone?
Speaking of sailing --- Elizabeth McClung, from Screw Bronze has learned a few lessons from a recent sailing trip - lessons about rudders, EMTs, and escaping an eavesdropping boy's sexual questions.
Information Removes Barriers. The more we can know and understand about each other, the more inclusive our society can be.
Over at Arthritic Young Thing, Zephyr offers strong, specific suggestions for supporting someone with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She says, “Remember, it’s not about you.”
“Help me know what to expect,” and “tell me what ‘to do’, not ‘what not to do’,” says Jodi from Reimer Reasons in "Top Ten Ways to Support People With Intellectual Disabilities".
Andrea from Andrea's Buzzing About shares the "Top Ten Things About Having Face Blindness", like "less clutter around the house without a gazillion photographs of family relations."
In "How to Use The Sidewalk: Etiquette Tips for Walkies", Wheelchair Dancer explains some rules of the road. "Keep your coffee/purse/briefcase under control. I hate being hit in the face or scalded by Starbucks.”
Get the facts straight about Down Syndrome by reading Michelle’s post on Big Blueberry Eyes. Do you know: Down or Down’s? Which chromosome is affected? What’s the prevalence?
Pity the Fool.
Dave Hingsburger at Chewing the Fat has been wondering. "I wonder why people choose to work within the disability field and then resent the needs of people with disabilities."
Shawn, from Along the Spectrum, has some advice for the Autism Speaks Wright family, and for any of us consumed with pity, "Breathe in, breathe out, move on" and “When it starts to feel like everyone is against you, you are probably your own worst enemy.
Boxes, boxes everywhere; let’s dump the labels and see people as people.
The dad at Autism Bites shares his "Top 10 Snappy Answers To Annoying Comments". To “all he needs is more discipline, and he'll get the message,” he’d say, “yup, it’s true –if you give a child enough time outs, he’ll just stop being autistic. And if I speak French to you loudly enough, you’ll become fluent!”
Kathryn from Ryn Tales gets rid of boxes and sees the unexpected blessings of going to Holland. “I got to read a lot of poetry dissing the Dutch” and “the lines are shorter” and “my marriage has remained strong and wonderful.”
Charming BB's mom says, "My favorite phlebotomist is Cheryl." She shares her newly acquired language and more in "10 Things I Never Thought I'd Say."
You bet, and proud of it!
I wrote a post last April listing my tips for service providers - namely, respect, respect, and more respect. “You were not hired to be my minister, my parent or my buddy.”
Karen, an occupational therapy student and new blogger is stepping into a new world. She shares her love of her new career and learning through reading disability bloggers, “I realize, again via these blogs, that non-compliance has less to do with the client being stubborn and more to do with me not fully understanding their true needs.” Yes!! You are on your way.
People say the darndest things.
Paula Apodaca of
E is for Epilepsy shares
two lists full of incredibly dumb things people have said to her. “You have epilepsy so you must be retarded,” and from a doctor, “your mother was likely frightened by something while she was pregnant with you.”
“Try walking a little further each day” and other unhelpful advice makes up a list of "
Top Ten things not to say to a PWME", at
L’Ombre de mon ombre.
You’ll be amazed at what has been said to Jacqui of
Terrible Palsy. Check it out in “
Where did ya hide me M&Ms?" “He’s too good looking to have CP.” I have CP and I’m good looking – if I do say so myself! ;-)
AmpuTeeHee shares a really awful day full of insensitive stupidity, that starts with, “I know about
you people” in "
Tulips sure, but it’s not all wine and roses over here".
Ever wonder what it’s like to be Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie? Ema from
Rainmom and Life under the Umbrella shares the "
Top 10 Reasons autism is like fame" – “having your past scrutinized to discover your sins” and other similarities.
"There comes a time when even the best advocates need a day off."
Having just completed the
"On Holiday!" carnival, Andrea puts together "
10 Things to do Differently when on holiday: Redefining vacationing.” It’s a good compilation gleaned from the last carnival and life experience. I’m ready for another vacation – where to, Andrea?
Food connoisseur
Bridget Houlihan gives Top Ten advice on
wheelchair friendly dining out. Did you know that wine bars and sports bars have lower tables that tend to work better for wheelchairs? Now that I am 21, I’ll have to check that out!
There’s still time for some summer reading. Jennifer Justice at
Pedestrian Hostile puts together
"Top Ten Disability Lit Titles", from Sulah to Cuckoo to A Christmas Memory to Jane Eyre.
Along the same vein, Penny Richards at
Disability Studies, Temple U, shares "
Ten Disabled Characters" from novels on her bookshelves. She gives a detailed description of the characters and how they fit into the story lines from logging camps to love and romance to music to wise parenting. Sounds like you have quite a library, Penny!
"Inclusion Mishap #9: Due to a faulty intercom, Mrs. Snippett thought the principl said, 'You have a new student coming to your classroom. He has disabilities. Do your best to elude him." Laugh, laugh, and laugh some more.
“You know the hardest thing about having cerebral palsy and being a woman? It’s plucking your eyebrows. That’s how I originally got pierced ears.” Ouch blogger, Dave Hingsburger shares his
favorite disability quotes.
Shiva at
Biodiverse Resistance lists the "
Top 10 Unintentional Anthems": “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing” and “Why?” and “Stepping Out of Line” are a few of the selections.
Also for the musically inclined, Ruth at
Wheelie Catholic will have you
singing along with hot tunes and classics, “I Left My Crutch in San Francisco” and “Quads Just Want to Have Fun” and “You are the Guide Dog of my Life.”
Do you know why “Normal People” wish they were disabled? Steve Kuusisto at
Planet of the Blind has the answers. I hadn’t fully realized how jealous "they" were of my special powers, similarity to the Pope, and sneakiness. Thanks, Steve – this is good stuff to know..
Enough said.Dream Mom reflects on the
life lessons learned from having a child with a disability, “he taught me that children with disabilities are not children to be afraid of, but rather children to celebrate.”
Kristina Chew from
Autism Vox shares
the ways that she and her son Charlie are the same. Be sure to check out the comments as her readers then list the ways that they are the same as someone they love. It’s a great read – “We like school and are not happy if we miss days” and “We both like potato chips and chocolate (but not together)” and “We both love going to the beach.”
And the Number One disability theme is ….
What’s the big deal? Disability is normal. And, besides, being normal is overrated.
With help from Liz Spikol of
The Trouble with Spikol it should be easy to see the arbitrariness of, ambiguity of, and disservice of labels after labels after labels in "
Time is on our side".
And, Connie Kuusisto shares
“My Husband is Blind. Top Ten Questions I’m Asked.” “He always looks so good. Do you pick out his clothes?” and “Does he know what you look like?” and “Shall I trim his eyebrows?” Well, Connie, don’t keep us in suspense, does Steve want his eyebrows trimmed?
Thanks for all who submitted wonderful posts for this carnival. Let me know if any of the links aren't working right. If you can't get enough Top Ten lists, check out "Ouch Top Ten". Always fun stuff there.
UPDATE: Late entry from
Goldfish that fits in maybe #10, or #9, or #7 or a few places I guess. "
My Top Eleven Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Chronic Illness Eleven Years Ago..." is chock full of lessons learned about living fully, such as "You are not a medical condition" and "Nobody is really going to understand what you are going through." Check it out!
One more: Over at
Twinkle Little Star, Lisa lists "
The Ten Most Litigous Comments Made to Me in Job Interviews." "Without my glasses, I can't see a thing. And I know I couldn't teach kids without my glasses. I just don't see how it's possible." Incredible!
The next carnival will be hosted by Reimer Reason on September 13, with entries due by September 10. Posts can be submitted via the carnival site. Update - Penny says the theme is "Resilience".
On a very serious note, two stories that we all need to be made aware of:
The tragic death of Ruben Navarro, allegedly killed by his doctor, and Utah Medicaid will no longer be paying for wheelchairs to be used outside of the home.
The pictures for this carnival all come from Dan Wilkins at The Nth Degree. If you've never checked out his site, head on over - he's got buttons, bumper stickers, and t shirts, and lots of disability culture writing.
Thanks to my mom for putting together the Disability Blog Carnival logo with Dan Wilkins Ramp Minds picture, and for putting the "numbers" on all of The Nth Degree artwork.
Descriptions of pictures: Carnival Logo: A guy with a rather absent look in his eyes has a wheelchair ramp switchbacking up to his head. He is wearing a black hat which is flipped open and several people (one in a wheelchair, one with a cane) are falling into his head. Dan Wilkins' title is Ramp Minds. "Ramp your mind at the Disability Blog Carnival" is added across the ramp. Picture number 10: a dark green t shirt with the quote, "Adapt or Perish" and a picture of the progression of humans from the chimp to the primitive man to upright man and finally to the person in a wheelchair. A purple "10" has been added in the lower right corner. Dog pin: a dark green pin with a dog pawprint and "Meet me after work for some heavy petting. Woof!" Picture number 9: a white t shirt with the words "Barrier Removal Team" written in red around a circle crossing out stairs and a red number 9 added in the lower right corner. Picture number 8: a black t shirt with bright pink lettering, "Piss on Pity" and a bright pink number 8. Picture number 7: a picture of the front and back of a black t shirt. The front shows a crossed out circle with boxes in the middle and the words "no boxes" underneath. On the back is written, "see the whole kid". A lime green number 7 has been added. Picture number 6: a beige rectangular pin with red lettering, "Feisty and non-compliant". A yellow 6 has been added. Picture number 5: a brown t shirt with white lettering, "Your attitude just might be my biggest barrier". A blue 5 has been added. Picture number 4: a black t shirt with white lettering, "There comes a time when even the best advocates need a day off." There is a picture of a fellow in a wheelchair, hair sticking up and thumbing his nose. A white number 4 has been added. Picture number 3: a white t shirt with a black, gray and white Michael Giangreco cartoon. The picture shows an adult woman (presumably Mrs. Snippett) peaking around a corner to see child in a wheelchair further down the hall. The caption reads, "Inclusion mishap #9: Due to a faulty intercom, Mrs. Snippett thought the principal said, "You have a new student coming to your classroom. He has disabilities. Do your best to elude him." A brown number 3 has been added. Picture number 2: A brown t shirt with white lettering, "I AM. Therefore, I matter." An orange number 2 has been added. Picture number 1: A brown t shirt with white lettering, "Severely normal". An aqua number 1 has been added.
