The Deal with Disability
By Laura Woodhouse | 22 September 2009, 16:12
The Deal with Disability is a new blog written by Eva, a 26-year-old feminist with Cerebral Palsy. The blog documents her everyday encounters with people who treat her “bizarrely” and insensitively when they see she is disabled. Instead of simply getting angry at these people, she chooses to react with amusement and exposes their ignorant attitudes and behaviour through humour, recording the encounter on a video mounted on her wheelchair, as here:
Eva also blogs about people who get it right, like this manager at one of her favourite cafes:
One day the manager walked up and said “Eva, can you show me how I can communicate with you?” So my aide gave a little explanation and we tried it out. She gradually brought every waitress over to see the demonstration. So eventually I could just roll in and order myself. They didn’t make a huge deal out of it and the desire to learn was absolutely sincere. It was just like learning my communication was the next obvious step since I came there so much. This might not seem like a big deal to you but to me it meant that they saw me as a person worth speaking to and not just ‘that disabled girl’.
Definitely one to add to your blog rolls.
H/t to Lesbilicious, who did an interview with Eva last month.
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Feeds
Kez said:
What an excellent blog, thanks for highlighting it. :)
Posted on 22 September 2009 at 4:39 PM
JenniferRuth said:
Thank you for bringing this to our attention - what a brilliant blog! Gone straight on my GoogleReader.
Posted on 22 September 2009 at 5:09 PM
Pattie said:
Coincidence! I was just walking home earlier when I saw a lady who was blind or partially sighted waiting to cross the road. She seemed a bit unsure and I didn't know whether or not to go and ask her if she wanted any help. Then I thought, no, maybe she gets that all the time and it pisses her off. I waited and watched, then the bleeper thing went off when the lights turned green, and she crossed and was fine. But sometimes I'm unsure what to do, because I don't want to annoy or give offence.
This is NO WAY the same, of course, but I used to have really bad eczema on my face, neck and hands. I hated going out because of the stares and comments. I hardly ever got anyone actually being horrible to me (although that did happen sometimes), most people who stared and commented were well meaning. But I still hated it and used to long for them to just keep their gobs SHUT about my skin and just treat me like any other adult. I didn't choose to define myself by my skin and I wished they wouldn't either. I just don't get why people ever feel they have the right to make comments and ask questions.
Eva's blog is brilliant. Thank you for posting this.
Posted on 22 September 2009 at 6:03 PM
Anji said:
Added straight to my feed reader - Eva is fantastic. :D
Posted on 22 September 2009 at 9:08 PM
zohra said:
Nice one Laura, that is some hysterical writing by Eva. Also totally cringe-worthy of course.
I can't wait to see more of the videos - you just can't argue with that.
Posted on 22 September 2009 at 11:08 PM
Shreen said:
Yes, this is a fantastic idea for a blog! Zohra you are right, you can't argue with the truth unfolding before you in a video. And it's better than just telling us the problem, Eva is *showing* us - far more effective.
Posted on 23 September 2009 at 4:34 PM