Disability Thinking Weekday: 5/2/24
Medical ableism, loving our disabilities, and disability on stage
Time for another three disability-related links for Thursday, May 2, 2024.
1. Disability: Doctor assumed woman using wheelchair did not have sex
Gemma Dunstan, BBC - April 30, 2024
“Alex Harrison, disability equality officer at Disability Wales, said that many people who had "battles" with healthcare simply disengaged from it … ‘As a result they say they have new impairments or conditions have worsened,’ she said.”
This piece starts with a particular disabled woman’s story of medical ableism, but goes on to cite several other people’s experiences too. That’s important. One person’s bad experiences with doctors or medical technicians are often dismissed as anecdotal and highly subjective. Corroboration from other disabled people helps a lot. On the other hand, if you are disabled it’s usually not hard to imagine these seemingly personal, individual, emotionally fraught experiences being 100 percent real. And twisted attitudes and insensitive approaches to disabled people, (there’s really no other appropriate word here than “insensitive”), have as much impact on us and our health as doctor’s offices without ramps, lack of Sign Language interpreters, or examining tables that can’t accommodate wheelchair users.
2. Tony-Award Winner Ali Stroker on How She Lives Boldly
Ali Stroker, Good Housekeeping - April 30, 2024
“I was injured when I was 2, so for as long as I can remember I’ve been in a wheelchair. But there isn’t a feeling of missing my “other life” — my chair and being paralyzed are normal to me. That may be hard to imagine for somebody who does not have a disability. But for me, my disability is not “different”; it’s just a part of me.”
There’s a lot in this personal article by Broadway actress Ali Stroker. For one thing, she gives one of the best explanations I can recall of how people who have been disabled all their lives — or at least a very long time — feel about their disabilities. Her story is also a testament to the rather boring, sometimes disappointing, but surprisingly still effective idea of positive thinking. It’s also a testament to how much of a difference it makes for disabled people if they can live and work out their ambitions and approaches to their disabilities from within supportive families and communities — and while grounded and cushioned by some degree of financial stability. Positive stories of disabled people can easily drift into syrupy “inspirational” tones. But when disabled people write about themselves, this usually doesn’t happen, and it doesn’t here. Ali’s perspectives are interesting and hopeful, not really “inspirational.” And that’s a good thing.
3. Glasgow theatre company wants more disabled actors cast in disabled roles
Amie Flett, STV News - April 20, 2024
“Artistic director Robert Softley Gale, who has cerebral palsy, said: “We work with disabled and non-disabled actors and writing creatives in creating theatre that tells the stories of disabled people in new ways.”
15 years ago, my idea of including disability in movies, TV, and theater was only about including disabled characters and writing stories about disabled life. It almost never occurred to me that it might be important for disabled characters to be played by disabled actors, or for disabled people to be involved in other aspects of productions. It’s one of the aspects of how I used to think about disability issues that makes me cringe looking back on it. And I wonder how common that one-dimensional view of disability inclusion in popular culture still is today.
This newsletter depends on your support. If you find it helpful, please like, share, and subscribe — for free, or with a paid subscription of $5 per month or $50 per year. I am so grateful for your help and engagement, in whichever forms you choose!