Disability Thinking Weekday: 9/19/24
Disability leadership, Paralympic penalties, and the new AirPods
Your three disability links for Thursday, September 19, 2024.
1. We need new leadership
Peter Torres Fremlin, Disability Debrief - September 18, 2024
“The threads of this crisis run through the wider disability movement. It has ramifications for how power is concentrated, the governance of organisations meant to be representative of disabled people, and how we respond when shortcomings come to light.”
There is a lot to think about in this followup to the Disability Debrief story shared in yesterday’s newsletter. Here Peter shares several pretty concrete ideas, or at least questions to be asked. It also prompts me to consider a broader questions about disability organizations, big and small, international, national, and local:
How do disability organizations maintain grassroots authenticity, a strong advocacy edge, and a humane personal responsiveness — while at the same time acting professionally, meticulously following businesslike steps in planning and administrative approval processes, and responsibly managing and growing the funds necessary to pursue their missions?
Being grassroots and professional aren’t mutually exclusive of course. But they are often viewed as opposite priorities, which I think does contribute to — and sometimes cynically excuse — dysfunction in disability organizations. And then of course there’s a more pessimistic interpretation which we should never completely dismiss. It’s always possible that a disability organization might become merely a vehicle for a few disabled people to make a comfortable living in socially prestigious positions. There’s nothing wrong with those things. Disabled people who do valuable work should be paid reasonably well. And those who do remarkable things for the disability community deserve recognition and respect. But these rewards aren’t the reasons for having disability organizations. At least they shouldn’t be.
2. Four U.S. Paralympians disciplined for online comments about teammate
Roman Stubbs and Rick Maese, Washington Post - September 17, 2024
“‘I went from enjoying a world record to being utterly devastated that the entire world seems to think I was a cheater and that I was somehow faking the hole in my brain and the cyst in my spinal cord,’ Raleigh Crossley said in Paris. ‘To be told online by all of these bullies that I am not somehow disabled as I appear, just because I can swim faster than them, it’s pretty devastating.’”
I don’t follow specific Paralympic athletes, or controversies over how the Paralympics are run, enough to know just how surprised or shocked I should be about this. But in general, the fact that some prominent and accomplished disabled people would become convinced that other disabled people are cheating and are systematically allowed to do so doesn’t surprise me. And for what it’s worth, I’m 95% sure its more about petty grievances than any actual cheating problem. On the other hand, it’s also quite possible that the athletes griping about a fellow Paralympian’s disability bona fides sincerely believe there’s an authenticity problem. If so, it probably stems from how they view disability in general. Is their idea of disability notably narrow — and in conflict with the more recent trend of disability organizations going for a wider, more inclusive idea of who is and isn’t disabled? That might be worth exploring.
3. 'A powerful new tool': A disabled advocate on Apple's FDA-approved hearing aids
Neal Broverman, Mashable - September 18, 2024
“Many people assume disability tech must be ugly, but disability tech can be absolutely delightful! Disability tech is all around us, from the touchscreen to audiobooks. Disabled people spark innovation, and over time those developments travel into the mainstream. Future people will be surprised to learn listening devices didn’t always have hearing aid capabilities.”
It’s nice to have a bit of positivity after a couple of more dour, depressing articles. And Haben Girma’s optimism here about Apple’s new AirPods and other assistive technologies seems authentic and informed, not over-hyped.
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