Friday, May 23, 2014

For Children to Know

Sometimes surveys happen. Sometimes I snark at them (they totally deserved it, asking a question that assumes I think the concept of differently abled should be taught at all and wanting to know how/where, when actually I think the concept hides important institutionalized power differentials and is therefore kind of terrible.)

But I played it straight, pretty much, on a couple of the questions. Like "What would you want children to know when it comes to the concept of disability?"
  • Disability is a natural part of the human experience- that's in the ADA, we can be at least as progressive as the US Congress in the 1990s.
  • We're all different, when the stuff a person can do is far away from what society expects them to be able to do that's called disability, because society is disabling them.
  • Disability without a disabled person doesn't actually exist. 
I could explain these things and talk about them more, but...
Those are the starting points I would give to the kid, then let the kids questions guide where we go. I'm happy to do the same now, if people come to ask.


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