Disability Studies

TL;DR: The pandemic has demanded new ways for everyone to access the world. Some of these forms were more accessible for disabled people than the pre-pandemic world. Can we keep what we have gained in an ableist society that wants to return to "normal"?

Moses's Speech Disorder in Commentaries on the Torah

Here are a few pages from "The Gene: An Intimate History" by Siddhartha Mukherjee that I found relevant after today's discussion.

If this sample isn't too technical for you, this is a great book that both goes into the details of how genetics works and does an excellent job of covering the eugenics movement in America (and elsewhere, but primarily America). The author himself had several schizophrenic relatives, who he talks about a bit in the book. 

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is an often-misunderstood mental disorder caused by overwhelming childhood abuse. To survive the abuse, the child will adopt different identities/personalities that protect their 'main' identity from having to experience it all at once. In popular media, DID is usually a simple 'multiple personalities' shtick, used for horror, with most of the causes not being discussed. 

Hi, everyone! I came across a podcast from Short Wave discussing inaccessibility in the lab and other spaces in STEM fields. Krystal Vasquez, a disabled scientist, speaks about how her relationship with science changed when she became disabled and how we can make science more accessible to everyone. I especially recommend this listen to fellow STEM students! Vasquez talks about we can use universal design in the lab, which I think would be very valuable to both disabled and non-disabled folks conducting research. Throughout this past semester, I noticed that I always felt really tired and somewhat achy after my chemistry lab. We often had to stand for hours at a time by the fume hood.

Some of my thoughts over the course of the semester have led me to discover the right-to-repair movement. Organized from mostly farmers who could not repair their equipment without paying companies like John Deere to repair it for them, putting them in an unfair power dynamic with a machine that is necessary to their liveliehood and that they own. Recent platforming of the issue has allowed for a multiplicity of right-to-repair coalitions in support of the rights to repair medical equipment, electronics, industrial equipment, and manufacturing apparatuses, inducing an impetus for the intersection of disability advocacy into the movement.

I went from having almost no knowledge of disability studies before taking this class, and now I feel as though I cannot unsee the intersections at every turn in my academic and personal life. I don’t exaggerate when I say this; I am familiar with disability but have never had the language to explain, describe, or enunciate what I have experienced. Repeating many others, the current public lexicon is woefully equipped to address the diversity of human experiences, especially when it manifests itself as disability. Taking this class and holding on to several questions important to me throughout the semester has led to my understanding of disability being expanded upon in many ways.

The link to the Google Document is here, and it includes the advertisement as well as footnotes for news I reference. LINK: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13REpUzKXYEtbeorUTWry4vmBiiVVR_t77Spy6GqCud0/edit?usp=sharing 

I recommend that y'all read this article from the Los Angeles Times about Eryn Brown, a talent manager at Management 360. She speaks on her experiences in Hollywood as a disabled person and the humiliation of attending physically inaccessible awards ceremonies. She represents Nicole Newnham, the co-writer and co-director of Crip Camp. The article includes some quotes from Newnham and from Jim LeBrecht about disability inclusion in Hollywood.

Hi all! Here's my final paper, which explores the links between capitalism and ableism in the American workplace:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lpbeKZXpjQpUbvcAflyBYuhOFNSokNO1OzQJ7dINF-I/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you all for a great semester!