Disability Studies

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! 

Hi friends! Here is the link to my final project :)

“I almost want to get out of my wheelchair and kiss the fucking dirt”: Analyzing the foundations of the disability justice movement in Crip Camp

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11AYDHwzK3j5IdZE9HatMSFEFu2Q2L6V69FuF7khLVKw/edit?usp=sharing

I talked about this a bit in my breakout room last night and I might talk about it in my final project, but I thought I'd share it in a post in case I end up going in a different direction with my paper.

I saw a tweet a few days ago and I've been thinking a lot about it ever since. The tweet reads, "we don't talk enough about the imposter syndrome / burnout crossover when you don't think you are allowed to feel burnout. not to be earnest but it's something I've experienced and something I've observed in my friends in the past. you're burnt out but you don't believe you've done enough or, for lack of a better word, earned it."

We were always taught that deafness is a loss/lack of hearing ability, that it is an unfortunate reality, but what if it is the other way around? What if it is a gift, what if deaf people are luckier than us as they have received access to a dimension of living and communicating that we would have never discovered as hearing people? We should learn from those we used to perceive as ‘lacking’ and reflect on why our ways of perceiving the world are considered the norm.