Debbie says:

This week marks the first Disability Blog Carnival. The carnival starts by giving some history to previous link collections and coordinated blog efforts to bring attention to disability, and goes on to present a host of fantastic links.

Here are two that caught my eye:

Andrea on being the class project:

Unfortunately, caring for was not the same thing as caring about. If I complained to the teacher about being put into awkward situations from being pushed into playgroups where neither I nor the children wanted my presence, my concerns and discomfort were dismissed. “You should thank them for doing that for you,” the teacher told me, “They’re letting you play with them. You should appreciate that.” But when I played with them, I was made fun of for my inability to do things the right way. I could not understand why I should express thanks to others for the opportunity to be ridiculed.

And Allison Kaftan, blogging from the site of the Gallaudet protests:

Not one person I’ve spoken to on-campus since May of this year, protester or not, has denied the fact that there are things about Gallaudet that need to change. Admission standards are problematic. So are graduation rates and the quality of education. There’s a strong good-ol-boy social network in place, which inevitably results in elitism and weak diversity recognition. The current administration, other than hold meetings and formulate plans, has done nothing to address audism in the last place on earth that it should be found. The language policy is broad, weakly worded, and rarely understood or enforced.

The overall reputation and image of Gallaudet, both in the deaf community and outside of it, suffers as a result of all of these. It’s been that way since at least 1998, when I first arrived as a freshman, and probably before.

There’s lots more, and it’s all good. Check it out.

disability Disability Blog Carnival, deaf, Gallaudet, < Body Impolitic