Monthly Reading List - February 2019

The best things about disability I read last month …

Understanding the spectrum – a comic strip explanation
Rebecca Burgess, The Art of Autism - September 12, 2018

I think the reason I’m so fascinated with the ongoing “autism wars” is because: a) I’m not autistic, so the personal stakes for me are almost nonexistent, b) it’s about a kind of disability, which I AM personally interested in, and c) it’s about a very real, concrete, non-theoretical argument about the very nature of that disability. There are roughly two sides to this debate, each of which looks at the same thing and has nearly opposite interpretations of it. This “comic strip explanation” is the clearest illustration of the “neurodiversity” philosophy of autism, which is the one that makes the most sense to me.

For People With Disabilities, Navigating Can Be Difficult In Wintertime
Dave Lucas, WAMC Northeast Public Radio - February 4, 2019

As a winter-dwelling Northeasterner, I feel like the everyday barriers of poorly-managed snow and ice removal isn’t recognized nearly enough. It’s one of those major hardships of life with disabilities that really could be solved but isn’t. And it’s simply because people don’t think it’s important enough for anything more than voluntary efforts.

#ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow is Necessary Because Realistic Disability Representation is Scarce
Imani Barbarin, Rooted In Rights - February 6, 2019

This is about one of the most widely appealing and valuable disability-related hashtags I have ever seen. It’s also a good way to raise “disability awareness” in a truly authentic way.

Personal assistance needed
Annemarie Schuetz and Elizabeth Lepro, The River Reporter - February 20, 2019

It’s surprisingly hard to explain what home care and consumer direction mean for disabled people, but this article does it very, very well.

Will Presidential Candidates Remember the Voting Power of People With Disabilities?
Robyn Powell, Rewire News - February 20, 2019

It’s definitely not too soon to start thinking and planning for how to get disabled people and disability issues into the 2020 elections.