Posts by Hilary Stace
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Access: Who Are Disabled New Zealanders?, in reply to BDB Inc,
Addressing disability abuse is complex. I'm in the process of writing something about it all which I might turn into a post (or more than one).
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It is International Blogging Against Disableism Day today. Here is Robyn Hunt's contribution to disability rights and the cause http://www.lowvisionary.com/?p=623
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Just come across this parent perspective of Tokanui http://barbznz.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/nightmare-of-tokanui/
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My aspie friend used to say he didn't live with autism, ie autism was not his flatmate.
Just having this 'people with autism', or 'children with autism' discussion in another context. A good rule is to ask those with lived experience what they prefer - after all it is their life and identity being described. 'Autistic person' seems pretty universally accepted. David Cohen uses 'autist' - another interesting use.
NZ social modellers like 'disabled person', ie person disabled by society. Not 'the disabled', which can deny human identity. But I see the use of 'disabled' as a collective noun without 'the' coming into use here in NZ (I think Huhana Hickey uses it) .
What we can guarantee is that disability language will continue to evolve.
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Access: Who Are Disabled New Zealanders?, in reply to BDB Inc,
There are not many disabled people's organisations (DPOs) in NZ and they are all small and not well resourced, unlike some of the disability NGOs which are bigger. It is just my observation that the DPOs seem focussed on the Convention, but it is a bigger task to expect them to actually change the status of disabled people in NZ. I don't know about how they consulted with their members (ie disabled people themselves) in their convention reporting. The Convention Coalition seems to be one way to bring the fragmented sector together but if you don't feel represented you could contact them.
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DPA has revamped its website and some branches seem to have become more active lately. Most DPOs are very UN CRPWD focused and how to made those rights real. It is very hard for NGOs to be active advocates for anything in the current climate where those with the loudest voices risk losing funding (see what happened to the Problem Gambling Foundation).
However, I think there is some political activism going on here and there, but possibly more through various groups on Facebook than actual meetings. For example, the Kirk Branch of the Labour Party (the disability sector) seems to be having a revival. Could be because Aspie lawyer Simon Buckingham is keen to get on the list and raise disability awareness. The Greens are the obvious leaders with at least one actual disabled person advising on their policy development.
I am really concerned about the disenfranchisement of disabled people, whoever they are and wherever they live. It is really important that they are all on the roll and assisted to vote if they need it. Anybody can help do that in their local community.
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Access: Defective, deficient, deviant…, in reply to Sean_us Handley,
That explains why I was never allowed to eat apples or tomatoes.
Renee - Good for them. Brave too. Were your parents early members of the NZ Autistic Society (as it was then)? I have heard from others that it was very hard to fundraise or gain acceptability for autism as in those days it was deemed to be the parents' fault.
Russell - thanks for posting that video. Paul Hunt is a very significant figure in the rise of Disability Rights and the academic Disability Studies. Good to see that context. Many parallels with NZ although our laws were slightly different. I think I have also heard Mabel talk at a conference several years ago in Australia. One of the first people I heard talking about their institutionalised lives. Simple and shocking relevations.
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Robert said in 2009, and I use this quote quite often
Though it’s great that New Zealand closed its last institution (Kimberley Centre), being institutionalised is not just about the buildings - the bricks and mortar - it’s also about values, beliefs, actions and activities. It’s about the way things are done, the decisions that are made, who makes them and who has the control. In New Zealand we still need to work hard to ensure that people with disabilities do not continue to be institutionalised even though they live in community settings.
Thank you for the nice comments. It feels quite vulnerable even writing about something as common as eczema. It raises a lot of deep memories.There are hardly any photos of me as a baby and in the few that exist I look very grumpy.
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We have the right words in the 2001 New Zealand Disability Strategy
'Disability is not something individuals have. What individuals have are impairments. They may be physical, sensory, neurological, psychiatric, intellectual or other impairments.
Disability is the process which happens when one group of people create barriers by designing a world only for their way of living, taking no account of the impairments other people have.
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Thanks so much for this new initiative, Russell. Also for starting and supporting humans for so many years. A significant chunk of our recent autism (and some more general disability) history is documented there so I hope it can be archived safely. The post by Giovanni on his daughter's diagnosis with autism (reposted from his Bat Bean Beam blog) is one that has been widely quoted. She was three then. She is now eight and thriving at school and a valued member of her local community.
Anyhow let the new conversations begin. Thanks, friend Sacha, for starting it off.