Blind aide raises bar of expectations — The Hill (blindness)

Disabled parking placard use is on the rise — LA Daily News (law)

Report: Disabled voters face difficulty in RI — Boston Globe (voting)

Op-ed: Those with developmental disabilities need help now — Denver Post (law, politics, intellectual disabilities)

Film of Norfolk man’s life added to Library of Congress — The [Norfolk] Virginian-Pilot (Down syndrome)

Aging parents plan for future of children who still need help — Ottawa Citizen (caretakers)

Extreme Makeover: Emotional buildup – New York Times (disabilities, media, chronic illness, entertainment, television)

He’s immobile, but his story has the power to move — Today Show (muscular dystrophy, media, parents, personal stories)

Op-ed: New ADA rules overturn common sense — Miami Herald (ADA)

Disabled band scores film first — BBC News (entertainment)

Man accused of harassing autistic boy faces hate-crime charge — The Seattle Times (autism, hate crime)

Book review: ‘Deaf Sentence’ — New York Times (deafness)

Redskins ordered to provide hearing-impaired fans ‘aural content’ in stadium — ESPN (deaf/hard of hearing)

LOS ANGELES — A coalition of performing arts unions today announced the launch of a major disability rights campaign to increase visibility and employment opportunities for actors, broadcasters and performers with disabilities throughout the entertainment and news media.

At briefings in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Actors’ Equity Association said the campaign would work to reverse a history of exclusion and bring the world’s largest minority into the media mainstream.

“There is an alarming absence of people with disabilities in the media.  We are virtually invisible,” said “CSI” regular Robert David Hall (above), who uses prosthetic legs as a result of an accident 30 years ago. Hall, who serves as chairman of the tri-union committee of performers with disabilities, told a news conference at SAG’s Los Angeles headquarters that he plays one of only three disabled characters in recurring television roles.

“Kids and adults with all kinds of disabilities need to see positive images of themselves, and the world at large needs to see PWDs (people with disabilities) as the intelligent, talented and passionate human beings that we are,” he said.

SAG president Alan Rosenberg drew parallels between this effort and campaigns for civil rights protections for racial and ethnic minorities, women, lesbian and gay people, and seniors.

“The time for change is now,” he said. “Discrimination has to be challenged loudly, with a global effort to educate the public to the lack of inclusion and universal access in the entertainment industry.”

(more…)

From the Boston Globe, Colorado Springs Gazette and elsewhere:

Diana Chavez and Luis Herrera (at left) were among the protesters in Colorado Springs as members of the National Federation of the Blind picketed the opening of the film “Blindness” on Friday.

In addition to Colorado springs, there were news reports of protests in Boston, Des Moines; Denver;  Jacksonville, Florida; Rochester, Minnesota; Asheville, North Carolina; Dayton, Ohio; and elsewhere. Organizers said picketing was planned for 78 locations in 38 states.

Protesters handed out fliers and carried signs proclaiming the film a “travesty” and saying that “Stereotypes are the real evil.”

The film, which stars Julianne Moore, depicts a society  that is hit by an epidemic of blindness; chaos and depravity result. Protesters said the movie exacerbates stereotypes and stokes public fears.

“The difficulty of being blind comes from this low expectation of people who are blind,” said Mika Pyyhkala, who protested in Boston. “That causes more problems than any technical or direct blindness. This movie doesn’t portray the reality of what it’s like.”

See also:

Blind critics of film seem unenlightened — by Pete McMartin in the Vancouver Sun

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From the International Herald Tribune:

Portuguese author Jose Saramago (left), who won a Nobel prize for a body of work that included the novel “Blindness”, says protests about a film version of that book are unfounded and misguided.

He was reacting to a pledge by the National Federation of the Blind to picket the film at more than 80 theaters across the United States when it opens today.

In an interview with a Portuguese radio station, Saramago dismissed the threat as “a display of meanness based on nothing at all.”

“Stupidity doesn’t choose between the blind and the non-blind,” Saramago said.

NFB advocates have said the movie portrays blind people as incompetent, filthy, vicious and depraved, and that it will fuel popular misconceptions that blind people are incompetent.

See also:

Los Angeles Times:

“Any movie that angers people automatically gains a couple of points in naughty, forbidden cachet. By attracting the ire of the National Federation of the Blind, ‘Blindness’ has proven that it’s more than a well-respected book and a lot of award winners. It’s something you shouldn’t see. Which, of course, makes it all the more watchable.”

New York Times — ‘Blindness’ movie stokes protest

Defamer.com — Outraged activists suggest ‘Full Blindness’ is the new ‘Full Retard’

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From KNBC TV, Los Angeles:

John Paizis, founder of Performing Arts Studio West (PASW) says actors with disabilities are increasingly playing television roles that until recently were played by non-disabled actors.

PASW is an arts program in metropolitan Los Angeles that trains and encourages 50-60 artists with developmental disabilities each day, offering acting workshops, music recording sessions, and career management.

The program prepares actors to audition for available roles. Nick Weiland, an actor with Down Syndrome, appeared in a recent episode of “ER” (above). Nick Daley, who has Prader-Willi syndrome, guest starred on “Saving Grace.”

“ER” casting director John Levey says using actors with disabilities “brings a certain immediacy, electricity and authenticity to the material.” “ER” has employed actors with disabilities for the past 15 years.

See earlier post here.

(Video included)

Woman with Down syndrome inspires families in Washington state – KNDO/KNDU-TV, Yakima, Washington — Karen Gaffney (left) speaks out about her experiences earning a regular high school diploma and a degree from Portland Community College, swimming across Lake Tahoe, and participating in a relay team that swam the English Channel. Says Gaffney:

“I’ve changed all that data.  I’ve changed their doubts. I have improved and inspired so many lives, spread my messages of being fully included in a regular classroom setting.”

Link to video here; earlier video of Karen Gaffney on the NBC Today show here.

People with Down syndrome live fully — letter to the Sacramento Bee from Elaine Linn. An excerpt:

People with Down syndrome go to school, work, have meaningful relationships, make decisions about their lives and live independently. They become dedicated employees and loyal friends.

… There’s something terribly wrong with a society that purportedly values diversity yet places a distinct lack of value on people who aren’t “perfect.” I don’t know one perfect person and it’s hard to understand this willing acceptance of terminating pregnancies based on inaccurate information about potential “imperfections.” Yet it exists 90 percent of the time with Down syndrome.

Avoid Tropic Thunder, a cruel comedy — by Eric Johnson in the Grand Forks, ND, Herald

The fact is that even among the various species of hate speech, ridicule of those with retardation is unique in its brutishness. Unlike racial minorities, religious adherents or the physically disabled, those with developmental disabilities cannot well defend themselves with wit and well-crafted retorts. That’s why the arguments of Downey and Black — that everyone has the right to say whatever they want — are especially hollow.

New system for developmentally disabled is needed — Sheila Romano in the Springfield, IL, Journal Register (institutionalization, housing)

Taking the fear out of difference — Baltimore Sun (education, attitudes)

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In the wake of the controversy over “Tropic Thunder” Salon.com writer Lynn Harris analyzes the linguistic origins of “retard” and other insult words. Always popular with the playground set, “retard” has grown in strength in the “online snarkosphere,” Harris says, as more people need more words to complain about more things.

Ultimately, Harris says, activists are trying to get people to be aware of their language and think twice about the insult’s real-life impact. She closes with a quote from Gail Williamson, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles:

“People are comfortable using ‘retard’ as a dis because in the past no one has stood up and said anything in numbers worth counting. Most marginalized groups come from places of family pride and tradition. They are able to stand strong together out of their heritage and make a statement. But people with intellectual disabilities, scattered through different families, are not part of a celebrated culture.

… I think today’s high-tech world has finally allowed us to take a stand. Perhaps the word has continued to grow in popularity, since there has been no public pressure against it. Until now.”