‘Dialog in the Dark’ exhibit simulates blindness — Associated Press in the Boston Herald

… “It is not blindness that is the disability. It is fear.”

Fear of the unknown, of what we cannot see, is indeed a scary thing, and I recognize for the first time how right he is. We leave the room and enter a corridor that gradually reintroduces us to the light.

I emerge squinting and probably more than a little relieved, but determined to see the world with new eyes.

‘Unconditional love is a good name for it;’ Parents adjust to children with Down syndrome – Rapid City [SD] Journal

Wichita special ed has fewer kids, costs more — Wichita Eagle

Blogging the world, from a wheelchair’s view — Boston Globe

Op-ed: Teachers need training to handle diversity, disabilities in class — Newsday

Utah parents fear special ed funds were siphoned to sports — Salt Lake Tribune

Kids with disabilities run coffee shop, create a buzz — Arizona Daily Star

Novelist Ann Bauer (no relation) writes in the New York Times about her son’s journey from autism to schizophrenia. When he stole her car, she decided to press charges. An excerpt:

In his deliberate, troubled way, my son had done it: he had found his way to adulthood. And although I didn’t know it then, he would find his way through this, too. But he needed to go through it, not back, and not around. Maybe that’s what he knew better than any of us.

Andrew gave me a glimmer of a smile before facing the judge and narrating, in clear language, the story of his crime.

Earlier piece by Ann Bauer is here.

More than two weeks ago, I kicked off the public conversation about the use of the word “retard” in “Tropic Thunder” and its marketing materials with this post: ‘Tropic Thunder’: Once upon a time … there was a retard.

Since then I’ve been bringing you up-to-date coverage of the controversy, and have provided a forum in which people have been able to express their views. I’ve frankly lost count, but I think  the number of comments here currently stands at something around 700. It has been a lively discussion, with many differing and often emotional opinions expressed.

Now I’ve weighed in with some opinions of my own. They can be seen in the Sunday Opinion section of the Washington Post: A movie, a word and my family’s battle. My point: The thoughtless and widespread use of the word “retard” as an insult sets back progress that has been made toward including and accepting people with disabilities, and hurts us all. Here’s how the piece starts:

Margaret and I were lingering in front of the multiplex one evening last summer, a mom and her adult daughter laughing about the movie we’d just seen, when a gaggle of cute pre-teen girls sauntered past.

The one in the lead jerked a thumb in our direction and made a goofy face to her friend. “Look. Retard,” we heard her say, and Margaret wilted. Her chin trembled. One by one, the other girls turned to look, nudging one another and whispering. The last girl spun all the way around as she slowly walked by, eyes fixed on my daughter.

The piece is accompanied by an edited version of the “full retard” scene from the movie.

You can also see me expressing my views on “The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet,” a national Fox talk show. Appearing with me were David Tolleson, executive director of the National Down Syndrome Congress; Eddie Barbanell, a star of “The Ringer,” and Gitesh Pandya of boxofficeguru.com.

[And in case anyone wonders if I've seen the movie: Yes, indeed, I have. Check my post on it here.]

From the Columbus [Ohio] Dispatch:

Preparing to anchor the presidential forum on disability issues, broadcaster Judy Woodruff says her 26-year-old son Jeffrey, who has spina bifida, has opened her eyes to the way the world looks from a wheelchair.

Having somebody in the family who is disabled is a lesson every day — in humanity and how much we shouldn’t take for granted.

Jeffrey was only mildly impaired by his condition until a routine surgery at age 16 caused unexpected complications. He emerged with profound disabilities, and cannot walk or use the right side of his body. He’s now a student at a small college in North Carolina.

Woodruff is senior correspondent and 2008 political editor for The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on PBS.

The country has come a long way since the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. Having said that, just look around and you can see we have a long way to go. The disabled still can’t get into some places, some stores and many homes.

Of course, there’s such a wide variety of disabilities — hearing, visual, physical, a cane or a wheelchair, developmental delays. Part of what the disabled community has to do is educate society about the vast differences and that many with disabilities are perfectly capable of holding down a job and learning.

(PBS photo)

By Amy Julia Becker in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sunday Currents section:

Becker says medicine’s “evidence-based standards of care” are skewed in favor of eliminating children with Down syndrome like her daughter Penny, with many women terminating pregnancies based on probabilities, fear and misinformation. Now expecting another child, Becker says she wishes obstetricians would update their ten-year-old brochures and

… include the fact that the life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has doubled in the past 25 years, or that the average IQ of a person with Down syndrome has doubled over the course of the 20th century, or that many physical “defects” can be corrected relatively easily because of advances in medical care. (Penny had a hole in her heart, for instance, that may well have killed her a few decades ago. Now, it didn’t even warrant an overnight stay in the hospital.)

(more…)

From American Baby magazine, a Q&A with the mother of 2-year-old Mark Radel, of West Winfield, New York. Mark has Down syndrome, and his mom says he is “within the milestone range for a normal child.”

Mary shares some of the details of their lives. Here’s a sample:

Q. Is there any misinformation about kids with Down syndrome that you want to clear up?
A. When we first found out that Mark had Down syndrome, I read online that children with it don’t walk until age 3, and that’s just not true. Because of a lack of research money, up-to-date information is hard to come by. What you read may be outdated and not apply to what your child will accomplish with the services that are now available. Plus, every child is unique, and you cannot paint a whole group of kids with the same brush just because they all have Down syndrome

Q. What would you like to tell moms-to-be who are having a baby with Down syndrome?
A. It’s a whole new world, but it’s not the end of the world. Love the baby, get to know the child, and don’t worry about his or her diagnosis. There’s a 30-year-old woman with Down syndrome in our support group, and she has a driver’s license and a college degree. When you’re speaking with her, you have to remind yourself that she has a disability. That’s such an inspiration for my husband and me, because we dream that Mark will be that way one day.

As Britain’s Missing Top Model debuts, one of the judges writes on the BBC website about her hopes for the show. Lara Masters is a writer, model and actor who uses an electric wheelchair.

The fact is that fashion is a business and it is us, the consumers, who keep it thriving. Is it any wonder the industry sticks to a winning formula and largely shuns the idea of using bigger, more representational female models, let alone disabled models whose physical forms will be even more difficult to sell as aspirational?

Yet maybe the BBC’s reality show will make a difference. After all, fashionistas are always looking for something new, and disabled models are perfect to create intrigue and attract attention.

With video.

More about Lara Masters on BBC’s Ouch website.