Knocking down the wall
Last week at the Shape media conference I had the pleasure of meeting Kristina Veasey. She has taken part in two Paralympics and talked about her own experiences competing as a disabled athlete.
For most of us non-athletic Crips, and in particular those of us involved in disability arts, the world of the Paralympian seems remote to say the least. We see them as single minded Super Crips with no interest or involvement in disability politics and protest. What we do hear about are those sporty wheelchair users with amazing upper body strength telling non-disabled people that they don't need ramps!
The media love them as well, providing photo opportunities of 'good' disabled people (as opposed to 'bad' disabled people who are scrounging on disability benefit and can't be arsed to find a job!).
All this media hype of course goes to reinforce the stereotypes of disability that Mr and Mrs Jo Public know and love. The acceptable face of disability versus the unacceptable.
But having chatted to Kristina after her talk, I learned a few things. For example did you know that all Paralympians have to sign a contract that specifically prohibits them from taking part in any political protest during the duration of the games?
This means that if they did protest for the duration of the games, (against ATOS for example) they would have sacrificed years of training and would have to return any medals that they had won.
But some paralympians find ways around the system. For example Kristina told me that was why, as a retired paralympian, she became Amnesty International's paralympic ambassador during the Beijing games - "so I could give voice to protest."
Perhaps between us all - paralympians, activists, disabled artists - we could start to tear down the wall that the media & society have erected and start working together.
As ever the challenge is to be able to communicate more openly with each other and to be prepared to let go of those unhelpful stereotypes. I include myself in this as a veteran of creating and maintaining some of these stereotypes. My exchange with Kristina was a kick in my assumptions which I found very helpful and thought provoking.
Perhaps all disabled people, all working together could create a power base strong enough to bring this government and their draconian measures to a shuddering halt.
We can but hope.
BTW if you do have tickets for Paralympic events you may be asked to participate in an on-line survey. Why not use this opportunity to voice some of our concerns about the dichotomy between the experiences of paralympians and many other disabled people. Here's your chance to comment on the gap between the portrayal of paralympic athletes and the daily struggle against barriers that most disabled people face.
Conference on media representation of disabled people during the Olympics
On Tuesday of this week (the 19th June) I'll be attending the DAO/Shape conference to be held at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, in London.
The aim of the conference is to bring together both disabled and non-disabled professional journalists and disabled artists and to look at how disabled people are being represented in the mainstream press, specifically during the Cultural Olympiad.
I'll be creating and then presenting cartoons based upon the discussions taking place during the afternoon. Later, and In collaboration with John O'Donoghue , DAO blogger, author and creative writer, we'll be creating a series of blogs within DAO portraying disabled people and their varied reaction to the whole Olympic issue.
I'm expecting there to be lots of 'in your face' stuff as we Crips argue our side of the story to the non-disabled journalists and other media folk who will be at the conference.
I, of course, will be my usual quiet, polite and restrained self during the event! (Ed: better get the legal team on stand-by then!)
Here's a link to the events section of this web site which will explain things about the conference in more detail.
Disability Graffiti
I posted this cartoon on the Crippen Cartoon blog the other day and because I've started to get some interesting comments about it, I thought I'd share it with you on this Disability Arts on Line blog.
I'm still amazed at the number of Disabled people who don't know who Atos are. Despite most of them having gone through, or are due to go through the Government's Benefits Assessment programme.
The Assessment is, of course, being carried out by Atos. They are paid a handsome amount for doing the work and, according to a recent whistle blower's report (ex-Atos employee), are also paid a bonus for every Crip they can strike off the Benefits entitlement list.
The fact that a high percentage of Disabled people who then challenge Atos' decision are reinstated, says a lot for their credibility!
Extreme sports
It's funny where your mind goes when you let it wander ...
Take the Paralympics for example. I wonder if they'll be looking at existing skills in order to incorporate them into the events schedule?
I'm waiting for the 'abuse non-disabled disability professionals' event myself!