Telling Our Disability Stories is proud to present Australia’s own Stella Young. Stella Young is a comedian, disability advocate and Editor of the ABC (Australia) Broadcast Corporation’s Ramp Up, the online space for news, discussion and opinion about disability in Australia. She was a two-time state finalist in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Raw Comedy […]
Rahnee Patrick is the Director of Independent Living at Access Living in Chicago. Access Living is one of the preeminent independent living centers in the country. At Access Living she addresses equal educational access for students with disabilities in Chicago Public Schools and the holistic well being of youth with disabilities which include their self-esteem, […]
Sandie Yi’s gloves.PDF FlyerSandie Yi will illustrate and discuss Crip Couture, her collection of disability fashion, at the de Young Museum Access Advisors Open House and Disability Arts Festival, 11–noon, Saturday March 31, 2012, in the Koret Auditorium. Free admission. Yi’s presentation is in conjunction with the exhibition “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: […]
Here’s a shift. Rather than a death metal band using rude disability imagery, e.g. Cannibal Corpse doing “Rancid Amputation,” here’s an experimental band named An Autumn for Crippled Children.You can find them on the newly resurrected MySpace. […]
New Disability CDMost of us know Robert David Hall as the crutch-using coroner on CSI. He’s now joined the rare ranks of disabled singers and songwriters who write and record music about disability, . At least, that’s how I’m going to categorize his CD in my Disability: Songs, Singers, & Songwriters database. The songs are […]
Yes, it has drawbacks—many, but this wheelchair mover is the most comfortable off-road conveyance I’ve tried. OK, it wouldn’t fit in my van. It needs somebody energetic to push it. Nonetheless, I love the simplicity of this design. I tried it out at the Petaluma Rivertown Revival event when the maker, David at di Falco […]
For the past few years I’ve been submitting my disability-related photographs—no sunsets, no dappled brooks—to art shows for disabled artists with mixed results. The latest, “Equity for All Artists,” is at Gallery 85 on La Cienega in LA. It’s sponsored by the LA Art Association with a grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. […]
The first outsider artist I remember was Wild Man Fischer. Back in the heyday of Warner Bros records, the late 60s, Frank Zappa recorded Wild Man Fischer. Fischer had been discovered singing on the streets for 10 cents a song. I heard his recording, “Songs for Sale,” on one of the great Warner Bros/Reprise sampler […]
Where the Hits Keep ComingSometimes songwriters get disability just right. It’s not often. For every non-stereotypical, realistic portrayal of disability there’s two dozen country weepers or maudlin overcoming narratives. Today, I was listening to my favorite radio station, KALX. It’s UC Berkeley’s award winning font of everything hip and groovy. Majority Whip, all the DJs […]
Sometimes I get struck. I compulsively want to create something I’ve imagined.It happened yesterday. A friend was having a party. The invitation said it was a potluck. Down the winding, curvy road of cooking mania lead me to Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and his recipe for cornbread. A major plus was his recommendation to […]