Today’s episode is damn funny with comedians Maysoon Zayid and Danielle Perez. Maysoon and Danielle share how they got started in comedy, the barriers they face in the entertainment industry, what they find funny, and the role of comedians in resisting oppression.
[Google doc] [PDF]
In view of the death yesterday by an Uber self-driving care, this survey is timely....
Michigan wants to lead the nation in building and designing self-driving cars. Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, Inc. (MPAS) wants to make sure people with disabilities and others can use self-driving cars just like anyone else. Please take the following survey so MPAS can tell car builders and public agencies what people need to have access to self-driving cars.
This survey is anonymous and confidential.
Thanks and a hat tip to T. Squires.....
Experiencing stigma, the severity of a disability and a person's age and income level help determine whether someone with an impairment considers themselves to be a person with a disability, and experiencing stigma predicts whether those individuals will ultimately develop disability pride, new research from Oregon State University shows.
"Roughly 15 percent of the world's population has some kind of disability but just a fraction of those people actually identify themselves as people with disabilities. Disability identity is a critical step in accepting a disability and helps to reduce the stigma surrounding the label," said Kathleen Bogart, an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University.
Those who self-identify are also more likely to develop pride in their disability, a shift in thinking that can help build resilience and change public attitudes about the "disabled" label, said Bogart, an expert on ableism, or prejudice about disabilities, whose research focuses on the psychosocial implications of disabilities.
"The challenge with disability as a label is that it's so mired in stigma that people don't want that label," she said. "Can we reduce the stigma and reframe the label as a neutral label that is just useful as a category, like male or female? Or taking it even further, can we shift the label to the point where people have pride in that label?"
Bogart explored issues around disability self-identification and disability pride in two new studies published recently in the journal Rehabilitation Psychology.
Airbnb has made some changes to its platform in order to make it easier for people with disabilities to find accommodations that suit their needs. The 21 new accessibility filters Airbnb has added enable people to find homes and apartments that have step-free entry to rooms, entryways wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, elevators, roll-in showers with a chair and more.
Airbnb guests were previously able to search for wheelchair accessible listings, but that was it. In order to determine the appropriate filters, Airbnb worked with the California Council of the Blind, California Foundation for Independent Living Centers and the National Council on Independent Living.
Airbnb’s willingness to be inclusive of people with disabilities comes in light of Lyft and Uber facing lawsuits over the lack of options available for people who use wheelchairs. Moving forward, Airbnb says it will work with its hosts and guests to ensure the filters are useful and accurate.
“The introduction of the new accessibility features and filters to all hosts and guests is just the first stage in our journey to improve accessibility at Airbnb,” Airbnb Accessibility Product and Program Manager Srin Madipalli said in a blog post. “We encourage everyone to use them and send through their feedback.”
Navigating city centers, as well as bus and train stations can sometimes be complicated for those in a wheelchair or with other mobility needs. To help those, Google Maps now offers a selectable Wheelchair Accessible route option, hopefully leading to easier trips around town for those who need it.
To access this function, type your desired destination into Google Maps, tap Directions, then select the public transportation icon. Once there, tap Options and under the Routes section, you will find “wheelchair accessible” as a new route type. When you select this option, Google Maps will show you a list of possible routes that take mobility needs into consideration.
According to Google, this feature is rolling out in major metropolitan transit centers around the world, starting with London, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, Boston, and Sydney. As Google continues to work with transportation agencies around the world, this list will continue to grow.
Anybody have any experience with Via...
Via, the app-based ride-sharing service, is replacing bus services for an entire town in Texas, according to CBS This Morning. It’s the latest evidence of US cities forgoing investments in public transportation in favor of partnerships with privately held technology startups.
Under the deal, residents of Arlington, Texas, who own a smartphone can use Via’s app to summon one of 10 commuter vans that will be operating primarily in the city’s downtown area. Fares will only be $3 a ride, or $10 for a weekly pass, thanks to direct subsidies from the city. Via will replace a fleet of charter buses that had been operating in Arlington for four years.
Asked by CBS if he sees buses and light rail as “passé,” Arlington mayor Jeff Williams said, “Absolutely. I think with the new technology that’s coming on you’re going to see very little light rail built because this is so much cheaper.”
In 2017, Rooted in Rights teamed up with the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to create a Disability Rights Storytelling Fellowship. The Fellowship is open to all U.S. residents and fellows can work from anywhere. During the six months of the fellowship, the Fellow will create two Storytellers videos and share them with followers on the Rooted in Rights and AAPD social media channels. Additionally, the Fellow will participate in trainings on disability history and contemporary issues, video production, and video chats with media makers. More on the fellowship here.
Media representation matters — as does opportunities for creatives with disabilities. According to the Ruderman Family Foundation, while 20 percent of the population has a disability, less than 2 percent of TV characters do.
If you parent a child with Down syndrome or have a loved one with with an extra chromosome, perhaps you understand why it is so important to see people with Down syndrome and other disabilities in the entertainment business.
The first time I saw someone with Down syndrome on TV was Chris Burke in the show “Life Goes On.” At the time, it seemed he was the only actor with Down syndrome, but over time, we have seen more and more actors with Down syndrome grace our favorite shows or movies.
Here are 25 actors who have Down syndrome.