The Anglican Diocese of Edmonton has just released a document "Finding Our Way", which summarizes what our new (as of Sept 2021) Bishop has heard and how he wants to move forward.
Intro: https://edmonton.anglican.ca/pages/finding-our-way
Actual Finding Our Way (PDF)
Created by DisArt and Oaklee Thiele, the My Dearest Friends Project is an international, disability-led art collaboration archiving disabled stories. The collected stories are featured as part of various exhibits, and the writers are compensated for their contribution. The site includes video and audio resources, and features the amazing drawings of Oaklee Thiele (see image above as an example).
Sections include:
I would like to say that the drawings that appear throughout this site are a real treasure, as is watching some of the videos in which Oaklee is creating drawings. The video I watched was descriptive - meaning, along with the closed captioning that captured the words the narrators and speakers spoke, another voice described what was happening on screen. This is something that is not often done, but useful to be more inclusive for those who are visually impaired.
"Louis Riel's prophecy is coming to pass! The Indigenous artists are the Awakeners!
That's certainly what you'll witness in this 6-part, 1 hour documentary series in both English and French (12 Eps in total) in which Canadian acclaimed, indigenous singer and song writer, Laura Vinson embarks on a journey to meet extraordinary Indigenous people with disabilities who are artists. Laura's sudden loss of her mentally challenged sister, Noreen, combined with her own challenges with an anxiety disorder, plus the progressive loss of her hearing cause her to have a great deal of empathy and respect for those Indigenous and disabled people who are often underappreciated and underestimated." (from http://theawakeners.ca/)
Read more about this incredible project: http://theawakeners.ca/
Watch the series here: https://www.ami.ca/category/Awakeners/episodes
Note: at the point of posting, I have finished watching the first episode. I learned a lot and it also challenged some of my unconscious biases.
"The word I have coined in te reo Māori for autism is ‘Takiwātanga’. It is a derivation of my phrase for autism: “tōku/tōna anō takiwā” – “my/his/her own time and space”."
Read more about how this word came to be in Keri Opai's story (video and text): https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/a-time-and-space-for-takiwatanga/
Read the short BBC article on this project: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-40493398
Check out the very cool language glossary, featuring te Reo Maori <> English translations, word collections, plus phrases and proverbs: https://www.tereohapai.nz/
This is a pretty cool short film, featuring an unhoused youth and a DeafBlind man.
"After a late-night chance encounter with a DeafBlind man on a New York City street, writer/director Doug Roland wrote the award winning short film, Feeling Through. Doug knew from the start he wanted to cast a DeafBlind actor to star, so he partnered with Helen Keller Services to realize that mission."
While casting a DeafBlind actor to play a DeafBlind character might seem like the logical thing to do, too often this does not happen and able-bodied people are cast to play disabled people.
Watch this short film and read more about it at: https://www.feelingthrough.com/
BlackIllustrations.com is one site that offers illustrations of Black people in different contexts, including office, medical, STEM, education and more. Some sets are free; others have a cost.
https://www.BlackIllustrations.com
(Above: some education-related images from BlackIllustrations.com)
Collections include Tiny Humans, "Breathe, Stretch, Shake, All Hands, Black in Green Spaces, Food for the Soul, Women at Work, The Perfect Holiday, All Black Lives Matter, I's Married Now, and Good Hair.
The Gender Spectrum Collection
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| Vice Gender Photos Collection https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
A Kids Book About is a company creating a new kind of kids' books -- ones that focus on the content and ideas. Here's what they say about their approach:
The first thing you’ll notice about our books is that they’re different. We wanted to create books that treated kids like they were smart and spoke to them straightforwardly and honestly. Our books emphasize color, layout, and type to help kids apply the stories to their lives instead of only thinking of the characters in the book. Our books are twice as long as most children books, enabling a deeper dive on each subject. Our books are honest and don’t shy away from the most difficult aspects of each topic.
We bought a copy of "a kids book about racism" and love it! It is very well written and laid out, and I recommend it.
They have similar books on about 20 topics, including bullying, empathy, failure, belonging, and cancer. If you buy one on a different topic, I'd love to hear how you like it -- use Comments below.
Check them out and order directly from them at:
https://akidsbookabout.com/collections/kids-books/products/a-kids-book-about-racism
We are proud to be Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization, founded in 1975 and now serving close to 300 artists per week in our 11,000+ square foot studio and gallery space in southeast Calgary.Read more about them at https://indefinitearts.com/
Yes, our niche is to serve artists with disabilities, but our vision is to provide them with a platform to stand strong on their merits and their efforts – as artists. Throughout our website, we hope to give you a glimpse into how we provide artistic training, creation and exhibition opportunities for our artists – and at the same time, advocate for more meaningful, inclusive arts policies that shine the light on the creativity of artists living with disabilities.
Concurrently, Jacober reconstructs a far more hopeful and healing vision of the church, one that goes beyond making space for those with disabilities by merely providing accessible parking or seating or other accommodations. Instead, Jacober contends that Scripture invites us to honor the gifts those with disabilities can bring to communities in reciprocal, right relationships—gifts that can be used in worship, in discipleship, and in vocational calling.
This includes the paradigms we’ve created for what church leadership looks like. Real change will not happen within churches until those with disabilities are “absolutely” reflected in leadership, Jacober said. And this will not happen until people redefine how we traditionally view Christian leaders, theologians, and teachers.
OpenDyslexic is a new open source font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. The typeface includes regular, bold, italic, and bold-italic styles. It is being updated continually and improved based on input from dyslexic users. OpenDyslexic is free for Commercial and Personal use.I am interested in an ecclesial vision for community and in living in a gospel-based community with people with disabilities. We are brothers and sisters together, and Jesus is calling us from a pyramidal society to become a body.and
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 that God has chosen the weak, the foolish, and the crazy to shame the clever and the powerful; he has chosen the most despised, the people right at the bottom of society. Through this teaching we see a vision unfold in which a pyramid of hierarchy is changed into a body, beginning at the bottom. One might ask if that means Jesus loves the weak more than the strong. No, that is not it. The mystery of people with disabilities is that they long for authentic and loving relationships more than for power. They are not obsessed with being well-situated in a group that offers acclaim and promotion. They are crying for what matters most—love. And God hears their cry because in some way they respond to the cry of God, which is to give love.
These quotes are from Chapter 1, The Fragility of L'Arche and the Friendship of God. Read the rest of the article based on chapter 1.
However, photos can also accomplish ethical work. They can influence how we think about people who are different from us. Formal photos like portraits can be particularly transformative since they disrupt public expectations. The subject of a portrait is recognized as worthy of being photographed. The format implies that you are worthy of contemplation and commemoration. So the very acts of staging and taking the photos symbolize their membership in a valued group – those who ought to be gazed at.
(source, emphasis added)
What is it that #YouDontSay? pic.twitter.com/hykbOrfc2r
— You Don't Say (@youdontsayduke) January 15, 2015
5. I would never use the N-word because people of color are part of an oppressed group. But disabled people aren't really oppressed. Are they?
Yes, disabled people are members of an oppressed group, and disability rights are a civil rights issue. Disabled people are assaulted at higher rates, live in poverty at higher rates, and are unemployed at higher rates than nondisabled people.
We face widespread exclusion, discrimination, and human rights violations. For an example of what some of the issues are, please take some time over at the Disability Social History Project.
From 10 Questions About Why Ableist Language matters, Answered (source)
