Aipoly Vision App helps visually impaired see the world through their smartphone
this is amazing! i am low-vision and could use this when i am travelling
i was expecting this to be EXTREMELY expensive but actually it’s FREE? can’t wait for the android version, but it does work really well on my ipad (when i remember to turn the sound up). a thing that differentiates SMOOTH MEDICINE BOTTLE A from SMOOTH MEDICINE BOTTLE B, etc!!!
Liberals are really great at standing up for the rights of the innocent. The rights of the guilty, most especially the guilty of violence, not so much. They have a tendency to melt back into the woodwork when they can’t construe the object of concern as an innocent victim, e.g. the Laverne Cox/Synthia China Blast controversy. So, when it comes up, liberals will change the topic of discussion from reducing the US prison population to the topic of releasing non-violent offenders, in a kind of wishful thinking that the problem is just that people who never needed to be removed from society were incarcerated, and once that is rectified by releasing the not-really-all-that-guilty, we can declare civil rights victory and go right on as we were towards the deserving-their-fate-wicked.
We can see this same pattern in how advocacy for the mentally ill functions: great, so long as the mentally ill in question aren’t violent.
Thus we see the horrid spectacle of activists for the rights of the mentally ill do everything in their power to distance themselves from the mentally ill who have committed or are at risk of committing violence. From those people. The bad mentally ill. The mentally ill who in some way are like the stereotypes. The ones who make the mentally ill look bad.
There’s a term for it when a minority tries to erase some of their members to make the rest of the minority look good. That would be an example of respectability politics.
“We didn’t used to have all this ADHD and Autism and stuff” I think what you mean is that people used to go undiagnosed and get absolutely no help and were forced to suffer through their life because they had no support or understanding whatsoever but sure, Janice, pretend my generation invented Autism.
My grandfather was legit diagnosed with ADHD at the age of about 80 and he was like “OH”
HAHAHAHA OH GOD.
Do you know how many of my paternal grandfather’s stories about our family history included the line “now, of course, So-and-so would be diagnosed as ADHD in a heartbeat, but back then he was just a Bad Kid and they tried to beat it out of him”?
A LOT, OKAY.
Do you know how many other family stories suddenly make way more sense – like truly nonsensical seeming things, things that previously were described as “you know, So-and-so was just an Odd Duck – if you know the signs of autism? (Like how my great-grampa REFUSED TO GO ON PLANES and so they had to drive him across Canada in a camper in his eighties – in the seventies, so 1970s camper here, not luxury – and then back again so he could attend my parents’ wedding?)
EVEN MORE.
And in the less amusing version, d’you know how many maternal ancestors died of depression or depression-related addiction, through the generations? Depressing. Numbers.
But no, this shit is all modern, came out of nowhere. Not.
You know what would be a useful quasi-reality show?
Get a bunch of disabled people with various mobility devices, particularly wheeled ones, and send them out into community, to venues and offices and stores. Have them record their struggles with steps into stores, aisles that are too small, items that are too high, clerks who blow them off when they ask for help. Bathrooms that can’t actually be used in a wheelchair. Dispensers placed out of reach. Counters with point of sale devices you can’t reach, never mind see.
And of course they should contact the owners and give them a certain time to improve. Then they go back and see if they did. And they name (and shame, if necessary) the places in question.
It could be called Accessibility Warriors.
he doesn’t have an arm.
the internet is wild
He’s not disabled… he’s transhuman. He’s augmented. He’s not disabled… he’s enabled. His arm gives him enhanced and superhuman abilities. In the future, transhumans won’t be considered ‘disabled’… if they were, the human race wouldn’t be aiming for a future like that. Disability implies some sort of limitation whereas Bucky has more power in that arm than in the rest of his body.
While it’s a sci-fic superhero story and something with the control and power of Bucky’s metal arm doesn’t currently exist, it is still a prosthetic. Bucky is an amputee with a prosthetic. He is disabled.
My brother says “you wouldn’t want to wank with that arm. It requires a team of specialists to maintain and repair. It’s not self-healing. While it is a very nice prosthetic, it’s still a prosthetic.”
Bro studies transhumanism, and assures me wankery is important.
Nondisabled people are incredible.
@feathersmoons gets into this really well in Your Blue Eyed Boys. Yes, it’s incredibly powerful, and he can do things with it that flesh arms can’t do. It’s also heavy as hell, which fucks up all of the surrounding muscle groups; doesn’t have sensory perception like a real arm, which makes it real hard to do things like pick up a cup of coffee without crushing the cup and spilling it; and the lack of nerve feedback (at least in her universe, but it seems really well researched so i bet there’s some scientific basis here) leads to a kind of background nerve static – like the feeling right before pins and needles, but ALL THE TIME. so, yeah. Sounds like disabled to me.
I just really want to write a book (in fact, I think that I’m going to) where the protagonist is in a wheelchair. And they live in a city where there’s a group of superheroes. And there’s a big, magical, villain because of course there is.
And since they were a young child, this protagonist has wanted nothing more than to join the group of superheroes. Like they’re a huge fan of the group and they just know that it’s their destiny to join.
And one day, when wheeling through the city, they see the group of heroes fighting the villain. And they quickly wheel over and cry, “Let me help!”
But the ‘heroes’ laugh and instead make a whole bunch of ableist remarks.
And so the protagonist has to prove themselves.
And the villain is trying to warn them to stop.
But the protagonist ends up taking their footrest off of their wheelchair and they swing it. And it hits the villain in the side of the face and the villain collapses and groans in pain.
And so the protagonist proudly smiles and turns to the group of heroes.
Because they just proved that they are strong and worthy enough.
But the group of ‘heroes’ still keeps making ableist remarks.
And the protagonist is shocked.
And meanwhile, the ‘villain’ staggers to their feet and is standing next to the protagonist’ wheelchair.
And one of the ‘heroes’ goes too far when calling the protagonist the R word.
And the protagonist and the ‘villain’ just sort of glance at one another.
And the ‘villain’ is just like, “You know…I can zap them for you…if you want.”
And the protagonist hesitates and says, “Yeah, alright!”
One fried group of heroes later, the ‘villain’ says, “Why do you think that I’m always fighting them? They’re all a bunch of assholes.”
And the protagonist sadly nods and starts to wheel away.
Then:
“Hey, do you want a job?”
The protagonist turns at the villain’s remark. And the protagonist mumbles something like, “Oh, come on. I don’t need your pity.”
And the ‘villain’ is like, “Pity!? Do I look like someone who hands out pity!? I don’t pity you! I’m kind of afraid of you, to be honest! I mean…I’m going to have a giant bruise on my face because of you.”
“Yeah…sorry…”
“Water under the bridge! So, what do you say? Do you want a job?”
And the protagonist thinks about it for a minute before shrugging.
And the ‘villain’ is all excited because they’ve wanted someone to work with them for years but no mortal is allowed to ‘step into’ their lair.
And then the ‘villain’ stops and is like, “Hang on…you can’t work with me in that.”
And they gesture to the protagonist’s wheelchair.
And the protagonist is all embarrassed.
And then the villain goes, “Because we can get you a much better wheelchair! It’ll look great! And it’ll be indestructible! And it’ll have all sorts of weapons and gadgets! Hey, how do you feel about flying…?”
And all of that is literally in the first chapter and then the rest of the story follows the two going around the city like BAMFs, forcing people to stop being ableist, one way or another. And maybe it’ll have some commentary on the scale of morality and what it truly means to be a hero and what it truly means to be a villain.
Would anyone be interested in this!?
Because I really want to write it!?
YESSSSS. ALL MY YES PLS WRITE IT
I’D READ THE SHIT OUT OF THAT YES PLEASE
OP HERE!
Man, it’s so surreal to look at this.
BECAUSE I ACTUALLY WROTE IT!
AND IT WAS JUST PUBLISHED TONIGHT!
Of course, there are some differences between the final book and this original idea. The most notable difference is that all of this takes place in the first book (it’s going to be a series!) and the whole ‘superhero’ thing is just going to be a front. There’s a few other differences as well (such as a huge plotline involving Merlin and immortal characters!)
BUT I WROTE IT!
AND IT’S PUBLISHED!
AND IF YOU’RE INTERESTED, YOU CAN BUY IT HERE:
AND IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME OUT, YOU CAN REVIEW IT!
AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP ME OUT, YOU CAN SIGNAL BOOST THIS POST WITH THIS REPLY SO THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY KNOW THAT THE BOOK NOW EXISTS!
I haven’t the read the book yet so no idea if it’s as great as it sounds, but this seem very cool:)
not voting isn’t refusing to play the game. You’re in this country, you’re subject to the game whether you like it or not. The only way not to play is to leave, and the vast majority of us don’t have that option.
Not voting is playing the game but saying ‘pass’ every time your turn comes up and then wondering why you lost.
Making young people not vote is actually a tactic used in politics to keep the satus quo. The young vote is always the one for change, so dissuading them from voting at all is actually a political tactic used by the people in charge to keep themselves there.
Voting is rebellion.
when we have already passed the point where the only candidates with a chance to win are the ones who will keep the elites in charge (and yes, I am including Bernie Sanders for reasons) the only rebellion is rebellion
Elections are only partly about which primary color animal mascot gets to fart through egyptian cotton for four years in the white house. State and local elections also continue to exist. a couple dozen votes can be enough to really fuck shit up in your town. “rebellion is rebellion” is a great soundbyte but you haven’t really lived til you’ve helped scrape a traditional values fundie off the ass of your local school board or refused to ban gay marriage in the most populous county of your fairly redneck state. People like to forget that local elections exist and matter but what do you think those big changes are built out of? Certainly not apathetic grumbling about how nothing matters if it’s not big. and is that ‘rebellion’ in the sense of revolution? cause thanks but no thanks, where are sick people supposed to get their medicine if the pharmacy is on fire? call me when the revolution is ADA compliant and maybe we can talk about flipping over some cop cars.
Well this photo came out kinda crappy and I think I cropped it to a weird size but I felt like shit and did not want to re-take it. So here you are.
[Image description: one full-body photo of a young woman (me) with dark red hair that is braided into pigtails. I am holding a metallic pink cane in my left hand. I have on a bright (but not neon) green T-shirt that says, “My other disability is a bad attitude” on it in plain, black letters. It is tucked into a plain black A-line skirt that ends a few inches above my knees. I’m also wearing green socks that have vegetables like carrots, onion, mushrooms, etc. on them. I have on my black, lace-up oxfords. I’m wearing square blue earrings and black lipstick. As always, I have on my round silver glasses.]
Can we talk about how autism discourse often revolves around throwing people with intellectual disabilities (and other cognitive stuff) under the bus? Like I’m reading something and it involves literally saying “well at least autistic people can actually be really smart and not have cognitive/intellectual disabilities!”
First, autism and intellectual disability are not mutually exclusive.
Second, intellectual disability does not preclude meaningful lives. Intellectual disability does not mean people cannot have input on their own lives and choices.
Stop talking about it like autism is higher up on a hierarchical scale and that’s why autistic people are worth something.
People are worth something because they are people.
Learning disability awareness isn’t about reassuring people with learning disabilities that they’re ‘still smart’, it’s about recognizing that intelligence is a highly variable social construct and that an individual’s worth is not attached to that subjective construct.
Kimchi and Justice 