Disability and Surfing

There's been a lot written lately in the disability world about "disability porn," -- the kind of stuff that those who are not so acquainted with disability are inspired by but those in the disability world often find denigrating at worst and condescending at best -- sentimental and perpetuating the separation between those who have and those who have not.  I was clicking through my blog-roll this afternoon, though, and loved this video posted on The Improvised Life. I didn't find it "inspirational" in the least, but, rather, yearned to be velcro'ed myself onto someone's back so that I could finally, finally go surfing. And don't you be going why don't you just go out to the Pacific at your back door with a board and do it? I'm busy right now, reading War and Peace, you know?

Beyond Disability Porn ( with a correction from Red Sox to Cincinnati Reds)

I was happy to read Bill Peace's blog post today titled Hard to Believe, Sports Illustrated, Teddy Kremer and Feel Good Stories. As a passionate disability advocate, Bill has opened my eyes on many occasions, and  in this post he addresses the trouble the media has -- and the propensity of our culture -- with depicting those with disability in a seeming attempt to highlight or inspire but rather demeans them. We call it disability porn, and I know that we're all guilty of it, at some point or another, even those of us who fight the stereotypes daily.

What's so unusual about the referenced story in Sports Illustrated is that it not only tells the inspiring story of a  Cincinnati Reds bat-boy who also has Down Syndrome, but it actually calls for more progress. In fact, the article by Paul Daugherty is titled Reds Bat boy with Down Syndrome a Great Story, But it Shouldn't End. 

I urge you to read both Bill's post and the Sports Illustrated article. Educate yourself and then pass along what you've learned.