KPFA - Pushing Limits

Almost a month into our long national nightmare, we ask ‘how will the Trump administration affect the lives of people with disabilities?’

Trump’s campaign started with his mocking of a reporter’s disability. Now we’ve moved on to an education secretary who had to be told what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is, and an attorney general who thinks that students with disabilities are “disruptive.” Coming soon: devastating cuts to healthcare.

Listen to community members as they weep, resist, build coalitions and strengthen their resolve to make social change.

Hosted by Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Mark Romoser.

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The Independent Living Movement got people out of institutions and inspired many of us to believe we could live without doctors, parents and others defining our lives. But, no one is completely independent and, while it might feel good to talk about independence, as a final life goal, it leaves much to be desired.

Join A.J. Withers of the blog, “If I Can’t Dance, Is It Still My Revolution?” for a discussion of how interdependence is a more accurate description of our lives — and how that works out in the day-to-day.

Produced and hosted by Adrienne Lauby. Eddie Ytaurte, co-host.

A.J. Withers is a disabled, queer and trans anti-poverty activist living in Toronto. A proponent of radical disability theory and politics, A.J. is the author of Disability Politics and Theory.

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This program was produced by Education Today.

The post Education Today – January 27, 2017 appeared first on KPFA.

Suzanne Stoltz, a many-year participant at a MDA camp, charts the political underbelly of the disability summer camp experience.

Summer camp for kids is usually perceived as a fun time where participants socialize, play, run, and swim. This includes summer camps dedicated to serving kids with the same or similar disabilities, like those sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).  But, there is more going on than camp songs and meal time hi jinks.  We look at the ways disability summer camps both support and dis-empower kids with disabilities.

Suzanne Stolz, Ed.D. serves as the Academic Coordinator of the Online M.Ed. and as faculty for the program’s Universal Design for Learning and Inclusive Education specialization, University of San Diego.

Suzanne contributed an article about her experiences in an essay which appeared in Disability Politics in a Global Economy; Essays in Honor of Marta Russell, edited by Ravi Malhotra. Her essay was called “Disability Community, Policy, Care and Empowerment: ‘Growing Up’ at MDA Camp and the Shaky Social Contract.”

Produced and hosted by Eddie Ytuarte.

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In the 1960s ‘autism’ was deemed ‘childhood psychosis’ and the incidence of autism was thought to be around 4 in 10,000 children.   Today, up to 1 in 88 children are diagnosed on the autism spectrum.

Polly Samuel, aka Donna Williams, was central to these changes and became a beacon to many in the autism community.  Her brilliant early books, Nobody Nowhere and Somebody Somewhere were among the first to talk about life from the perspective of someone living with autism.  Written in the early 1990s, they became international best sellers.

An accomplished painter, sculptor and musician, Polly Samuel has written 16 books.  She’s spent much of her life consulting, lecturing and helping build the autistic community.  With a diagnosis of terminal metastatic breast cancer, Polly has severely limited her public appearances.  We are proud to announce this rare opportunity to hear from this wise and most articulate disability pioneer.

Produced and hosted by Mark Romoser and Adrienne Lauby.

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