Cheryl presents What I've known: a DBC post in which she talks about that age old problem of mobility and weight. Personally I seem to have the opposite problem to her in that I am very overweight and it does affect my mobility but the comments make it harder for me to do anything about it. But I'm like her in that I agree when she writes "The theme for the 39th DBC is "if I knew then..." Sometimes what you've known can be so much more damaging then what you didn't. I've thought about my weight every single day for the last 7 years. That isn't healthy."
She also took the time back in January to answer 10 Questions. They are the sort of questions people ask a lot about disability and being disabled. And in one of them she considers what she'd have like to have known when she was 11. Again, reading that it really makes me think I must make the time to get to know Cheryl better.
"Crazy woman says 'what'?" is a blog entry written by Liz. Liz is not a disability blogger but she discovered Blogging Against Disablism Day and here shares a conversation she had with her son and how a lesson she learned from BADD changed her views and influenced how she is teaching her son too. Welcome, Liz and thank you for taking the time to read and to learn. It makes me very happy to see that events like BADD really do make a difference.
Athena, Ivan, and The Integral present 39th Carnival: If I knew Then « Athena, Ivan, and The Integral posted at AthenIvanIdx's Weblog in which they ponder how different things might have been on several different fronts if they knew then
So much of Twxee's post had me nodding along in agreement. I could quote it all, but I will just share this small part and send you to River of Jordan to read the rest:
"I wish just one doctor or other “professional” would have told me that yes, your child may have some medical issues, but above anything else, he’s a KID."
If Kristina had realised just what Charlie saw earlier she might have viewed that futon differently - A Special Find tells the story of value found where it wasn't expected.
Living life with CP, I've learnt many lessons along the way. They have been good lessons, bad lessons, hurtful lessons, and best thing that ever happened to me lessons. I believe I learned them all at the time that was right for me to learn them. But there are one or two which I can't help wishing had been a part of my life earlier than they were. When I was 13 I learned that CP was forever. And it wasn't until I was 17 that I realised that CP is ok, it doesn't matter. CP defines me it does not confine me to quote a long ago entry of Dave's. I think that is a lesson which might be known as acceptance or possibly even learning to love yourself as you are. Because, truly CP or other disability isn't a bad thing. Possibly I should note here that I think acceptance as a child is very different to acceptance as a teenager (possibly even as an adult) and different levels of that are required at different times. But that's a whole nother entry. Anyways.
Heike has three kids, two of whom have CP. In Lesson from my Son she shares the story of when he realised that his CP doesn't matter.
Letter To a Kid Like Me. Ettina shares what she wishes she had been told when she was younger. "Everyone is valuable, everyone has some good in them. No one’s perfect. Normal isn’t perfect, in fact you may have noticed normal has some problems with it."
Come on People Just Leave Her Alone! Just because we have disabilities doesn't mean we are helpless and need rescuing every five minutes. In that entry, a reference is made to this entry at Chewing The Fat. Another girl with a disability and another attempt at forcing unneccessary help. But a wonderful solution. And one that I'd love to try out myself. If only I had the nerve.
One thing I wonder sometimes (or often, it seems lately) is whether able-bodied people would have made different comments to us or about us or thought twice when offering help or even forcing it on us - if they had known just what we thought/feel about it and how we would react. Doesn't She Know is a little bit off topic for this edition of the carnival and isn't overtly about disability. But I like it and it's my edition of the carnival. And, more importantly, it touches slightly, briefly, on that subject, the one that has filled my thoughts, plagued them almost, so much lately.
Dioskouroi. Love this entry and the comments say that the title is apt. I have no clue what it means though.
Laura Gilmour presents I Would Have Had to Miss the Dance posted at Touched By an Alien: Life as I Know It. This is an entry that makes me very, very happy as I too love that song (The Dance, Garth Brooks) and think the lyrics Laura quotes really do reflect well on disability. The full lyrics to the song are here.
What the hell, it's a really cool song, one of my favourites in fact, lets have the video here too.
Thirteen is an evocative post about the author's first days at the state school for the blind... and with a little bit of look back.
On The Frontier of a New Kind of Cancer Survivorship is well worth a read. And lets just say that it sums up the "If I knew then..." theme in one.
Alison wrote about what she learned living in a L'Arche community, and how it informs her doctoral work on medieval disability history in "The doctors told us you'd never amount to anything, Jane. But look around..." posted at The Furnace of Doubt (love the blog name!)
Philomena recently went out in a wheelchair for the first time. In I live here now, thoughts on loosing able bodied privilege (Part One) she writes about that experience and the lessons learned. And she continues on that theme and with those thoughts in Tilting the world: thoughts on loosing able bodied privilege (part two)
Finally we end with a post which has had me thinking of Frank Sinatra and his song My Way ever since I saw the title of it in my e-mail in box. Shiloh gives us Regrets: A Useless, Self-Defeating Passtime
"Regrets... I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention..."
4 comments:
This is the best carnival I've read yet (not that there have been many). Usually I only read 2 or 3 posts b/c that is all that interests me. Today I've already read them all and have throroughly enjoyed them all.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Emma! I'm at a conference this week and have been derelict in my carnival organizer duties, but I'm going to do it right now (at, uh, after midnight local time, but it's not so bad if I pretend I'm still in California).
The next carnival is at Pipecleaner Dreams--watch that blog to get the next theme--the carnival itself should post on June 26, so entries will be due the Monday before (June 23), through all the usual channels.
What a great carnival- I'm taking off blogging the rest of the weekend to go read some of these new blogs.
Thank you, Emma.
Thank you Emma for the mention. I was referred here by Dave Hingsburger and am so happy and startled and pleased to see my entry listed here.
"Dioskouroi" is a Greek word translated "boys of Zeus". It refers to the twins Kastor and Polydeukes, Zeus' sons. Protectors of travellers, they were honoured with a place among the stars as the constellation Gemini.
Again, thank you for referring your readers to me. I'll enjoy reading the rest of your mentions!
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