Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability - Pirates

The First Disabled Lego?

Visitor — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 19:27:06 +0000

By: Emily Beitiks

Big news this week, from CNN to the Guardian: Lego has unveiled its first disabled character, a wheelchair rider: Cynically, one might call this "Handicapitalism" by Lego - a commercialization of disability rather than a genuine effort to diversify their characters. But even without questioning intentions (or the value of children who use wheelchairs to be able to play with a Lego with whom they identify), there is a simple factual misrepresentation in this story.

This is NOT the first Lego character with a disability.

There's a hierarchy within disability. Too often, we reduce disability to mean a person in a wheelchair, and we forget the rich array of bodies that are included in disability communities. Also, we fail to see disability when it's associated with a bad-ass hero... instead we expect to see disability in the pitiful and the tragic.

There are at least 5 disabled Lego characters that have been popular for awhile (in addition to the many disabled by mean older siblings or parents who made the painful mistake of stepping on one):

The Pirate

Cathy Kudlick, Director at the Longmore Institute, has long been pointing out to people that we fail to see pirates as the "disability action figures" that they are. With a hook hand, an eye patch, and a peg leg, this guy has a disability trifecta!

2. Luke Skywalker Star Wars fans have long had the option to purchase Luke, pre- and post-amputation. Even with his hand prosthesis, he still is another example of a "disability action figure."

3. Darth Vader Full disclosure: I haven't seen the movies in a long time and my efforts to pin down the exact reason why Darth Vader dies without using his mask to breathe yielded WAY too many results that didn't help. But he counts.

4. Abraham Lincoln While the exact condition is unknown, geneticists and historians believe that Abraham Lincoln had a genetic condition, similar to Marfan syndrome.

5. Daredevil He's blind and uses echolocation to fight bad guys.

And who knows what sort of invisible disabilities these guys might have?

Congrats to Lego for adding a wheelchair riding Lego, even though it is not their first disabled Lego. Now kiddos: build these little fellas some ramps and accessible houses!

*Which Lego characters did I miss? Let me know in the comments section!

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Abraham Lincoln

accessibility

Daredevil

Darth Vader

Dos and Don'ts for a Freaky (But Disability Positive) Halloween

Visitor — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 17:51:08 +0000

By: Emily Beitiks

Halloween is just around the corner...time to bust out that polyester costume you bought in college and ask yourself: can I pull this off for one more year? We can't help you answer that, but follow this list of "dos and "don'ts" to ensure that all your Halloween fun doesn't come at the cost of disability justice...

DON'T: Watch horror films that equate being disabled or disfigured with being evil or menacing. Of, if a friend drags you along to one, try to voice a subversive question loudly before the film starts, like "You know what's really scary? The amount of discrimination people with physical anomalous conditions face?"

DO: Dress up as a pirate or mermaid and celebrate the fact that you're also a disability action hero! Read more here.

DON'T: Visit an asylum-themed haunted house! Join the many disability advocates who have boycotted these attractions that neglect the real history: asylums for people with mental illnesses and institutions for the developmentally disabled were horrific places where disabled people were abused and neglected. Read more about one especially controversial Pennsylvania-based attraction here.

DO: Point out to nondisabled children and adults dressed in awkward-to-walk-in costumes that every time they manage to fit through a wide door frame, they owe thanks to the disability rights movement.

DON'T: Dress up in a costume that mocks people with disabilities, such as a mental patient. And while we're at it, don't wear costumes that appropriate the history of people of color either...

DO: Celebrate difference and use your disability as a resource for especially creative Halloween costumes. Or...go as whatever you want! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We hope it's an especially freaky one!

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Can Pirates and Mermaids Be Crusaders for Disability Rights?

Visitor — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 00:36:24 +0000

It always happens. I’m introducing someone to the Longmore Institute’s mission to flip thinking about disabled people by challenging what everyone takes for granted. Invariably, there comes a moment when I know I need help that can only come from the high seas. So I pull out my Longmore Institute mascots, three plastic pirates that are about two inches tall and line them up on the table or pass them around the room. They’re dressed in bright colors, arms extended, ready to pounce. One has a rifle in one hand and a hook for the other hand; another one with an eye patch and wearing a waist-coat holds a spyglass in his non-hooked hand; a third, also with eye patch and hook, wields a sword. “What are these?” I ask.

Murmurs throughout the room until someone ventures to state the obvious, “Pirates?”

“Sure,” I say, “but aren’t they also disability action figures?”

Then it happens: I feel that indescribable catch, that moment I live for as a teacher, the collective intake of breath when you know you’ve gotten inside someone’s head. Some just sit there and hold the little guys, some shake their heads, some blurt out what I’m sure most people must be thinking, “whoa, I never thought of that!”

Suddenly everyone is full of questions:

“Why don’t we think of pirates as having disabilities?”

“But pirates are bad, do we really want to associate disabled people with crime and murder when existing impressions are already bad enough?”

“These are pirates of old: wasn’t everyone more or less disabled anyway back then?”

“Are there other examples like this?”

“What about mermaids?”

Indeed, what about the mermaids! Who knew to think of a graceful woman with a single fin instead of two legs as having a disability! I’m ecstatic because now the questions and curiosity have taken on a life of their own. In a split second something that always seemed obvious and self-evident has been turned upside down, and now everything might just be up for grabs.

But given all that needs to be done to improve the lives of people with disabilities, do pirates and mermaids really matter?

As director of the Longmore Institute, I wrestle with competing imperatives in the struggle for disability rights. On one side is the need to fight for a base line of accessible, affordable housing, quality healthcare, reliable, adequately-compensated attendant care, better education and higher graduation rates, improved job prospects and working conditions. On the other is the struggle to change hearts and minds, to offer the tools, the ideas, the stuff to combat internalized shame and the external prejudice and low expectations that constantly undercut people with disabilities in ways large and small.

Enter the pirates and the mermaids. Probably they won’t be much help with the base line, daily life stuff, frivolous, cute, not the real struggle. And yet….

Imagine the person growing up with a disability thinking not just about the Tiny Tims, but about a life full of risks, adventure, danger, and power. Imagine potential employers or employees who grew up thinking of mermaids as elegant swimmers able to go places where no one else can or of pirates as gutsy and resourceful. A generation of disabled people who carry around pirates and mermaids might help change not just hearts and minds but also the dismal employment statistics for people with disabilities. Journalists, editors, film-makers, novelists, publishers who have held a pirate as he transformed from adventurous renegade to disability action figure will be more likely to provide a wider variety of portraits and stories which in turn will influence healthcare providers, teachers, expecting parents, kids on the playground, aging baby boomers, returning vets, and most likely others. Politicians, CEOs, policy wonks, judges, and anyone who has encountered images of disabled people outside the tired old stereotypes will be more likely to introduce and support legislation, allot funds, and champion initiatives that benefit the lives of disabled people.

A stronger case needs to be made for the essential role culture plays in improving the lives of people with disabilities. Too often our society views small things like pirates and mermaids as insignificant or luxurious, when in fact they represent a key, often unguarded, entry point into changing attitudes that pave the way for the big stuff like employment, housing, and better services. Consider the recent excitement over creating toys that will inspire girls to become engineers. Here’s to a future where kids with disabilities dream up new ideas, including lady pirates, gentleman mermaids, and many other colors in the adventure rainbow.

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social construction theory

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