5/22/25 - Australian Paralympics, Bulgarian assistive tech, and disability history
"Nothing about us without us" isn't just a proud slogan. It's a practical necessity.
Greetings!
Well, President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed the House early this morning. Now it's on to the Senate. So for now, enough about Medicaid. Here's a bit more variety for your Thursday afternoon. And tomorrow we'll close out the week with a video share.
Australian para sport has issues everywhere – here’s what must be fixed ahead of the Brisbane Paralympics
Katherine Raw, The Conversation - May 20, 2025
"It’s not just about asking for feedback, it’s about giving real decision-making power ... A great example of this is Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT, which has embraced co-design and made it a core part of its programs ... This has led to a 380% increase in membership over five years, and a record number of affiliated clubs across their network ... This success shows what’s possible when sport organisations stop designing systems for people with disabilities and start designing with them ... When people feel valued and heard, they are more likely to get involved and stay involved."
This discussion is about Paralympic sports in Australia. But it could be about almost any disability undertaking or initiative anywhere. Programs need funding and focus. But they also need authentic disabled leadership. "Nothing about us without us" isn't just a proud slogan. It's a practical necessity.
Bulgaria launches new disability support programme, providing high-tech assistive devices
Krassen Nicolov, Euractiv - May 20, 2025
"The government’s failure to hold tenders for purchasing the medical devices forced authorities to issue vouchers to approved patients, allowing them to choose how to get the devices within a specific financial limit."
Allowing disabled Bulgarians to purchase assistive devices of their own choice with funding vouchers might have been a better idea from the start – better than the government choosing products and providers for disabled people. I wonder how bypassing government this way will affect government support for the program. Will bureaucrats resent the implication that they are too corrupt to do a decent job, and take their anger out on the program itself? Or, will they be content to let disabled people get on with it and take the win? I hope to be able to find out how the project goes over the next few months and years.
Go give them their flowers
John Loeppky, Disability Debrief - May 21, 2025
"Crip grief is a feeling of brushing up against your own mortality while grappling with the reality that someone you loved is no longer here. I define it as mourning that you can feel in your bones because you’re disabled, or the person who died is ... The truth is – for many of us disabled folks – we are often here for a good time rather than a long time. Nothing brings that more into focus than when your friends unceremoniously die."
This edition of Disability Debrief is about disabled people's unique perspective on death and loss. But it's also about how we document the history of disabled people and disability communities. As with other histories, disability history can sometimes seem stagnant and dull – the same six or eight names and two or three events repeated ad nauseam. But I tend forget that what's familiar to me and others embedded in disability culture is still largely unknown to the general public, and even to most disabled people. Sentimental nostalgia for the great disability community achievements and activists of the bast isn't always productive when there's so much new and urgent we need to face. But remembering the past and documenting the present as it happens is important, and revolutionary when we link our history with what's going on now.
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