Disability in Pop Culture: Daphne from Switched at Birth

Hey lovely readers! Long time no post, huh? Lets jump right in, shall we.

I was looking for a new series to stream on Netflix and I kept seeing Switched at Birth popping up as a suggestion. The draw for me before watching was Marlee Matlin because I've always loved the characters she's chosen in the past, particularly Joey Lucas on The West Wing.

So in the wee hours of the morning last week, when I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking I would see Bloody Face from American Horror Story: Asylum the minute I turned out the lights, I decided to give Switched at Birth a spin.

I was very pleasantly surprised! The premise: two babies mere hours old accidentally switched before going home. One baby, Bay Kennish grew up affluent. The other baby, Daphne Vasquez, grew up in a poorer neighborhood. And it is reveled that she is deaf after having contracted a case of meningitis as a toddler.

What I think this show does remarkably well is handle multiple and interplaying issues such as social economic status, race, and disability. It does so with a delicate hand and a surprising and delightful depth.  Because Daphne Vasquez was raised by Regina, her single, working, hispanic mom in a poorer neighborhood, it is explicitly implied by her wealthy biological parents, the Kennish's that Daphne more than likely wouldn't be deaf had she been raised by them.  Regina  rightly points out that she did a damn good job raising her (their) daughter. The show plants the idea in your head though that maybe the Kennish's have a point, as hard as it is to admit.

I'm going to break up this post into two parts because I want to talk about Daphne (above) more in depth, and want to do it in relation to her best friend Emmet who is also deaf.

So stay tunned, I'll be back. Promise!

Disability in Pop Culture: Rollin' With Zach premieres December 12 on OWN!

Official Trailer: Rollin'

I CAN NOT wait for this! I'm SO excited! I love that Zach's humor and charm wasn't lost in translation to a network-reality series.  Let's hear it for Zach! representing for us and our experiences.  It's been a long time coming, for a show like this to get on-air with such a visible platform like Oprah's Network!  Let's hope it won't be the last or a long time in between when a new show pops up that shows more of who we all are beyond our disabilities!

You Know You Have CP When...

You go for a pedicure and your toes are straining with all of their might to go in the only direction they know: right into each other.

Like this:

My OPI Little Red Wagon painted toes put up a valiant fight smooshing those toe speraters to smithereens, but alas my nails dried perfectly.  Great experience for my first professional pedicure ever!    

Additional note 12:42 pm: My sister Angelica says my color's more Little Red Walker Handles than Little Red Wagon.  ;D

Disability in Pop Culture: Artie from Glee

I thought it apt to do my first Disability in Pop Culture post on the most visible character with a disability on television right now: Artie Abrams from Glee.  And no, I didn’t know he had a last name until I looked it up just now.

As we all know, Artie’s portrayed by Kevin McHale who does not have a disability in real life.  When I talk about my passion for writing characters with disabilities for all mediums: film, TV, plays and books, people usually bring up this character and ask what I think about casting non-disabled actors for disabled roles.  Does it bother me in general? Yes it does.  Does it bother me that Kevin McHale got the role of Artie? No it does not…anymore.

           

Of course when Glee first premiered all the buzz around this character and the actor cast in the part centered on that fact that he didn’t have a disability.  Honestly, I wasn’t really fazed because frankly that’s par for the course when it comes to casting in Hollywood.  Of course, it didn’t escape my notice and I would have loved if the casting directors had tried harder to search for an actor who could sing and was also disabled, just like the character.  For comparison, I was absolutely overjoyed when I found out that R.J. Mitte, who portrays Walter White, Jr. on Breaking Bad really did have CP, (who’ll get his own post in short order).  But the bottom line is, if we want to see ourselves portrayed on the national stage in any capacity we will have to be the ones producing, writing, casting and acting the parts.  Will it be a heck of a long road, with seemingly impossible odds?  Hell yes.  But nothing worth fighting for ever came easy, right?  And I don’t think of that as just an empty platitude.

Now to the actual storylines that Artie is given on the show.

So far I’ve pretty much liked what this character’s been given to do.  Much has been said and lamented over, about the fact that Artie would give anything to walk.  He doesn’t really take any joy or pride in being disabled.  I can’t speak for all disabled individuals, so I’ll just speak for me from my experience.  I’m 27 and have been disabled my entire life.  Being a teen that happens to be disabled is hard, really hard.  Being 27 and disabled is hard, not as hard as being a teen and disabled, but hard none the less.  Are there days where I wish I could walk unassisted?  You betcha there is.  Not the most joyful and prideful answer, but it is the most truthful answer.  The fact of the matter is, I didn’t find a person like me (same cognitive abilities, ambitions, and dreams who also had CP) until I was 19 and in college.  Until then my experiences with other people with disabilities was limited to those who were of lower cognitive function and were in Special Ed classes.

So imagine if it took me 19 years of my life to find someone like me, 24 years to join a group comprised of professional women with disabilities who have given me hope for my future, and up to and through today navigating all the myriad of issues associated with disabilities- what it must be like to distil all that into portraying a character of 17 who hasn’t been disabled all his life, by an actor who doesn’t have firsthand knowledge?  It’s tricky and messy, and of course there are going to be some missteps.  I’m willing to give the writers some breathing room.

I particularly liked the episode titled ‘Wheels’.  It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I can’t speak for it directly right now, but it does stand out as one of the better episodes to me.

Regarding last night’s episode, Artie had a small but on point little speech about feeling for the first time that he was capable of achieving something independently of others and how great that felt.  I remember that feeling well.  It was when I first learned to drive and got my license.  And come to think of it, my example is universal to the teen experience and really is not dependent on whether I’m in a wheelchair or not, is it?  Although it is more laborious a process, the end result is the same: the freedom to drive...

…and the awesome power of figuring out who you are, finding your tribe who’ll become your friends and mentors, and finding your place in the world and being damn proud of it.

All of which I have faith they’ll explore in due time with Artie.  He is only a teen after all.  The journey is all about discovery.

Blog Maintenance Post: Using Disqus for Comments

Hi Readers,

I've been updating my blog-increasing functionality.  I'm figuring out the best tools to use to make this blog as interactive as possible between you and I.

Disqus, pronounced "discuss", is a service and tool for web comments and discussions. The Disqus comment system can be plugged into any website, blog, or application. Disqus makes commenting easier and more interactive, while connecting websites and commenters across a thriving discussion community. (description from their website)

I thought you might be interested in this tool since I know many of you are also bloggers.  I'll check back and give you my review after I've been using it for a while.

Thanks for clicking on over!

Hilary

You Know You Have CP When...

Fellow blogger Emma over at Writer In A Wheelchair does these posts called 'You Know You Have CP When' I like them so much, I decided to do my own.  Thanks for the inspiration, Emma!

You know you have CP when…

You’re trying to remove a sticker from your foot but you can’t because your entire upper body moves downward. You can’t stabilize and your feet stay firmly planted on the ground-not interested in moving in the slightest. I liken how a CP body moves to a school of fish swimming-it’s all or nothing.

It’s dead quiet in your room, you’re mindlessly reading blogs, and your mom stands in the doorway and says simply, “Hilary” and you jump a mile. Your heart's racing like you’ve just completed a sprint, and you’re scared out of your mind for a good minute.  This is called a ‘startle reflex’ peeps, and it’s a common quirk of us CP folk.  Growing up, I didn’t know what it was that made me jump a mile at the drop of a penny, so it was incredibly frustrating.  Once I had a name and explanation, I was able to find the endless humor in this truly weird quirk.

You have sisters like mine-you plug in your ipod to itunes and it reads “Rebel Without a Walk now plugged in.”  This never fails to bring a smile to my face.  ;D

You don’t wear heels, but you sure as hell know how to rock a pair of wheels!

Chucks and Boots

Hello blog readers, (if you're still out there)

Almost a year ago to the day, I posted about my issues with finding fashionable shoes for my super particular feet. And then I disappeared. I'm happy to report that I am alive and well, and I finally purchased some new shoes...this morning. Yes, it took me a whole year to make the purchase! I'm a funny sort when it comes to buying things. I have to really want it, and I have to be in the mood to buy it, otherwise I don't.

Chucks
I finally purchased my custom-made turquoise Converse Chuck Taylors. I've been wanting them for about two years now, so the fact that they're on their way to being made and in my hands soon makes me giddy!






Boots
I'm really excited about this purchase because these will be my first pair of boots. Cerebral Palsy often makes the muscles in feet pull in one direction making feet tense and taunt, making it especially difficult to relax feet long enough to slip them in to boots. For this reason, I've known that if I ever tried boots they'd have to be the shorter variety, with a zipper to allow for as easy as possible slip-onage (like my new word?)

These are the boots I purchased. Another big plus about these is the almost non-existent heel, which if you spend any amount of time in a wheelchair is a very important feature. Your heels are much less likely to ache at the end of the day without a pronounced heel adding pressure.



Jump in: Any recent purchases you were really excited about?

Fashionably,
Hilary

Update 10/7: 

So I got my boots in the mail yesterday. Unfortunately, they didn't work out. Turns out that what I thought was no-heel boots were actually hidden-heel boots with quite the heel. My feet looked like an S trying to deal with the heel and the tightness overall. Poor things didn't know what I just did to them. They achingly screamed, "What the...!"

So it looks like we're back to square one with the boots. But, I'll let you know when my Converse come in. I'm still super excited for those!