Disabled students on ableism at VIU
Disabled students share their experiences with inaccessibility and discrimination at VIU Ableism, like many other systems of oppression and marginalization, is a complex and nuanced concept. A simple way to understand ableism is to think of it as discrimination against disabled people, whether intentional or not. As I take the time to educate myself on … Continued
Responding to The Shape of Water wins
On Sunday, March 2, The Shape of Water (2017) left the 90th Academy Awards with four wins: Best Production Design, Best Original Music Score, Best Director, and, finally, Best Picture. As a disabled person, I wish I could have pulled a Kanye-West-at-the-Grammys and taken the microphone from Guillermo del Toro during the acceptance speech, so … Continued
What I’ve learned from having autism
I remember the first time I heard “autistic” used as a slur. I was in tenth grade gym class, and one of my more athletic classmates had said it to a teammate who had messed up a play in baseball. I felt insulted; I knew he wasn’t trying to attack autistic people, but that’s essentially … Continued
What’s ableism?
I first heard the term “ableism” at the Nanaimo Women’s March last January. VIU’s Student Union was handing out pins. One said, “Unlearn racism,” another said, “Unlearn ableism.” It’s hard to unlearn something you don’t know, I remember thinking. Ableism, as I later found out, is the discrimination against people with disabilities. While the term … Continued