Disability Awareness - do it right! Your all-in-one how-to guide [Paperback] [2006] (Author) The Ragged Edge Online Community, Mary Johnson

by Mary Johnson

Simulation exercises--activities in which participants get into wheelchairs, tie on blindfolds or stuff earplugs into their ears to "simulate" having a disability--have become a popular "Awareness Day" event. But they've also come under fire from disability activists and educators, who criticize them as demeaning and inaccurate. Disability Awareness--Do It Right! is an all-in-one how-to guide from the Ragged Edge Online community, with tips, techniques and handouts for a successful Awareness Day. Short background articles and planning lists help you organize fun and effective Awareness Day activities that disability rights activists support. Concise, easy-to-read chapters show you how to carry out 6 specific types of activities, how to handle follow-up discussion and even how to spur social change. Appendices include resources and articles to use with Awareness Day participants.

Genres: Disability, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published September 18, 2006

About the author

Mary Johnson was the founder of The Disability Rag magazine (later the Ragged Edge), which was published from 1980 through 1996. Her writings about the U.S. disability rights movement appeared in many U.S. publications during the 1980s and 1990s.

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was extremely useful and taught me a lot about a subject I thought I already knew well--how to make people aware of discrimination against people with disabilities. In 72 pages (with another 34 pages of appendices) the authors produce a clear strategy for understanding the issues related to being disabled, which are primarily due to lack of accessibility and respect, not physical or cognitive impairment.

In logical and succinct prose, a series of activities are described that should replace the poorly-designed disability simulation exercises one often sees on disability awareness days, ones where non-disabled people use appliances to simulate physical impairment. The authors point out correctly that it would be a much better exercise to interact with a person who has a disability, and discuss or observe the challenges they face in the "ableist" world. People with disabilities understand their own situation well, so why not talk to them about it?

The book does much to tear away the blinders many of us wear in regards to disability, making apt comparisons to social changes related to racism, sexism and homophobia. After working with amputees for many years, I was surprised to discover that I am still learning.

My only quibble is that the book could use some proofreading: there were many typos that sometimes made the text confusing. Aside from that, I am glad I bought this book.