The Best of Disability Blogs and Banter

Raw Beauty on our Newsfeeds
Are you curious about the photos from The 2014 Raw Beauty Project that have been popping up on wheelchair-related newsfeeds for the past few months? Co-sponsored by mobileWOMEN and The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Raw Beauty is an exhibit of photos featuring 20 women living with disabilities that was unveiled on Sept. 20 at the ACA Galleries in New York City.

The project and its models were featured on Today.com in October. About their photos, Deborah Mellen, a para and one of the models, said, “I had become used to feeling that most people who meet me do not see my joy because they cannot imagine someone in a wheelchair feeling this way.” She thinks the photo of her on the boat is perfect because, “I am full of joy. I came away happy. I pushed myself and am proud to be part of an exhilarating group of women.”

“We hope to see this reflected in the media so that beauty is not limited to a certain size, color, age or physical ability,” said Raw Beauty co-creator Wendy Crawford on www.popsugar.com. “Beauty is in strength, confidence, and uniqueness.”

To see more go to www.rawbeautynyc.com.

The Project Walk Diaries — My First Workout
This may seem crazy to a lot of people who are paralyzed, but I’m used to connecting with my paralyzed body with my mind in adaptive yoga class. My teacher will constantly tell me, “Push down through your feet, Tiffiny,” even though he knows I absolutely cannot. Does anything happen? I believe it does. And that’s exactly what the trainers told me on my first day at Project Walk.

We went into a series of exercises, and I wasn’t in my chair while doing them, which is the goal. I LOVE this. Don’t get me wrong, I love my wheelchair, it carries my paralyzed body through this world, but it’s nice to be free of it.  After working out on the mat, they helped me to stand, but not in the way a standing frame does. Rather, they sat me on the edge of a mat, and one therapist was in front of me, knees to knees, with the transfer belt wrapped around my backside for leverage. The other therapist was behind me holding my shoulders for balance and before I knew it I was standing.

Was I walking again? Heck no, but it sure felt good to be upright in a way that didn’t require being in a metal frame. I guess you can say it felt more natural, as much as it can when you’re paralyzed and have two people helping you stand up, that is. And I can’t wait to do it again — and it just so happens I will be back!
— Tiffiny Carlson, Spin 2.0, newmobility.com

Disability Sensitivity Video on YouTube
Something good has come out of Washington as the Office of Disability Rights in Washington, D.C., has released a fresh, contemporary and funny disability sensitivity video. It hits all the tropes and stereotypes — disability-related and beyond — as it takes viewers on a romp through a typical day.