The Best of Disability Blogs and Banter[fusion_content_boxes settings_lvl=”child” layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ icon_align=”left” title_size=”14px” title_color=”#842f1e” body_color=”#000000″ backgroundcolor=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_radius=”” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordersize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordersize=”” icon_size=”” icon_hover_type=”none” hover_accent_color=”#84241e” link_type=”” link_area=”” link_target=”” animation_delay=”” animation_offset=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.1″ margin_top=”2px” margin_bottom=”2px” class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Pushliving.com Response to Cosmopolitian’s Dating Advice” icon=”” backgroundcolor=”” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordersize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordersize=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktext=”” link_target=”_self” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=””]Although Pushliving.com gave the women’s magazine Cosmopolitan props for publishing an article with advice on dating women who use wheelchairs, they had a few suggestions for next time.

Most jarringly, the mag used stock imagery of obviously nondisabled women in hospital-style chairs. Pushliving collected a few responses to that blooper:

Kristy Goosman Hughes: My first impression was, what a stupid picture!”

Kara Ayers: Ouch … this literally hurts to see. What year is it!?

Tim Cox: HAHAHAHAHA! this might be my favorite picture ever.

James Shoemaker: … really, a hospital transport chair?

See the rest of Pushliving’s response, including excellent photos of real women who use wheelchairs, at
pushliving.com/our-response-to-cosmos-advice-on-dating-a-woman-in-wheelchair/[/fusion_content_box][/fusion_content_boxes][fusion_content_boxes settings_lvl=”child” layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ icon_align=”left” title_size=”14px” title_color=”#842f1e” body_color=”” backgroundcolor=”#ffffff” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_radius=”” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordersize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordersize=”” icon_size=”” icon_hover_type=”” hover_accent_color=”#842f13″ link_type=”” link_area=”” link_target=”” animation_delay=”” animation_offset=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.1″ margin_top=”1px” margin_bottom=”1px” class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”#SAYTHEWORD” icon=”” backgroundcolor=”” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordersize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordersize=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”0″ image_height=”0″ link=”” linktext=”” link_target=”_self” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=””]
Activist Lawrence Carter Long (@LCarterLong) sparked a hashtag revolution with this tweet:

“Disabled.” #SayTheWord. On purpose. Often. Until and unless we do, they won’t. #NotDifferent #NotSpecial #Disabled

Now the hashtag is popping up across social media platforms in response to presidential candidates, celebrities and others of note, daring them to #SayTheWord disabled.[/fusion_content_box][/fusion_content_boxes][fusion_content_boxes settings_lvl=”child” layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ icon_align=”left” title_size=”14px” title_color=”#842f1e” body_color=”#000000″ backgroundcolor=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_radius=”” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordersize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordersize=”” icon_size=”” icon_hover_type=”none” hover_accent_color=”#84241e” link_type=”” link_area=”” link_target=”” animation_delay=”” animation_offset=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.1″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Lego’s First-Ever Wheelchair User” icon=”” backgroundcolor=”” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordersize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordersize=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktext=”” link_target=”_self” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=””]Last spring, Rebecca Atkinson, a journalist with a hearing impairment from the United Kingdom, launched #ToyLikeMe, asking why can’t toy manufacturers include children with disabilities in their lines? And in late January, Lego answered with a young minifig wheelchair user. Part of the “Fun in the Park” set, it hits stores in July and is a marked improvement over Lego’s initial offering — an elderly wheelchair user in a hospital-style chair released as part of its Duplo line’s Community People Set.

Atkinson, a mom, says she got the idea for the project when she took a good look at her family’s toy box. “Not one plastic figure had a wheelchair, or a hearing aid, a white cane or any kind of disability at all,” she said to www.volup2.com.

[/fusion_content_box][/fusion_content_boxes]

---

Support New Mobility Wait! Before you wander off to other parts of the internet, please consider supporting New Mobility. For more than three decades, New Mobility has published groundbreaking content for active wheelchair users. We share practical advice from wheelchair users across the country, review life-changing technology and demand equity in healthcare, travel and all facets of life. But none of this is cheap, easy or profitable. Your support helps us give wheelchair users the resources to build a fulfilling life.