In the News - November 2013

A collection of news articles, blogs, stories and information about Down syndrome, disability and special needs, from Down Wit Dat's Facebook page.

November was a particularly busy month as it was the very first Autistic History Month, included Autistics Speaking Day, and was also Epilepsy Awareness Month.  November saw two very successful anti-slur advocacy campaigns that united advocates across the globe.  Included in the links below are also many posts and a flash blog speaking out against Autism Speaks. 

This month, in order to capture as much of the information as possible, I've included an "IMAGE" category to showcase infographics and the like, as well as a "POST" tag to highlight some advocacy work that is often overlooked as it exists solely in a social media format.

Legend:

AUDIO	indicates an audio clip
APPEAL	indicates an online petition or plea
BLOG	indicates a blog post
CASE	indicates a lawsuit or proceedings
EVENT	indicates a scheduled event
IMAGE	**NEW** indicates a graphic or image
LAWS	indicates a new piece of legislation
LINKS	indicates links or resource materials
PHOTOS	indicates photos
POLL	indicates an online survey
POST	**NEW** indicates an advocacy statement made through social media
STUDY	indicates a study or discovery
THREAD	indicates an online discussion thread
VIDEO	indicates a video or movie

BLOG	Autistic as a Reclaimed Word
BLOG	I am at peace (with killing my socially constructed self) (Pt. 1)
BLOG	I am at peace (with killing my socially constructed self) (Pt. 2)
BLOG	I am at peace (with killing my socially constructed self) (Pt. 3)
BLOG	Supporting United States Ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – Why Every Voice Counts!
BLOG	Autistics Speaking Day - My Fingers Speak
	Disabled blogger really doesn’t want to be in your ‘prayer sandwich’
BLOG	Signal Boost: #AutisticsSpeakingDay
	No You Don't: Essays from an Unstrange Mind
IMAGE	"Autism doesn't speak..."
BLOG	An Autistic Social Issue: Dismissal and Disrespect
POST	"Disability is Normal..."
BLOG	Aspergers and Depression: the masking effect
POST	"ACTION ALERT..."
BLOG	Autistics Speaking Day 2013
VIDEO	NJ Self-Advocates speak out about the R-word
BLOG	Down Syndrome Awareness Month: Stereotypes
BLOG	So, what is the problem with Autism Speaks?
BLOG	Impact
LINKS	Ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
BLOG	The Colour of Flowers
IMAGE	Inclusion Flowchart
BLOG	Myth: All Autistics are Happy Being Loners
POST	"When our children are having a difficult time..."
IMAGE	Throw away the developmental charts...
BLOG	My Anxiety is Not Disordered
EVENT	Free Movie Screening - Colegas ("Buddies")
BLOG	The Way We Treat Others
BLOG	Are you a lazy, ignorant carer Katie Price?
BLOG	Here, try on some of my shoes.
BLOG	There's That Word Again...
	Disability Studies: A New Normal
IMAGE	Kat Von D.'s Twitter response to naming her lipstick "Celebutard"
BLOG	Advocating in Your Community
PHOTOS	Far Out on a Limb
BLOG	Being Retarded
BLOG	End the Word
BLOG	Retarded
BLOG	Modern Day Monstrosity
POST	"Sephora launches..."
IMAGE	Aiden and Colin
BLOG	Autistic History Month 2013: ACCEPTANCE
BLOG	An…apology?
BLOG	More On ABA
APPEAL	Sephora: Sephora sells a Kat Von D lipstick 'celebutard', combining 'celebrity' and 'r#tard'. The 'r word' degrades people with intellectual disabilities. Sephora must: Apologize. Withdraw the product.
BLOG	Please Join With Us
POST	"Best fucking tweet yet..."
POST	"We are waiting..."
POST	"Sephora has just contacted us..."
	Sephora, "Celebutard" Lipstick? Are You High On Tattoo Ink?
BLOG	It's All About Etymology
STUDY	Participate in our research
BLOG	Epileptic Acceptance Month: Inside a Seizure
POST	"From Change.org via David Hindsberger..."
POST	"Sephora's Kat Von D lipstick shade..."
	The Truth About the Disabilities Treaty: Myth Busters
BLOG	Sorry - Gotta Catch Em All
BLOG	The Saint and The Curmudgeon
	Makeup Company Sephora recalls 'Celebutard' lipstick
	Judge: "City Does Not Have an Adequate Plan" for Evacuating Vulnerable During Disasters
	NDSS Statement on Sephora ‘Celebutard' Lipstick by Chris Burke, NDSS Goodwill Ambassador
	Cabbie refuses wheelchair-bound man
	'Celebutard' Lipstick Pulled From Sephora After Backlash Over Name
VIDEO	Tammy Duckworth, Iraq War Veteran, Urges Congress To Ratify Disabilities Treaty
POST	"Minority slur is NOT a "fun and silly way to market a product."..."
IMAGE	Paul would like to thank everyone...
	Faces to order: how 3D-printing is revolutionising prosthetics
VIDEO	Voice surgery sparks ethical debate
	Last Immigration appointment was two days before they were found dead in London
VIDEO	Young Stroke Survivors with Aphasia - Laura
BLOG	Taking Control:  when a small child finds a big voice
	Giving My Uninformed Consent to Die
BLOG	Autism and Thoughts on Written Output: Infinity Blade II… A review by H
BLOG	Our kids in the media
	What Nondisabled People Think When They See Us
BLOG	Cuthbert Reporting In: Remembrance Day
BLOG	A Deer Hunter is Dead: Humanity and Life Needlessly Ended
BLOG	Lest We Forget
BLOG	Epileptic Acceptance Month: Frozen Doll
VIDEO	Outsider Artist Judith Scott
BLOG	The Price We Pay for Autism Speaks
EVENT	International Day of Persons with Disabilities
BLOG	Autism Speaks Kidnaps "Policy Summit"
BLOG	Autistic People Are Not Going to Take This Lying Down (Updated)
BLOG	An Unholy Alliance: Autism Speaks and the Judge Rotenberg Center
BLOG	At the Store: What do you think?
EVENT	Protesting Autism Speaks "Policy Summit" at George Washington University
BLOG	What’s Wrong With Autism Speaks?
EVENT	T-21 Blog Hop
BLOG	Prejudice
EVENT	Canadian Blog Awards
POST	"Trigger warning..."
IMAGE	"I am a working adult..."
BLOG	Why are so many people mad at Autism Speaks right now?
BLOG	The Cost of People
BLOG	no more – a letter to suzanne wright
	ASAN-AAC Statement on Autism Speaks’ DC “Policy Summit”
	The Blame Game! Are School Problems the Kids' Fault?
POST	"In light of this week's piece..."
BLOG	Why I’m Proud of my Community (including our allies!)
POST	"Segregated and Exploited: The Failure of the Disability Service System..."
IMAGE	Autism $peaks Budget...
BLOG	Right On!
VIDEO	Trailer for "A Whole Lott More" with captions
POST	"Many people who touch on representations of and discourse on disability..."
BLOG	Check All That Apply
AUDIO	Voices at the Tables
BLOG	Cups of Coffee
	Hiding behind niceness
POST	"Language matters in relation to disability..."
	We Should Be Natural Allies: The LGBTQ And Disability Communities
BLOG	"This is Autism" Flashblog
VIDEO	What Do You See?
IMAGE	"Passengers rally behind Blind man and his dog..."
POST	"In the 1980's, "The Max Planck Society admitted that its collection..."
POST	"Queerability Official Response To Autism Speaks..."
	An Open Letter to Suzanne Wright, Co-Founder, Autism Speaks
POST	I am Openly Autistic! I am NOT ashamed to be Autistic!
BLOG	Art, (dis)ability, seeing in pictures and speaking with the body
BLOG	Fear, Hate, and Exclusion: It’s time to silence Autism Speaks!
IMAGE	"I have only found one thing that I think..."
	Adelaide fashion duo defend T-shirts featuring word 'Retarde'
POST	"Given that The Arc of the United States and The Autism Society of America..."
BLOG	An Unexpected Humiliation at a Conference on the Humanities, Disability and Health Care
IMAGE	"This is Autism..."
BLOG	I am H: This is Autism
BLOG	the epidemic is not autism it is ignorance
BLOG	This is Autism Flashblog on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013
BLOG	Autism is
BLOG	This is Autism (Written by Emma)
BLOG	"Clayton Cross, the director of the chain carrying the "retarde" shirts..."
	Globalize clothing chain takes remaining few 'retarde' shirts off shelves following public outrage
POST	"People with intellectual or developmental disabilities shouldn't have..."
BLOG	Raising Rebel Souls: This is Autism
BLOG	‘This is Autism’ Flashblog: What Autism Is (to Me)
BLOG	This is My Autism
BLOG	This is autism (for us)
BLOG	Autism is a brain that is just different
BLOG	Non-speaking Autistic Activist Responds to Suzanne Wright of Autism Speaks
BLOG	A View of Autism Speaks From Afar.
	Tell Sevenly that Autism Speaks Doesn’t Speak for Autistics!
BLOG	Did You Really Just Say That?
BLOG	This is Autism
BLOG	Disabled adults get inadequate health care, study finds
BLOG	This Is Autism
BLOG	Severely disabled, but ineligible for mobility benefits
BLOG	It's Never "Just A..."
	My Place in This Conversation
BLOG	No Access
BLOG	I ALREADY AM A HUMAN BEING
BLOG	I was bullied because I was disabled
EVENT	The Church of 80% Sincerity
VIDEO	Advocacy group says Washoe County schools still using outlawed punishment
	Lawmakers Move To Strike ‘Mental Retardation’ Language From Phila. Laws
BLOG	How Do You Define Activism?
	De-Mystifying Stimming
BLOG	When an Advocate Fights Advocacy: Mel Leckie's Personal Protest of a Protest
BLOG	Emma’s Letter
VIDEO	#myvoiceis 1
VIDEO	Jean Vanier on Bullying
EVENT	The T-21 Blog Hop - November 2013
BLOG	Autistic History Month 2013: The History Post That Never Was
IMAGE	#justiceforethan
BLOG	Dear Apple, your dictionary is crap
BLOG	Don't Call Me Inspirational
BLOG	"Privilege" doesn’t mean "easy"
BLOG	Selected To Silence
BLOG	Me? Stim?! Pah!
BLOG	Believe and live
	Cognitively Accessible Language (Why We Should Care)
BLOG	A Brief History of Down syndrome - Part 7: Abused, Neglected, Forgotten
BLOG	Why I Don’t “Diagnose” Historical Figures
BLOG	Normalcy Speaks: a bizarro post
POST	"A 34-year-old Gallupville man has been arrested..."
	Stimming: What autistic people do to feel calmer
BLOG	Autism
	Understanding Deafness: Not Everyone Wants to Be 'Fixed'
VIDEO	Restraints and seclusion in BC schools
BLOG	RESPECTE
BLOG	An #Aspergers Child on Being Different
BLOG	Meet Me At the Intersection
BLOG	What Autism Means to Me
POST	"This is Hadamar.  It was once a hospital..."
	Common Questions about RDSP
POST	"On economic justice and Disability Studies:..."
IMAGE	CRPD and Optional Protocol Signatures and Ratifications
	The Able-ist Gaze: Imagining Malingering
	How to Do Right by the Disabled
BLOG	Wise Words When One Enters the World of Disability
POST	"On Cognitive Disability, Eugenics, and the Object Metaphor:..."
BLOG	Being My Friend Does Not Make You A Hero
	Misguided gestures of a condescending kindness
	Should 'Isolation Rooms' be banned in Canadian schools?
BLOG	“People Do Not Believe Me”
BLOG	False Positive
BLOG	Self advocates with Down syndrome tell of their life experiences
POST	"Did you know that Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga..."
	Murder of Disabled Children Provided Anatomy Lessons for Nazis
BLOG	Prosopagnosia and Asperger’s in the Family
POST	"OKC school fined for threatening expulsion of child with Down syndrome..."
	Disabled Characters in Fiction
	Disabled woman denied entry to U.S. after agent cites supposedly private medical details
BLOG	What is Accessibility: A Quiz
	‘Disabled’ in Britain, just ‘foreign’ in Japan
VIDEO	Disabled baby denied heart transplant
	Please don't take my baby: Agony of mother whose baby girl was put up for adoption after secret court judge forced her to have a caesarean

November also saw another edition of the T-21 Blog Hop...

We had 17 bloggers participate this time, with some new faces amongst the more familiar ones.  The T-21 Blog Hop will take place every month on the 21st, for three days and will continue to feature advocacy posts from across the disability community.

We look forward to December's entries!

...And that's the news.  Keep the stories and information coming!