First day covers
I’m not a collector, though I do like to collect things…
I keep small collections of the usual things – marbles, stones, coins and stamps – and every now and then someone indulges my sporadic habits… in this case, Ms-Em bought me a lovely set of first day covers for Christmas.
Click on the picture for a bigger version if you fancy a closer look.
Now, I don’t want you to think that we’re poking fun at the disabled, far from it… rather I want to highlight just how far we’ve come in 27 years.
The naivety of those illustrations is something to behold. Obviously my favorite is the hands spelling out ‘deaf’ in sign language – cheers guys, like I need reminding in my own tongue, so to speak.
Though I also like focusing on the wheelchair rather than the person in it… similarly, the one with the eyes gets all the attention in the guide dog stamp…
I know these stamps were meant to be a gesture of some sort, and most probably a genuine attempt at addressing disability, but still, way back when in 1981 we were still focusing on the disability and not the person.
At first I didn’t understand the picture with the person stepping on a rainbow. I wondered whether it was supposed to represent homophobia or leprechauns with giantism… then I noticed the paintbrush.
My sister’s favorite “meant well, actually horrible” tribute to the disabled came when an elderly lady once said of her “she’s a cripple, but she talks right smart”.
Most ppl are retarded in some way, they are just lucky that it isn’t an obvious condition.
I’m legally blind, but with contacts, I get by better than most ppl. Without them, I make Ray Charles look like an eagle eye.
Having said that, I am no better then any one else when it comes to dealing with others who need special attention, I would like to say I am, but I’m not.
I haven’t seen enough of the rest of the world, but I think that most ppl are still focussing on the disability, rather then the person.
But we have come along way since we killed any infant that showed signs of deformity or disability.
You know, I’m legally blind too. Funny. I bet that’s an above normal proportion. Adam, you’re comic is so visually pleasing, it attracts blind people. How does that make you feel?
Shush, if they find out I’ll be legally obliged to provide a braille version.
I suppose they rarely get as high contrast as this comic though.
Hahahahaha.
What is causing your blindness? I got keratconus in both eyes pretty bad, but it has mostly halted since last year, which is good, cos original diag was for total blindness by 40.
Love glass contacts.
I actually find very high contrast bad, like night driving, welding, etc.
But yes, congrats on attracting a blind audience.
Face it. Disability is the person. Just as the President is George Bush
and My Hero is Paris Hilton, some things take over life so completely,
we are defined by the event. People are defined by their accomplishments
and also their traumas.
But yeah, we are more than that. We like to think so.
In our heads. We are fighting.
Wow, I never realized British Sign Language was so different than American Sign Language. In ASL all of the letters are single handed [http://jellyfishenglish.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/signalpha-web.gif], and symbols for various words use both hands. So deaf Brits and deaf Yanks have way more of a language barrier than the rest of us. So bizarre.
In London I was amazed by the lack of ramps. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 made it basically illegal for publicly funded projects not to be accessible by wheelchair, among other things. So basically all public transit, libraries, museums, et cetera, have prominent ramps, particularly if they were built pre-1990, because the ramps are add-ons. At… I forget which station (somewhere near the British Museum), I saw some fellow tied to his wheelchair, or maybe with his wheelchair tied to him, hauling himself up the stairs of the Tube station, hand over hand on the rail. It was an odd moment, that pointed my attention to the lack of handicap access. I did notice later that the stair-less stations were marked on the map, and there were additional shuttles from those stations.
It’s interesting how different people deal with these things. In America we’ve basically made our uncomfortable ignoring of it law. Just pretend everything’s normal, folks. That’s the law.
Yup, the disabled brit still has a few mountains to climb, even if he has to do it with a wheelchair on his back.
…and you’re talking about the progressive village of Londinium. Up here, it’s worse.
As for the sign language, I did know that, that ASL is single-handed… which is great because it means that you can actually do things whilst talking (try drinking a cup of coffee whilst having a conversation in BSL). Though we do have quite a few dialects in the UK with localised terminology:
Make like you are hanging yourself from the neck (arm up holding the rope) and that’s local sign for Lancaster (or Preston)… because of what we used to do to witches (and non-witches).
Maybe if you’re really good, you can work the gesture of bring coffee to mouth into the conversation. I’m sure there are some words/letters that use an upwards motion like that. That’s be neat.
Localised dialect is great! The spice of language. I was trying to think of a good example of the Appalachian dialect, but gave up, and decided to just link to a video of someone with such an accent. http://youtube.com/watch?v=-mu9De9mNk4
Storytelling’s a big thing down here in Appalachia… this one’s not exactly stellar, but it’s the best I could find on short notice. You can get a real good idea of the style and voice though. There’s this fellow from western North Caroline, Fred Chappell, with a couple of amazing books out dealing with Appalachian culture and stories, and storytelling. The first one, I Am One of You Forever is well worth a read, if you like stories or tall tales. And chock full of local dialectic.
not all of ASL is one-handed, but the fingerspelling is.
Some states have laws that require all commercial buildings to be fully handicap accessible, as well. So it’s not just museums and public transportation where I live, but also law offices, dentists, and, well, everything.