NEWS
Polio
The poliovirus has re-emerged in the U.S. An abridged version of its famous vaccine story is adding new dimensions to reporting about viral threats to public safety:
The role of white supremacy is being left out. There was systemic neglect of Black polio victims before the Salk vaccine (e.g., in the whites-only admission policy of the treatment facility founded by FDR) and after (e.g., the government’s casting of unvaccinated Black Americans as ignorant and irrational). Notions of a whole and seamless and suddenly-problematic vaccination campaign need grounding in the deep-rooted conditions of American health disparities.
Able-nationalism is obscuring the full extent of viral precarity in the global north. This term from disability scholarship names the way care for disability “valorizes able-bodied norms of inclusion” to make distinctions between national cultures and citizenships. It’s an apt description of the way reporting normalizes automatic assumptions about viral outbreaks in places with so-called “political disarray” while ignoring the disarray that creates the viral underclass of the global north.
We can turn away from nondisabled fears of disability by reaching for the knowledge of polio survivors and disabled elders. The poem “Breathing” by disabled artist Mark O’Brien, for example, testifies to the ordinary, embodied, and now-disappearing aesthetics of the iron lung.
Kinetic Light’s Wired
Ahead of their performance at The Shed in Manhattan this weekend, The New York Times featured the collective in a piece that names the creative power of access in artistry. In form, too: the image descriptions for the article’s photographs are unusually detailed. How wonderful to behold disability arts receiving the excellent coverage it needs!
The sold-out shows run from August 25th-27th at 7:30pm ET. But if you are in NYC and would like to experience Wired in-person, day-of waiting lists open each night at 7:15pm. You can sign up at the Visitor Experience desk in the lobby and if your name is called, you will be escorted up to the performance space. More info here.
New Works
In Testudo, Annette An-Jen Liu interviews Yo-Yo Lin about their creative process for channels.
A special issue of Theater on “Disability Dramaturgies” edited by Madeline Charne & Tom Sellar features work (all free to access!) by Indira Allegra, Patty Berne, Madeline Charne, Jessica A. Cooley, Ann M. Fox, Jerron Herman, Allison Leigh Holt, Petra Kuppers, Nomy Lamm, and Jessica A. Watkin.
Sam's Super Seats, “a joyful picture book about a disabled girl with cerebral palsy who goes back-to-school shopping with her best friends, by Keah Brown and illustrated by Sharee Miller is available for pre-order from Penguin Random House.
Adapt-Ability, a new opinion video series from The New York Times, invites audiences to “to overcome discomfort with disability.” The first two videos about blindness by James Robinson are out now.
Quiet Rebels, about interracial and interclass love, written and directed by Julie McNamara and Hassan Mahamdallie, will tour this fall across the U.K. The show uses “a vibrant, percussive soundscape and rich visual narrative that incorporates captions, BSL and audio description to sew access into the fabric” of the work.
Equity, a British arts organization, has published a Casting Guide for Deaf, Disabled, and Neurodiverse Dancers.
Neurodiverse Review has launched as a dedicated review site for neurodiverse, autistic and disabled-led work, with its first mission to review the 75th Anniversary of The Edinburgh Fringe.
Grammy.com has published interviews with disabled musicians and organizers Gaelynn Lea and Lachi.
The 5th edition of the U.K.’s Unlimited Festival, packed with new commissions and events, will run at London’s Southbank Centre from Sept. 7th-11th.
The Storm King Art Center in NY’s Hudson Valley is embarking on a $45 million capital project to enhance access and ecological biodiversity.
Other News
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has cleared the way for hearing aids to be sold over-the-counter without a prescription. The move is estimated to save $2,800 on the cost of one pair.
Legalized euthanasia (Medical Assistance in Dying) has become the 6th leading cause of death in Canada.
A U.S. federal court of appeals has ruled that transgender people are protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have proposed a 4% cut to payments to home health providers in 2023.
The Clear and Concise Content Act, which expands and updates the Plain Writing Act of 2010, has been approved in committee in the U.S. Senate.
CALLS
John Lee Clark is seeking previously-published poems from disabled artists to be considered for the Poem-a-Day series from the Academy of American Poets in July 2023. Interested poets can send up to three unpublished poems to jlc@johnleeclark.com by Aug. 26th.
The Health Justice Commons is seeking applicants for its paid Movement Building and Logistics Internship. More info here.
Museum, Arts, and Culture (MAC) Access Consortium’s Supporting Transitions Project is seeking applications for the second cohort of its paid Self-Advocate Corps, who train disabled self-advocates, specifically those who identify as autistic, neurodivergent, or intellectually disabled, to use their experiences and skills to consult with cultural organizations to increase accessibility and representation. Deadline Aug. 31st. More info here.
The Creative Center Training Institute for Artists and Administrators in Arts in Healthcare and Creative Aging will take place virtually from Oct. 11th-29th. More info here.
An NYU study about accessibility in the recording industry is seeking bind survey respondents.
The Laundromat Project invites all NYC-based artists, activists, neighbors, designers, organizers, healers, storytellers, and cultural producers to apply for the 2023 Create Change program. Info session on Zoom 8/23 at 5pm ET. Deadline Sept. 14th. More info here.
The Center for Urban Pedagogy is seeking designers and advocates for its Public Access Design, Making Policy Public, and Design Justice as Practice programs. Deadlines Sept. 19th. More info here.
The Ireland Arts Council is seeking organizational collaborators for several disability-related projects. More info here.
The University of Sydney is seeking a funded Ph.D. student for its study about “Informal Care in the Context of Intellectual Disability.” More info here.
Public health practitioners are invited to sign an open letter to the American Public Health Association about its decision to invite Dr. Leana Wen to speak at its Annual Meeting.
EVENTS
On Sunday, Aug. 28th, The Whitney Museum in NYC will host Quieter Hours for Neurodivergent Visitors to tour the biennial show. Register here.
On Thursday, Aug. 25th at 5pm PT on Zoom, the Health Justice Commons will host its next Rad Healers and Healthcare Workers Solidarity Gathering. Topic: Keeping Our Wheels Oiled: Lessons on Reproductive Justice from Black and Brown Birth Workers. Featuring presenter ShiShi Rose, Birth and Postpartum Advocate for Black People. Register here.
Carmen Papalia’s Pain Series at the Rad Mad Lab at UC Berkeley will feature Rebel Sidney Fayola Black. Wednesday, Aug. 24th at 1:30pm PT. Join on Zoom here.
On Sunday, Aug. 28th from 2-3:30pm PT, there will be a Virtual Celebration of Life for Neil Marcus (1954-2021). Register here.
On Tuesday, Aug. 30th at 6:30pm ET, Bluestockings will host a launch event for There Plant Eyes by M. Leona Godin at the Dorothy Streslin community garden, 174 Suffolk Street in NYC. Register here.