![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Hearken! Bits and bobs with a D/deaf theme
Monday, March 30th, 2015 08:10 pmI've been reading all of a wonderful blog from Mel Chua, who is too many things to summarize, but in her own words, "a human jumper cable." If you work with, teach, learn, or hang around any number of deaf people, please read this
( helpful info on speechreading and its demands. )Mel addresses How to succeed in engineering school as a disabled person in a poem
In ADA enforcement* news, ( NAD sues Harvard and MIT over inaccessible online education ) Why is a lawsuit "enforcement"? Because the vast majority of Americans with Disabilities Act rights are gained not from the law itself, but by someone suing to claim those rights have been violated. Sometimes, the U.S. (Federal) Department of Justice has worked with individuals and classes to bring suits, and only then do Federal lawyers advocate for disability rights. There is no "ADA Police" because violating our rights isn't a crime.
( helpful info on speechreading and its demands. )Mel addresses How to succeed in engineering school as a disabled person in a poem
begin quote
Don't get angry.
Don't have feelings.
Don't realize how tired you are.
Don't realize that what you're doing is extra labor.
Stay oblivious. Focus on your classwork.
Don't ask for help.
Don't look dumb.
And never show signs that you're struggling.
That any of this is any harder for you.
That any of this ever hard for you.
end quote
In ADA enforcement* news, ( NAD sues Harvard and MIT over inaccessible online education ) Why is a lawsuit "enforcement"? Because the vast majority of Americans with Disabilities Act rights are gained not from the law itself, but by someone suing to claim those rights have been violated. Sometimes, the U.S. (Federal) Department of Justice has worked with individuals and classes to bring suits, and only then do Federal lawyers advocate for disability rights. There is no "ADA Police" because violating our rights isn't a crime.