Incidental Disability

[dwgism]

The discussion of transexuality in film was a spur to some thoughts I was already having about the portrayal of disability in film. There are at least three aspects to the way film deals with disability that we need the media industry to make progress on if we are ever to consider ourselves to be getting equal treatment. Those three points are

Comments

[subluxate]

I'm hearing, so someone who is D/deaf can and should feel free to correct me, but I'm going to tentatively disagree with you using her interpreter as a qualifier for why she might not count. As a general rule, hearing people don't sign, and it takes too long to write everything down--the conversation rolls on while you're trying to make your point, or else it comes to a halt while people wait, which just feels awkward. (I have TMD and have bouts of being unable to speak because of it, for personal reference on this one. Roger Ebert also has a very moving post on communication when you can't speak verbally here.) In a fast-paced world like the White House, an interpreter seems a natural aid to a Deaf person, in a way like my wheelchair. It draws visual attention, yes, but it's what allows her to "just get on with it".

[elettaria]

Not to mention that the character in question lipreads and can speak, but her speech isn't terribly clear, so again this wouldn't really work in that fast-moving environment. It would be horribly awkward if people kept having to ask her what she'd just said, and she'd end up missing a great deal of the conversation because of people moving around.

It seems like a big thing with being unable to speak is having the tools to communicate; that post by Roger Ebert was indeed very moving and great food for thought, as was a comment on it by someone who stutters. I occasionally am unable to speak due to episodes of collapsing (I have severe ME/CFIDS), and in those situations I don't have the option of any alternative methods of communication. A means of communication whereby everyone can understand one another, and the speech-impaired person remains in control, sounds excellent to me.

[dwgism]

Joey speaks and lipreads in West Wing, so doesn't absolutely need an interpreter, however I think people are making a very good point that in a very verbal position, both for getting her message across and for dealing with situations where there may be multiple speakers, having an interpreter would make sense, so I'll withdraw that qualification.

[subluxate]

I just checked with my partner, who is partly deaf. (She was asleep when I made my previous comment, so I couldn't consult with her then.) She says it can be very easy to mistake what people are saying when lip-reading, since so many sounds look alike. There's also the issue of having everyone be face-on for Joey and making sure she knows who's speaking at a given point in a conversation with multiple people.

[elettaria]

The interpreter in West Wing was Bill O'Brien, who's done a lot of work with Deaf theatre. It's nice that Matlin has a regular interpreter, though.

I forgot to mention that I have APD too, and I found the West Wing pretty difficult to follow at first, as it's so fast-paced.

[dwgism]

Picking up on the Roger Ebert article, it's a very interesting read and an aspect of disability that probably doesn't get as much attention as it should, but it was interesting to see that in listing his options for dealing with his communications issues and their drawbacks he never thought of using an interpreter to deal with the fact that most people he interacts with don't sign. The same mistake I made in my assumptions, but from much closer up. It's one of those things like many people with mobility disabilities being resistant to using a wheelchair even though they're exposed to other people using them pretty much every day*. Sometimes the solutions are out there, sometimes we even see them, but unless we make the leap to projecting ourselves into the situation of using them then we can't understand that they would help us

[androgenie]

On the wheelchair using note...I've been the same way about using a chair due to my mobility issues. I ended up deciding to use one after listening to an academic presentation that touched on how walking is privileged over wheeling, and how that contributes to self-perceptions for PWD's. Interesting stuff....and is sometimes really tough to work through on a personal level (I know it was for me, and still is on the days that it's a better choice to use wheels)

[elettaria]

Never mind social meaning, it's the way people look at you (OK, that's due to the social meaning), treat you like an idiot, talk to the person pushing the wheelchair, come up and say, "So what's wrong with you, then?", you can't reach stuff, and of course wheelchair access tends to be dire. I too am crap about going out in my wheelchair. The first time I did, I was finding it really hard but attempting to be brave. We were in the supermarket, with a friend pushing me. A guy I knew appeared at the other end of the aisle. Now, the last few times I'd seen him, he'd been trying to get me into bed (he was a total sleaze). This time, he took one look, put down his shopping, and bolted out of the shop. This did not help me get used to the whole business, though ten years on I'm doing quite a bit better. I am unfortunately stuck in a first floor flat, so it's rare that I end up going out in the wheelchair, or indeed at all. I'm trying to find a ground floor flat to buy, at which point I plan to get a nice powerchair. I'm quaking in

[androgenie]

Not only "fate worse than death" but sometimes "poor dear gave up hope" (the latter frustrates me more because the wheelchair actually is giving me hope that I can find athletic things to do again....or the hope that being out and about doesn't give me severe pain or risk falling).