heartwarming tales
We love a little cripspiration don't we? That'll be why the current Main Stories page of The Week features Trish Vickers and Jack Widdowson. I'm happy for both these people and for those who help them. I'm sure few readers will dare to admit that these two heartwarming cases could be overshadowed by the nasty tales other people could tell about disability. Newspapers are in the business of selling their words and people pay for what we want to read.
[Edit] Perhaps the sarcasm I intended here didn't really come across. I'm not very impressed with the way The Week editors chose to present these 2 stories with such prominence, omitting anything negative.
The story about Mrs Vickers was under the magazine's regular subtitle, 'It Wasn't All Bad', so that's fair enough but I did want to know why the lady was writing with a pen at all. Did she consider using a keyboard or voice-recognition software? If she considered those options, why did she decide against them?
The story about Mr Widdowson really disappointed me. He was an outstanding ballet dancer until his spine was injured. Fine that he and his family are keeping a positive attitude but how unrealistic they're being. I'd like to see a follow-up story about him a year or 5 years from now, telling how he's adjusted to the reality of his dance career being over.
To my mind, these 2 portrayals are being used to service a myth about disability being no worse than we choose to let it be. Certainly a 'can do' attitude is empowering but I don't find a 'can be a ballet star' attitude cripspiring. I find it insulting to those of us who've accepted our disabilities as dis-abling.
[Edit] Perhaps the sarcasm I intended here didn't really come across. I'm not very impressed with the way The Week editors chose to present these 2 stories with such prominence, omitting anything negative.
The story about Mrs Vickers was under the magazine's regular subtitle, 'It Wasn't All Bad', so that's fair enough but I did want to know why the lady was writing with a pen at all. Did she consider using a keyboard or voice-recognition software? If she considered those options, why did she decide against them?
The story about Mr Widdowson really disappointed me. He was an outstanding ballet dancer until his spine was injured. Fine that he and his family are keeping a positive attitude but how unrealistic they're being. I'd like to see a follow-up story about him a year or 5 years from now, telling how he's adjusted to the reality of his dance career being over.
To my mind, these 2 portrayals are being used to service a myth about disability being no worse than we choose to let it be. Certainly a 'can do' attitude is empowering but I don't find a 'can be a ballet star' attitude cripspiring. I find it insulting to those of us who've accepted our disabilities as dis-abling.