Wiscon Monday
I went to one last panel, about incorporating people with disabilities into stories, and how to do it right even if you the author do not have that disability. Thanks both to writers and to people with with disabilities, this was one of the best panels I've been to at this Wiscon. Some of the points made:
1. Some of the effects of the disability are not just the physical problem itself, but the accomodations required. People with epilepsy, for instance, may be unable to drive cars owing to the meds they need.
2. Don't use disability to signify evil.
3. If the story ends with the disability being miraculously removed, figure why the story needs this.
4. Do not compensate for a disability (in sci-fi) with a fix that results in a person immediately being made whole or *even more able* than before. That's not disability. (E.g. the hand of Luke Skywalker.)
5. However, you can use special abilities developed by people with disability as a plot point: e.g. deaf people and phone phreaking. [Correction: Blind people, not deaf people]
6. Do the research - internet has stories directly from people with disabilities.
7. You can't please everyone.
I stopped briefly at the Checkout... but I had no more space for books in my luggage. I didn't stay long so I wouldn't be tempted to loop back to the Dealer's room. I had to pack, anyway. Kater and I grabbed some lunch, then joined Julie on the shuttle to the airport.
That was it for Wiscon 34 for us.
1. Some of the effects of the disability are not just the physical problem itself, but the accomodations required. People with epilepsy, for instance, may be unable to drive cars owing to the meds they need.
2. Don't use disability to signify evil.
3. If the story ends with the disability being miraculously removed, figure why the story needs this.
4. Do not compensate for a disability (in sci-fi) with a fix that results in a person immediately being made whole or *even more able* than before. That's not disability. (E.g. the hand of Luke Skywalker.)
5. However, you can use special abilities developed by people with disability as a plot point: e.g. deaf people and phone phreaking. [Correction: Blind people, not deaf people]
6. Do the research - internet has stories directly from people with disabilities.
7. You can't please everyone.
I stopped briefly at the Checkout... but I had no more space for books in my luggage. I didn't stay long so I wouldn't be tempted to loop back to the Dealer's room. I had to pack, anyway. Kater and I grabbed some lunch, then joined Julie on the shuttle to the airport.
That was it for Wiscon 34 for us.