Now these are exciting times. The fact that it is now being acknowledged that there is a real need for disability focus and representation around legal issues, and not just letting us ‘fall through the cracks’ is great to see. Leading that charge is the newly-launched Auckland Disability Law community law service, which aims to help disabled people access legal services and support lawyers to understand the needs of disabled clients. From stuff.co.nz: Auckland Disability Law is the result of

TVNZ screened “Real Life: For One Night Only” last night, featuring a group of disabled British guys (including Asta Philpot) as they journey to Spain to experience a ‘normal’ sex life… in a brothel. Asta Philpot, a 24 year-old man with arthogryposis, lost his viriginity in a brothel a few years ago, and was so revitalised by the experience he decided to take two more with him this time. One man was blind, and another was paralysed after a motorbike

Oh boy. As if China hadn’t shown enough reason why they shouldn’t be hosting the 2008 Paralympics, now they release their absurdly patronising “Guide to disabled people”, as part of their Olympic Volunteers Handbook. The guide ‘warns’ that disabled people can be unsocial, stubborn, defensive, and have a strong sense of inferiority, along with sharing the remarkable insight that physically disabled people are, in fact, “often” mentally healthy. Mind-blowing stuff. In fact it’s enough to make Australian swimming great Dawn

So for those of you who missed it (and shame on you ) I was featured on Attitude last Sunday morning! Attitude is a great disability-flavoured TV show hosted by Curtis Palmer, Tanya Black, and Grant Sharman, amongst others, which screens every Sunday morning at 9:30 on TV1. But never fear! If you didn’t get to see this momentous occasion in NZ television history, I present it to you below in all its YouTube-ified glory. Check it out, and let

See up on the top menu bar there? That new heading? That means the forums are back! I wasn’t sure on the forums last time, but I found some cool new software and brought them back! So head on over to the forums now, sign up, and get involved! Talk about whatever you like, and connect with people from all over NZ and the world! For your reference, the new forum URL is: http://www.walkingisoverrated.com/talk/

As far as I can see – nothing! I’m really putting this out there to see if anyone within the disability sector, with more expertise in such things than I, can explain if the budget, released yesterday by Finance Minister Michael Cullen, should have included any provisions for the movement towards a wholly inclusive New Zealand? Looking at the Budget’s breakdown, there doesn’t seem to be anything explicitly laid out to address the social and economic divide facing the average

Over 2000 people viewed the exhibition in Whangarei, which explored the oft-unexplored connection between disability and sexuality. The Tiaho Trust received overwhelming positive feedback from the public with comments such as: “One of the best and most thought provoking exhibitions I have ever seen, Touching, moving and inspiring” “Well done for leading out on such a beautiful exhibition” “A wonderful, insightful exhibition, the written stories beside the photos gave a good insight into the subjects, their life and challenges, highly

Well, whaddya know. It seems the Gods, or at least the IAAF, are smiling upon South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, overturning his ban on competing in the Beijing Olympics. So this means that Oscar, complete with carbon fibre blades for feet, has the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics – note, not the Paras – in Beijing this year. Is this a good thing, do you think? Or is it opening up a potentially massive can of worms? Your thoughts,

Okay, so for all those who’ve been badgering me about the interview I did with Ruth Dyson, Minister of Disability Issues, last month, the wait is over! I’ve broken the interview down into several segments, as detailed below. Click on the link to hear the clip streamed online (good for Broadband users), otherwise right-click the link, and select “Save target as…” (or similar) to download the files to your desktop. Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts by leaving a

I’m sure it’s nothing new to any of you that petrol prices are on this inexorable rise to, well, unaffordability, but do you think as disabled New Zealanders, this is having more of a severe impact than on the rest of the population? Many of us are on a benefit of some description, and some have no other income outside of this. It would be a real pity, methinks, if rising petrol prices meant many disabled people could not venture