Interesting. One of those things you never really think about, until it’s waved in front of your face. Then it’s a “holy crap” moment.

A LEADING domestic violence researcher says studies indicate up to half of all women with disabilities will be subjected to physical or sexual abuse.

Women’s Affairs Minister Hekia Parata will this week launch a new self-help and awareness booklet, Domestic Violence and Disabled People.

The book was produced by the Domestic Violence and Disability coalition.

Coalition member and women’s issues advocate Debbie Hager said the rate of abuse of disabled women was “horrendous”. While a comprehensive nationwide study had yet to be carried out, available research indicated up to half would be affected.

Full article here.

The Cerebral Palsy Alliance of Australia (nee Spastic Centre) certainly seems to think so:

I’m speechless, really. Philip Patston sums it up well, though:

Instead of saying “disabled kids need your help because bureaucracy is inefficient and you might as well make a donation and make your tax dollar go somewhere useful,” some half baked advertising exec has come up with a heart-wrenching diatribe of worrisome, fearful, world-shattering, devastating, agonising testimony from weary parents.

What do you think?

The BBC is reporting that Emirates’ incompetencies left 35 disabled passengers stranded at Dubai International Airport after competing at the IPC in Christchurch over the weekend. It seems like 35 wheelchair users was, well, 35 too many for Emirates!

But it was a quote by British Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson that caught my eye the most, when describing having to be transported by the airport’s one ‘transport’ wheelchair:

“You’re in a chair that’s not your own.

“It’s like being asked to wear someone else’s clothes. That’s what it’s like sitting in another person’s wheelchair.”

I thought it quite aptly encapsulated a feeling I get every time I’m in a similar situation. Interesting.

Anyway, read the full story here if you like.

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Are Auckland’s wheelchair users being taken for a ride by their mobility taxi companies?

Last week, I took a taxi from Auckland Airport to my house. It was a hoist-equipped, wheelchair/mobility taxi. The trip cost me a staggering $120. Thankfully, $40 of the trip was covered by Auckland Transport’s Total Mobility Scheme, and the remaining $80 by The Cerebral Palsy Society’s GetOutThere programme.

However, is the presence of these (admittedly, hugely beneficial) schemes the precise reason for such exorbitant prices? I decided to do a little investigation, and check out how the prices of wheelchair/mobility taxis compare with regular, ‘able-bodied’ cabs.

Check out the results!

It came to my attention this morning that NZ Bus have put in an order for 120 new buses from the UK. “Great!”, I thought, having recently traveled and experienced the wonders of automatic ramps (see video below). Given my well-documented loathing for Auckland bus drivers and their complete disregard for disabled passengers, the idea of automatic ramps (saving drivers the evidently gut-wrenching task of unfolding the ramp themselves) seems like a great idea.

But no. Once again, NZ Bus show blatant disregard for the diverse needs of their traveling public, and order 120 buses with the same old manual ramps. If you think I’m being too harsh, or find my tone unnecessarily disparaging, take a ride on a bus with a wheelchair user.

Or at least, try to. You’ll be lucky if the driver lets you on.

• An example of an awesome, wheelchair-accessible bus with an automatic ramp from my travels in Vancouver:

I was eating brunch at a cafe this morning, and about 10 minutes after I’d settled in, another wheelchair user came through the door. “Huh!”, I thought, noting the relative rarity of this situation. Still, cool.

As we left, the other wheelchair user left the cafe right behind me. As she wheeled away, my Uncle remarked, “It’s wheelchair central out here!”. Now, make what you will of that comment, but it just hit me how strange it was that two wheelchairs in one location was notable, even remarkable. If “wheelchair central” is defined by two wheelchairs, I wonder what you’d call 3 or more? A stampede?!

I guess my point is, it would be nice if 2011 was a year where seeing more than one wheelchair in one place became a regular occurrence, or at least not as noteworthy.

Did you know – at Rhythm & Vines 2010, I was the only wheelchair user there? The only one. Out of 25,000 people. Come on team – let’s get out there and prove we exist!

So I stumbled upon this great blog post by WildKat, entitled 5 Things You Shouldn’t Do When Interacting With a Wheelchair User. It’s a great read, and two of her points in particular rang true for me. So I’ve decided to steal those two and add three more of my own.

Behold: 5 Things You Shouldn’t Do When Hanging With a Wheelchair User

Look, I’m really not sure what to think about the TVC you’ll see below.

I just really resent any primetime imagery (and it was played in primetime) depicting wheelchair users “longing to walk again”. I understand that some would love to return to their lives pre-accident. But as someone that is hugely proud of his contribution to the world’s levels of diversity, and is grateful for the perspective on the world that being a wheelchair user has brought him, watching ads like this makes me cringe.

Like Philip Patston said, “it sets the disability rights movement back 20 years”.

[UPDATE]: Oh yeah, and the music makes me want to throw up.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

This is the final edit of some video I took at the 2010 National Disability Conference hosted by the Health & Disability Commissioner – “Making It Easy To Speak Up”. Tell me what you think!