January - Disability Digest

Disability Digest

The monthly member-only newsletter of

Disability Network Southwest Michigan

January 2016

Poetry Slam: Barrier

This powerful poetry slam about language barriers and inaccessibility was originally written to explain how the poet/artist, Artie Mack, feels as a deaf person constantly having to fill in the blanks while interacting in a hearing world. He realized later that it is much more than that -- it describes language barriers and communication issues not only for D/deaf people, but also people with learning disabilities and people living in countries where the language spoken isn't their native language.

How can I speak a language no one is willing to teach?

How can I teach a language no one is willing to learn?

Commit to Inclusion

Approximately 15% of the world's population experience disability. At all stages of childhood and adolescence, participation in physical activity has a profound impact on growth and development and is an essential element of quality-of-life in childhood. However, children with disabilities are nearly five times less likely to engage in physical activity and have a higher prevalence of obesity compared to their peers without disabilities, increasing their risk of life-altering secondary conditions.

This video was produced for the Commit to Inclusion campaign which advocates for inclusion of children and adolescents with disabilities in all forms of physical activity.

Disability Rights are Human Rights

People with disabilities care about the same issues as everybody else - marriage equality, segregation, healthcare, bullying, living wage, equal education, police brutality and so much more.

"I want us all to be seen as equals, and to have equal participation in our communities, and be seen as equal citizens."

Disability Q & A on Facebook

If you follow us on Facebook, you may have noticed we started an interactive series called " Disability Q & A" - we're takin' the mystery out of disability history!

About once a week we will post a disability-related question on our Facebook page with a link to the answer and more information on the topic. This is a fun way to share information about disability rights. When you see our posts with this icon be sure to put a like or comment on them, or better yet share the post and help spread the word!

Book Club

Wednesday, March 2,
12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. (lunch provided)

Held at BOTH our Kalamazoo and St.Joseph Offices.

RSVP to Dale (269) 345-1516 x123

The Speed of Dark
(By: Elizabeth Moon)

In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Genetic defects will be removed at birth. Lou Arrendale, an autistic adult, is a member of the lost generation, born at the wrong time to reap the rewards of medical science. But then he is offered a chance to try a brand-new experimental "cure" for his condition. With this treatment Lou would think and act and be just like everyone else. But if he was suddenly free of autism, would he still be himself?