A few years ago, Susan Windley-Daoust reached out to me about reviewing a chapter in her forth coming book Theology of the Body, Extended: The Spiritual Signs of Birth, Impairment and Dying. For obvious reasons, she was interested in my thoughts on the chapter on “The Theology of the Impaired Body”. You can read a few excerpts and some of … Read More
Limbless Farming
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude” -Scott Hamilton. This video about Chris Koch, a farmer at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, CA, proves what I’ve said here many times: we’re only really limited by our own lack of imagination, determination and ingenuity. Life with a disability is not as awful as you think. The first step, Chris … Read More
World Down Syndrome Day Quick Takes
Today is World Down Syndrome Day, a day to celebrate the lives of those who have an extra 21st chromosome and raise awareness about the “good news” about DS This year, since I’ve written so much about this topic already, I thought I’d just offer a round-up of some of my favorite articles/posts over the years: World Down Syndrome Day … Read More
What’s Your Problem?
Sport doesn’t care what your problem is: This is a great promo from Samsung for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, which are still going on right now. Who says you can’t be just as active and athletic with a disability? Yes, it takes a lot of hard work (does it not when you’re able bodied?). But, you’re only really “limited” … Read More
Wheelchair on the Runway
At this year’s NYC Fashion Week, Carrie Hammer made headlines by breaking ranks with her fellow designers and casting “real women” as her models instead of the 5’10” bean-pole professional models you typically see strutting their stuff on the catwalk. One model in particular got everyone’s attention. Dr. Danielle Sheypuk, a Brooklyn-based clinical psychologist and 2012’s Miss Wheelchair New York, … Read More
An Olympic Champion’s Greatest Inspiration
Admittedly, I have not watched a lot of this year’s Winter Olympics. I’m more of a summer games kinda gal, myself. But an image image from the games this week captured my attention, as did the story behind it. On Monday Alex Bilodeau won gold in the freestyle skiing moguls competition — and he shared much of the spotlight with … Read More
I’ve Had a Difficult Life — And That’s Okay
Lizzie Velásquez is a 24 year old American woman who was born with a very rare disease (shared by only one other person in the United States) that doesn’t allow her to gain weight. She has been bullied most of her life, including being labeled the “World’s Ugliest Woman” in an internet video that received over a million views and … Read More
Audio: On Our Culture’s Love/Hate Relationship With Babies
Does our culture have a love/hate relationship with babies? Is Captain James T. Kirk captive to the culture of death? And what does Pope Francis mean by an “ecumenism of blood?” I had a good time talking about all of the above on the Mike Allen Show yesterday with the ever-awesome Jason Hall, who is the associate director of the … Read More
$50 Million Awarded in Wrongful Birth Case
Two weeks ago I told you about a New Zealand couple who won an appeals court ruling in their “wrongful birth” lawsuit. Shortly after publishing that story, a couple in Washington State was awarded $50 million, the state’s largest ever individual award, for a wrongful birth case. Knowing that there was a 50-50 chance that their offspring would be born … Read More
Another Wrongful Birth “Victory”
In New Zealand: parents of a child with spina bifida could receive an ACC payout after successfully arguing they were denied the chance to abort their daughter. Doctors missed signs of the defect in the foetus during a 20-week scan. The couple said they would have terminated the pregnancy had they known the daughter, who was born in 2007, had … Read More