Blog 38…October, 2014
Early in my life as a physiotherapist, I worked with children
with a variety of physical disabilities. It was the beginning of a growing
movement, led in many cases by the people directly involved, to make room for
those amongst us who have difficulty with curbs, stairs and heavy doors. So, architectural accessibility became a common concept and the law in many
areas. People who are
less than fully mobile are now able to enter most schools, theatres, public
buildings and transportation. The effect of these moves
over the past five decades means that we're accustomed to seeing people who use a
variety of aids to get around and we take it for granted that they pursue many of the same activities as we do, although with some difficulty.
There have also been creative initiatives both large
and small, institutional and personal to develop insight into the world of
those of us who are disabled in some way…and we're all less than Olympic
performers in many areas, especially as we age.
In the film Margarita With
a Straw, director Shonali Bose introduces Laila, a young woman in Delhi
who faces many issues because of her athetoid cerebral palsy. Her curiousity
about life in general and her sexuality in particular lead her to study in New
York where she explores both with a young woman she meets at an Occupy demonstration. Khanum is a blind
activist, half Pakistani, half Bangladeshi. It’s a touching story, hitting on four delicate topics at once without being preachy. It
bothered me a bit when I heard that the actress who plays Laila is not
disabled, but she’s very effective and the film’s message is clear…and that’s
why they call it acting.
Closer to home, a young
Welcome to Paradise.
They kicked off the opening of their Rose Centre for Love, Sex
and Disability with a fashion show at Buddies in Bad Times recently…called I’m
Sexy and I Know It., featuring models both with and without disabilities.
Dancer/choreographer Michelle Silagy has decided to use dance with
different bodies as the topic for her MFA thesis. Her interest in the notion that dance isn’t exclusively done with the
lower limbs began when she was doing some work in a hospital and was
unexpectedly presented with a dance class of patients in wheelchairs.
The more we stretch our ideas about what’s acceptable for our body
size, shape and capabilities, the more comfortable we’ll all be with ourselves living together on our planet. And we need all the comfort we can get these days.
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