BLOOM media roundup
Girl advocate for disabled American Girl doll to write book Kickstarter
Last year Melissa Shang, then 10 (above), got almost 150,000 people to sign a petition asking American Girl to release a doll with a disability. The company hasn't. BOO! So Melissa, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, is moving on to write a book about a middle-schooler with a disability. You can also hear Melissa and her older sister Eva calling for more visibility for girls with disability in the media in this TEDx talk: Why girls with disabilities matter. Rock on sister!
Ode on a stethoscope The New Yorker
How poems and medicine fit together in medical journals. Great quote from a seasoned doctor at the end: 'When you get in the twilight of your career, relationships, connections—with patients, and connections with those who help you care for patients—matter as much as or more than the chart, the medical record, the lab tests,' LaCombe said.
Girl invents Hello Kitty IV backpack for chemo and transfusions The Huffington Post
Kylie Symonds, 11, invents a wearable, portable IV machine for kids receiving chemotherapy or transfusions so they don't have to bother pulling cumbersome IV poles around.
Disabled girl types with nose, opens online store to sell apples Shanghaiist.com
A young woman in Yuncheng, Shanxi province has sold over 350 kilograms of apples from her village over the Internet, using her nose to type and her chin to manipulate the mouse.
We wouldn't accept actors 'blacking up' so why accept 'cripping up?' The Guardian
'When it comes to race, we believe it is wrong for the story of someone from a minority to be depicted by a member of the dominant group for mass entertainment. But we don’t grant disabled people the same right to self-representation.'
Harsh critics in public spaces New York Times Motherlode blog
Blogger David Perry writes about how parents who take kids with disability out in public face constant judgment and prejudice that is isolating.
Trapped in his body for 12 years, man breaks free NPR
Martin Pistorius was a healthy 12-year-old until meningitis took his ability to move and speak. Doctors told his parents he was 'a vegetable' but years later Martin regained the ability to communicate and said he had been aware and understanding.
Teen invents snap-on underwear for people with disabilities The Huffington Post
A girl who had to wear a fixator on her leg which meant she couldn't easily slip her legs into undies designs cool underwear that you put on with snaps.
