BLOOM media roundup
By Louise Kinross
I recently received some amazing photos from the Ravn family and couldn't resist sharing one. Eric, the Bumblebee transformer on the right, was an inpatient here following a stroke several years ago.
Last week I was part of a research team here at Holland Bloorview that presented our findings on a six-week narrative training group for our inpatient nurses. The group met for 90-minute sessions to read and discuss patient narratives and write and draw about their work here with children and families and their own healthcare experiences. Data from pre- and post-interviews showed an increase in empathy for clients and families, for coworkers on the nursing team, and for individual nurses themselves.
Here are some recent media stories related to disability, parenting and health. If we missed a good one, please share the link in the comments. Thanks!
York University prof denied permanent residency over son's Down syndrome CBC News
A Costa Rican family is leaving Toronto after three years here because immigration officials say their son's Down syndrome is too much of a burden on taxpayers.
Fiction, like life, tells disabled people their lives have less value The Guardian
In real life, marginalized people are often valued less...For example, it may be legal to pay disabled people below minimum wage, sometimes only pennies an hour. disabled people may even be barred from receiving organ transplants or other life-saving medical care.
In assisted dying, remember this: We are all fragile The Globe and Mail
Jean Vanier: "With...the right to die, we must take care not to obscure or forget the innate dignity of those who are vulnerable or reinforce an ideal that only an independent life has purpose and value."
When doctors should say I don't know The Atlantic
"By the time you get to med school, you're already primed to think that everything is about a right answer. Then what happens when you get into the practice of medicine is, it's a lot of fuzzy variables."
'Imbeciles' and 'illiberal reformers' The New York Times
Forcefully sterilizing young women with disabilities was once considered the progressive thing to do in America.
Rethinking the rules for police interrogations Undark Magazine
A 2004 review of the literature on false confessions found that youth and those with intellectual disabilities were most susceptible.
A push for less expensive hearing aids The New York Times
The average price of $2,500 for each of two explains why only 20 per cent of those with hearing loss wear hearing aids.
Designing a modern home with accessibility in mind The Globe and Mail
"All of these lessons here, I keep thinking I can design smaller houses that are totally accessible for people who don't want to leave their neighbourhoods."
Where are the disabled actors? The Independent
Prejudice will not end with a few bit parts in films and soap opera. But film and television can play a role breaking down bigotry, helping to bring a segment of society in from the shadows and giving hope to the next generation.
People with learning disabilities are still not recognized as fully human The Guardian
Sara Ryan: "My son Connor Sparrowhawk's death in a Winterborne View-type unit was preventable. We don't need a commissioner to enforce pledges on better treatment. Just treat everyone as a human being."
