Weekly Linklove for 02/18/2011

A day early, because I will be leaving for a week-end at my boyfriend’s at 5:00 PM, here is this week’s Linklove.

s.e. smith at this ain’t livin’: Cuteifying Disability:

Cuteification of disability was once championed and pretty widely used, to get people to be more accepting of people with disabilities and to enlarge ideas about accommodation and needs. We aren’t disabled, we’re “special needs.” We aren’t handicapped, we’re “handicapable.” Etc. But I think it’s time to move
beyond cuteification of disability when it comes to neutral language used to refer to disability in general, because it has a chilling effect when it comes to talking about disability; cuteification is associated with “childishness” and as a result it tends to create the idea that children are the only disabled people (or the only ones worth caring about) and it contributes to the idea that it’s acceptable to talk down to and patronise people with disabilities of all ages, because we’re cute and defanged and nonthreatening.

William Peace at Bad Cripple: The Human Body: Can Disability Be Cool?:

When I think of my wheelchair I think of one thing: indispensible. I can assure you crawling is not an efficient means of locomotion. I cannot go far on the rare occasion when my wheelchair has a mechanical problem. I firmly believe wheelchairs need to be rugged in the extreme. When I get a wheelchair frame on the day it arrives I drop it out a third story window. If it survives the fall it is good to go. I have high end hubs and wheels. I have top notch upholstery.
I change all parts that experience wear and tear on a regular basis. When I travel or go out on an errand I always carry a spare tire, inner tube and pump. I am in fact entirely dependent upon my wheelchair for locomotion. This dependency does not bother me one iota. I am very attached to my wheelchair. I love that it empowers me. It makes my life go. I feel at home in my wheelchair and there is a bond that is hard to describe. I was thinking about this
bond as well as how frail the human body is this weekend. I am coming to the end of my journey with my wound. Within a few weeks or at most a month or two I will be up and around. I have found myself thinking that I want to in some way remember this time in my life. One way to remember is to modify your body. In a way I have already done that: I have grown a beard. I look like a paralyzed Santa Claus. My hair has little grey but my beard is white. But I was thinking of something more. Perhaps a tattoo or some other permanent mark. Perhaps some intense experience. I want to do something to remind me of this dark time. And if you think I am exaggerating I suggest you spend six months in bed in your own home.

Christy Matta at Dialectical Behavior Therapy Understood: Does Yoga Reduce Anxiety?: A Study on GABA Levels:

So many people who practice yoga expound on its virtues. I’ve heard many talk about the physical and emotional benefits of yoga. People say it makes them feel good, calm, peaceful. Since it’s a practice that’s been around for thousands of years and the people who practice it certainly tend to look healthy and relaxed, I was curious if there was research to back up the benefits I often hear about.

Sarah Mehta at Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union: At Guantánamo: Enough Already:

Yesterday morning, I watched Sudanese detainee Noor Uthman Muhammed plead guilty before a military commission in Guantánamo as part of a sealed plea deal capping his sentence at an undisclosed number of years. Noor Uthman Muhammed’s case is the only war crimes prosecution currently before the Gitmo military
commissions. He is accused of training recruits at the Khalden terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and providing additional logistical support to the camp’s operations between 1996 and 2002.

Margarita Tartakovsky at World of Psychology: The Birth of the Mental Asylum:

The first hospital in the U.S. opened its doors in 1753 in Philadelphia. While it treated a variety of patients, six of its first patients suffered from mental illness. In fact,
Pennsylvania Hospital would have a pivotal impact on psychiatry.

Daniel Kennedy aat ZDNet: The Country of Facebook Recognizes Civil Unions:

The 600 million user social networking behemoth made a small change to its “Relationship Status” drop down box today, and in doing so recognized “In a civil
union” and “In a domestic partnership” as valid choices in the way one can report their personal relationship on the site.