ABLE SC, Youth Newsletter

 

August Youth Newsletter Editorial Paralympics TikTok Account Mired In Controversy By Grace Trumpower **Author’s Note: This editorial is about the Paralympics, not the Special Olympics. To learn the difference between the two, click on the following link: What Are the Paralympics vs. Special Olympics?**  In the summer of 2015, my dad took me to the qualification tournament for the Track and Field portion of the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I was amazed. As a person with a physical disability, I always assumed that sports were something that was simply out of my reach, but this event changed that perception forever. I saw wheelchair users racing around the track in neck-and-neck races. A woman with her right leg amputated told me about how Paralympic athletes with running blades could actually run faster than nondisabled athletes! The athletes’ disability pride, interdependence, and good-natured competitiveness stayed with me and now I watch the Paralympics every time it comes on. The Paralympics also shows people who are not familiar with disability what amazing things disabled people can accomplish. For some people, it is their only exposure to the disability community. So imagine my disappointment when I tell you that the official Paralympic TikTok is openly mocking the very athletes it claims to represent. Let’s explore the differences in how Olympians and Paralympians are portrayed.  On the official Olympics TikTok account, a video shows several photos set to inspiring guitar music. An Australian swimmer enters the water in one photo and swims in the next. There is a photo of her hugging her parents and holding up her gold medal. She is portrayed as victorious, passionate, and strong. On the official Paralympics TikTok account, a video shows two men playing table tennis. The first man has a crutch on his left arm, and his opponent has spasticity on one side of his body. The second man dives to block a shot, and a voice sings out “I’m headed straight for the floor” as he completes his dive and crashes to the ground. It is a genuinely spectacular dive that shows the player’s athletic prowess while being largely ignored. And despite the account being run by a former Paralympian, the disabled athletes weren’t even being respected as the tellers of their own stories. Many people wrote comments that implied that they were laughing at the Paralympians, such as “I’m going straight to hell” followed by several laughing emojis. There is a huge difference between people with disabilities joking around amongst themselves and inviting people to laugh with them, and what we see here- nondisabled people treating people with disabilities as objects meant to teach a moral lesson, or even worse, just the butt of a joke. The Olympic account showcases interviews with the athletes, historic moments from past games, and the athletes’ major achievements, with one or two jokes thrown in. Why are Paralympic athletes not afforded the same respect? The athletes playing in both games work their entire lives to become skilled enough to compete on the world stage. English amputee soccer player, Sean Jackson, argues that TikTok has “[turned] them into memes”, according to CNN. The Paralympic account has wasted the opportunity to teach people unfamiliar with disability about unique aspects of disability culture, such as games that are specific to the disability community, like modified boccia, sitting volleyball, and goalball. They could have started a conversation on how the disability justice principle of interdependence encourages teamwork for all athletes, regardless of abilities or type of sport. It could have educated the average person about how to accommodate disabled people without pity, on the field and in day-to-day life. Instead, jokes and poorly fitting audio disrespect the athletes and their amazing feats. A good way to counteract this casual ableism is to tune into the Paralympics wherever you watch sports. Show your support!  To see the videos I reference in this editorial and to read more about the controversy, visit the links below. Paralympics TikTok Account Olympics TikTok Account NPR Article CNN Article Able SC Youth Events Monthly Equip Hangouts The Equip Hangouts occur on the first and third Thursdays of every month from 6-7 PM. The first Thursdays are held through a virtual meeting, and the third Thursdays are hosted in person at the Greenville and Columbia Able SC offices. Equip Leaders and Mentors help empower youth with disabilities ages 13-28 to take charge of their lives, find their unique voice to self-advocate, and engage with their community of peers more fully.  If you have any questions or need help registering, email equip@able-sc.org or call us at 864.235.1421. Registration is required. To register, follow the link below. Meeting dates:  September 5 September 19  Register for Equip Able SC Offers Pre-Employment Transition Services Able SC has partnered with South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation and the South Carolina Commission for the Blind to offer Pre-Employment Transition Services to students in the Midlands and the Upstate. These lessons help students with disabilities ages 13-21 transition between school and the working environment. There are eight curriculum options available to students including career readiness, self-advocacy, and life skills. Lessons are taught over six weeks for 45 minutes each, and students can be taught virtually or in the classroom. Lessons are taught by one of Able SC’s trained Youth Transition Specialists. Teachers are required to register each student and can request to receive reports detailing the attendance and measurable progress of each student, with individual improvement plans made for students who do not meet specific standards. Lessons are updated yearly based on teachers’ suggestions and student data. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of Able SC’s services. For more information on pre-ETS services and to register your students, please visit the website linked below. Pre-ETS Website Virtual Reality and Programming Lessons with SC CATER Starting 08/30/24   Learn to program video games! Starting classes to be certified in Unity Programming. Attend multiple classes to complete your certification starting on August 30th. Registration is required to attend. To register, click on the button below. Register for Unity Programming Certification Classes Disability & Health Equity Movie Screening Join us for a special screening of Fire Through Dry Grass, followed by a talkback featuring Ebony Deloach, Cason Stark, and Marly Saade, all representatives from Able SC and disabled advocates, as well as one of the filmmakers. The talkback will be moderated by Justice Shorter of SeededGround.  This event is for those interested in topics of housing, violence prevention, arts, health, and issues impacting our youth, seniors, and marginalized communities.  Fire Through Dry Grass uncovers in real-time the devastation experienced by residents of a New York City nursing home during the coronavirus pandemic. Co-Directors Alexis Neophytides and Andres “Jay” Molina take viewers inside Coler, on Roosevelt Island, where Jay lives with his fellow Reality Poets, a group of mostly gun violence survivors. Event Details: Monday, September 9 at 2:30 pm Nickelodeon Theater: 1607 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201 This event is free to attend, however, we do ask that you reserve your ticket. There is an option on the reservation to request accommodations.  To reserve your ticket and learn more about the film, please click on the button below.  Register for Fire Through Dry Grass Movie Screening  Spotlight Harriet Hancock Center The Harriet Hancock Center is a resource and community center for LGBTQ people in Columbia, SC. Though they serve the entire community, they have partnered with Able SC to make sure their events are accessible to everyone with a disability who wants to access them. Similar to Able SC’s Equip Hangouts, the Harriet Handcock center offers youth ages 11-17 support and social group meetings known as Youth OUTLOUD. Currently, Youth OUTLOUD meetings are held twice a month at the Harriet Hancock Center, but they are hoping to partner with Able SC to create a fully accessible virtual space. That idea is still in its infancy, but be on the lookout for updates! Youth Resources Electric School Buses for Students with Disabilities  There are more than 7 million students in grades K-12 who have a disability. For many of these students, the bus is the only way they can get to school, and although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that students with disabilities receive equal access to all services offered to students without disabilities, including transportation, many buses are not equipped with the accessibility features that these students need. Students with disabilities report ramps and lifts breaking down often or being very slow. Students in wheelchairs say that the buses often lack a designated wheelchair area, and they often don’t have tie-downs that prevent a wheelchair from moving during transit. Students who use canes or crutches often have to choose between walking up the stairs or standing on a moving lift without seating support- both of which are uncomfortable and unsafe. Students with autism or other sensory sensitivities often cannot cope with the noises, vibrations, and smells of a large diesel engine. Transportation access issues are more common in low-income communities and communities of color,  and as a result, many marginalized students are spending three hours or more on the bus within a school day, and the constant breathing in of fumes can increase a person’s chances of developing cancer, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. Electric school buses are being built from the ground up which means that we have a unique opportunity to create accessible transportation. Experts suggest consulting youth with disabilities directly, and many disabled students shared suggestions that had not been considered before, such as a larger emergency hatch for people with obesity and seat belts made of sensory-friendly fabric. Electric school buses also get rid of the noises, vibrations, and smells of a diesel engine and the exposure to fumes by virtue of being electric. South Carolina is receiving $66 million dollars from the government that is allocated for the building of electric school buses. There are a few of them already on the road and 168 of them will be created within a few years, the third largest number of any state, behind California and New York. You can add riding an electric school bus to the transportation section of your IEP either now or in the near future in some school districts. To learn more about the accessibility of electric school buses and to find out if electric school buses are available or are going to be available in your South Carolina school district, click the buttons below. Electric School Bus Availability Electric School Bus Accessibility Youth-Related Advocacy Subminimum Wage Ends in South Carolina In South Carolina, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, but it used to be legal to pay people with disabilities as little as $0.05 per hour. People with disabilities were segregated from their peers without disabilities in “work activity centers”, or sheltered workshops, where they were made to work for pennies. Able South Carolina worked to pass S.533, the bill to end subminimum wage, and the Employment First Initiative Act, a law that promotes inclusive employment. A task force was created in order to ensure that people subjected to subminimum wage were able to transition to competitive employment alongside people without disabilities, where they make a full wage. Subminimum wage and sheltered workshops are now illegal as of August 1, 2024. Governor Henry McMaster signed S.533 and the Employment First Initiative Act into law on May 23, 2022, but it took two years for subminimum wage to be phased out. Our President & CEO, Kimberly Tissot said of the news, “Today marks a new future for people with disabilities in South Carolina!” To learn more about the end of subminimum wage in South Carolina, click the link below. Learn More About the End of Subminimum Wage in SC Partner and National Events Youth Leadership Forum Able South Carolina and its partners recently held the annual South Carolina Youth Leadership Forum (YLF). YLF is a four-day, three-night experience focused on teaching youth with disabilities leadership skills and self advocacy. This year’s YLF had the most applicants in SC YLF history and a limited number of spots, meaning that the delegates had to participate in and pass an interview in order to be accepted.  At YLF, participants learned leadership skills, such as how to present an elevator pitch and how to exhibit professionalism. They also learned about things like healthy relationships and the importance of voting. Many speakers came to share their insights and Able’s own Michael Hanna and Troy Hall led a session on how to set personal goals. There was also a lot of learning outside of the classroom with staff from Able SC, Walton Options, and AccessAbility sharing advice on how to receive accommodations in school and how to fill out college applications.  Participants learned a lot but they also got to relax and have fun! Participants got to play in video game tournaments at night, and they got to socialize with each other and make new friends during meal times. They played sports in adaptive PE and took an adaptive dance class. When asked to describe YLF in one word, the youth used words like “awesome”, “fun”, “educational”, and “amazing”. One youth described YLF as “a place of camaraderie and union”. YLF was so much fun and we can’t wait for next year’s event! Monthly Sponsor Ready Vets Our sponsor this month is Ready Vets. Ready Vets serves Greer, Greenville, Taylors, and Spartanburg in SC. They are the only locally-owned veterinary clinic that offers same-day appointments. In addition to veterinary care, Ready Pets offers in-house diagnostics and ultrasounds. They know that your pet shows you unconditional love and they want to return the favor by showing great care. Ready Pets treats mild to moderate illnesses and can act as a bridge between your regular vet and a specialty hospital. Ready Vets has supported Able SC’s Youth Programs through a recent donation, demonstrating their dedication to community involvement and fostering future leaders. Upcoming events SC-CATER VR Lab August 30, 2024 in Columbia Equip Hangouts Virtual Hangout: September 5 In-Person Hangouts: September 19 Disability & Health Equity Movie Screening Fire Through Dry Grass Movie Screening Registration Link Nickelodeon Theater, September 9, 2:30 PM Fundable Columbia, SC: Friday, November 15, 2024 Celebrate 30 Years with Able SC! Able South Carolina 720 Gracern Road Suite 106 | Columbia, South Carolina 29210 803.779.5121 | advocacy@able-sc.org Follow Us Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser Unsubscribe or Manage Your Preferences