Tag Archives: disability

Bill Introduced To Help Military Sexual Assault Survivors Get Disability Benefits

Jessica WakemanFebruary 14, 2013 //
Marine To Fox News
female Marine photo
Sexual assault should not be part of her job. Read More »
Military Sister
My brother joined the armed forces. Read More »
A Soldier's Thoughts
women in combat
An ex-soldier on lifting the ban on women in combat. Read More »
woman soldier

Yesterday afternoon, two Democratic politicians introduced the Ruth Moore Act, a bill to support former service members who survived sexual assault in the military. Veterans Affairs has long rejected disability claims of military sexual trauma (MST) for troops who were raped by colleagues and now need assistance. According to the Service Women’s Action Network, only one in three claims of PTSD from MST were approved by the VA between 2008 to 2010, presumably because the threshold was too high for these survivors to been seen as eligible.    Keep reading »

Frisky Mail Bag: How To Write About Disabilities

Jessica WakemanOctober 8, 2012 //

Last week in Today’s Lady News, I posted about a man in Connecticut who had his sexual assault conviction overturned by a court. Richard Fourtin, Jr. had raped a woman with severe cerebral palsy; she cannot speak and has little body movement. The sexual assault conviction was overturned on the grounds that it could not be proven she refused consent. You can read more about the specifics of the case here and here.

After the post ran, I received an email from a reader, who asked to go by the name Les, regarding the language I used in reference to people with disabilities. For example, I wrote “mental disability” instead of “intellectual disability,” which Les explained in the preferred phrasing.  I was unaware of the language disability rights advocates suggest us journalists/bloggers use, so I found the email to be really educational. I asked her permission to print her email as a “Letter To The Editor.” You can read it after the jump! Keep reading »

Miss Montana Alexis Wineman Could Be The First Miss America With Autism

Jessica WakemanOctober 8, 2012 //
Alexis Wineman

Meet Alexis Wineman, 2012′s Miss Montana who is headed to the Miss America pageant this January. This year, Alexis will truly be unlike all the other pageant competitors: she was diagnosed with autism at age 11.

Alexis spent her childhood learning to cope with with the effects of autism, including having difficulty socializing with her classmates and taking “everything so literally,” she explained to DisabilityScoop. Performing — like the comedic monologue she’ll perform at Miss America — helped her gain confidence and socialize other people. Now Alexis is now 18 and travels across Montana as the state’s beauty queen teaching kids about developmental disabilities like her own. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I’m A Lesbian Mom

Jaime JenettMay 11, 2012 //
Mother's Day
Everything you need to celebrate mom. Read More »
Lesbian Den Mother
Today's Lady News photo
The Boy Scouts refuse to let a lesbian mother lead her son's troop. Read More »
Obama Supports Gays
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The president comes out in support of same-sex unions. Read More »
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When I think about Mother’s Day, I usually picture a dad in plaid pajama pants destroying the kitchen with his kids in a clumsy effort to make his wife breakfast in bed. There is flour everywhere, kids are enthusiastically beating something in a bowl and Dad is putting a single red rose in a vase. The entourage brings breakfast to Mom, who is leisurely reclining on a mountain of pillows. Soon her kids are nibbling at the pancakes on her tray and her husband tells her she has an appointment for a massage/manicure/facial in a few hours. “Until then,” he says proudly, “you’re off duty.”

Mother’s Day looks a little different in our house. Because our four-year old son has two moms, it’s not always clear who gets special treatment that day. We both work hard all year and could both use a whole day “off.” Keep reading »

It’s Time To Cry: Watch A Deaf Woman Hear For The First Time

Jessica WakemanOctober 2, 2011 //
deaf woman photo
Watch Video

Oh hai. Have you cried yet today? That’s all going to change when you watch this video of a 29-year-old deaf woman hearing for the first time thanks to a hearing implant. Grab a tissue … no, grab two. [YouTube]

Today’s Lady News: Girl Scouts Help Develop A Prosthetic Hand For 3-Year-Old Girl

Jessica WakemanMay 2, 2011 //
  • A Girl Scout troop in Iowa, who calls themselves the Flying Monkeys, helped develop a prosthetic hand for a disabled three-year-old girl named Danielle. Geez, I wonder what kind of badge they earned for that! [The Mary Sue]
  • A straight Republican by the name of Madeleine Koch, age 24, spoke out on against Minnesota’s impending gay marriage ban in this touching video. [Buzzfeed]
  • Osama bin Laden hid behind women — i.e. a female body shield — in the firefight that eventually took his life because he’s classy like that. Really, why not newborn babies? [Reuters]

Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Woman With No Arms Earns Her Black Belt In Taekwondo

Jessica WakemanJune 22, 2010 //
  • Sheila Radziewicz, 32, of Salem, Massachusetts, does not have either one of her arms, but that hasn’t stopped her from earning her black belt in taekwondo! For her black belt test, she had to break wood, kick, punch, and spar. Watch out: she’s also got nunchucks. [Boston Globe]
  • In the wake of gossip blog Gawker’s exposés that American Apparel allegedly hires its employees primarily on looks, the company is allegedly issuing new hires a crazy-strict “confidentiality agreement” that punishes blabbermouth employees with a $1 million fine if they discuss their jobs or Dov Charney’s precious reputation with the media. [Gawker]
  • Finland’s president has appointed Mari Kiviniemi as the country’s second female prime minister. In other news, the United States still hasn’t had a female president or vice president. [AFP]

Keep reading »