A Different Way Of Thinking
Disabled on Big Brother
Posted by James Medhurst - 05 August 2008 17:19
One of the earliest of my recruits on Weakest Link was a blind radio producer from Ayrshire called Michael Hughes. He is now nine weeks into his stay in the Big Brother house
In 2004, while I was working as a researcher on ‘The Weakest Link’, the BBC set itself a target that one in fifty of the contestants on its quiz shows should be disabled.
This low figure suggested a box-ticking exercise but it was certainly better than nothing. I played a role in persuading potential contestants that this promise was not too good to be true and one of the ...
You don’t have to be mad to work here…
Posted by James Medhurst - 20 May 2008 16:17
It is not new for political figures to be affected by mental illness – Winston Churchill was famously manic depressive
In the light of the recent carnage of the local elections, it is easy to forget that the present government is one of the most successful in history. In 10 years as the chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown never experienced the economic problems he currently faces as prime minister. However, in a decade which was undoubtedly good for business, the Tony Blair premiership was characterised by an approach that ...
Nowhere to run
Posted by James Medhurst - 17 March 2008 09:54
James Medhurst points out that the purpose of sport is not to create a level playing field but rather to compare like with like, especially within the context of the Paralympics.
The South African runner Oscar Pistorius has been banned from competing in the Beijing Olympics this summer. The reason given is that the ‘blades’ used by the double-amputee in place of his lower legs will give him an unfair advantage over the other athletes. This seems to be a sensible decision to me but not to Pistorius, who intends to challenge it at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in ...
Incitement to Confusion
Posted by James Medhurst - 23 January 2008 09:59
While the government's attitude to disabled people seems contradictory, the media's remains profoundly unsupportive
In a week in which an NHS Trust declined to perform a hysterectomy on a teenage girl with cerebral palsy without her consent, it is tempting to choose as my topic the right to menstruate. The media coverage has been particularly odd with BBC News running the headline “Teenager is refused hysterectomy” as if she had asked for it herself. However, a positive development in Scotland has highlighted another way ...
Making perfect babies
Posted by James Medhurst - 07 December 2007 12:55
James Medhurst turns his gaze on the controversial issue of selective abortion
Just over a month ago, the Commons Science and Technology Committee published its report of recommendations about abortion.
One curiosity of the current law is that most foetuses older than 24 weeks must not be aborted, because they are deemed to have rights but this does not apply to disabled foetuses, even with relatively minor impairments such as cleft palates or even club feet.
The committee concluded that ...
Scientific illiteracy
Posted by James Medhurst - 31 October 2007 13:26
Novel educational techniques such as phonics may be trendy but where is the proof that they do any good?
There is currently a television advertisement in which, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the daughter of Suggs from Madness is revising for her exams. Her brother asks her a question about omega-3 and she complains, “That’s not on the curriculum.” It then goes on to make some extremely dubious health claims about, of all things, fish fingers.
It does not mention the obvious reason why omega-3 is not ...
Looking for work is hard work
Posted by James Medhurst - 24 September 2007 14:53
Being disabled means rarely finding the right job, irrespective of one's potential
Disabled people elicit sympathy in many different ways, not all of which make sense. The fact that someone cannot walk may strike others as intolerable but, for a person who is born without legs, it is simply an unremarkable fact of everyday life. Similarly, problems that I have with social interaction can sometimes be frustrating but, if I am honest, I know that most people feel as insecure about making ...
No place for tradition
Posted by James Medhurst - 30 August 2007 13:08
Nostalgia for dated public transport systems does not make them any more accessible for those with disabilities
The London Underground is the oldest in the world but this also means that it is the most outdated and other cities learn from its mistakes. For example, no designer of a modern underground system would dream of having a Circle Line on which a single signal failure is capable of bringing down the whole network. Nor would they forget to install any air conditioning.
However, nowhere is this backwardness ...
Charities are hamstrung by the law
Posted by James Medhurst - 24 July 2007 10:01
One would have thought in a liberal democracy the promotion of debate and free speech is inherently beneficial, whether one agrees with its content or not
My last blog entry about carers received an unprecedented response, some of which was rather heated. One of the issues was whether charities set up on behalf of carers reflect the interests of carers themselves.
This is a familiar debate for many groups and, among disabled people, it can be particularly severe, because, rather than the two main charities which exist for carers, there appear to be hundreds.
...Anyone care about carers?
Posted by James Medhurst - 28 June 2007 15:37
They talk a good talk, but do the politicians or anyone else for that matter really care about the carers
One of Gordon Brown’s last acts as Chancellor of the Exchequer was to host a reception at Downing Street to celebrate Carers' Week. He described carers as a “remarkable group in society; a lifeline for millions of people who rely on their compassion and dedication,” and few would disagree.
Unlike, say, single mothers or illegal immigrants, even the most virulent right-wing commentator would find it difficult to write a ...
Can things only get better?
Posted by James Medhurst - 29 May 2007 09:02
History isn't necessarily a tale of unremitting progress...
It seems deceptively obvious that the lives of disabled people have improved throughout history. After all, the ancient Spartans killed disabled babies at birth while now there are only a few rogue academics, such as Peter Singer, who advocate this brutality.
However, it is too easy to fall into the ‘Whig’ approach to history, to regard it as a tale of remitting progress leading inexorably to the present day, ...
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Posted by James Medhurst - 01 May 2007 11:12
When will Hollywood and the rest of the arts world get the message about catering for disabled people?
When the Oscar-winning film ‘Million Dollar Baby’ was released, it was met by protests from disabled people across the world, as a result of its shocking and highly controversial ending.
Many of them boycotted the film and urged others to do the same. Others were aware that they might be criticised for protesting about something they had not seen and so they clenched their stomachs and went to watch ...
Designer labels?
Posted by James Medhurst - 03 April 2007 10:32
James Medhurst examines an increasing tendency to seek diagnosis and self-diagnose conditions like autism
In his latest documentary series called ‘The Trap,’ shown on BBC2, Adam Curtis made some remarkable claims about the increasing self-diagnosis of psychological impairments alongside his equally imaginative ones about the benign effects of state bureaucracy.
He suggested that while, in the 1960s, sociologists and self-designated ‘radical’ psychiatrists rejected diagnostic categories as tools of oppression, people in the twenty first century are now oppressing themselves by embracing these labels ...
Lies, damned lies etc.
Posted by James Medhurst - 20 March 2007 14:16
How do you measure the progress of disability equality?
The chances are you have never heard of Anne McGuire, who is Minister for Disabled People, in the Department for Work and Pensions. The position has existed for more than thirty years and has been occupied by John Major and William Hague, among others, but has made surprisingly little impact.
The most dramatic event in its history probably came in May 2005, when Liz Blackman was seemingly appointed to ...
Disability Kink
Posted by James Medhurst - 01 March 2007 12:03
Sex, disability and prostitution
It’s time to talk about sex. I make no apologies for this. One of the problems that arises when discussing disability in relation to sex is that subcultures exist in which members of some impairment groups, such as wheelchair users, amputees, or people with restricted growth, are treated as fetish objects. A common reaction is to be disgusted and hence to regard any attempt to broach the topic of disabled ...
