(no subject)

[lollardfish]

My upcoming talk - Local article.

This is not exactly what I am saying, but it's pretty close. I'm not very good at being interviewed yet.

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i haven't been able to figure out what to say about this.

i am pleased that you are going to be giving this talk.

i think that your point that we need to spend more time thinking about what the *lives* of people with disabilities are like is a very good one, and one that i've agreed with for years.

the fact that it's the pro-life group sponsoring you makes me itch.

and i remain firmly pro-autonomy and pro-choice. i am also fond of nico and eamon and pleased that they're around.

This is my two cents and some, Not David's

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

The fact that it's sponsored by a pro-life group also makes me itch.:)

The issue for me isn't about whether or not people are making choices I agree with. It's about getting all the facts before making those choices. I just don't think most people actually know what various disabilities entail or not. We were clueless when our son was born and I would have been clueless had I found out during the pregnancy, but I hope I would have at least looked into what to expect.

There seems to be a couple of statistics thrown around that between 80-90% of people who find out their child has Downs abort. That seems like a really high number. I would love to have that number go down because people aren't as scared or uninformed. Fear is a lousy decision making tool.

And any amount of education of the general public of what life is like for people with disabilities has to be useful. People can be fantastic no matter what difficulties they have to work with. The more people realize that the better life gets for my son and others like him.

Ok. I have to stop. I could go on forever. I apologize.:)

Re: This is my two cents and some, Not David's

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

yes. more information is a goodness. and when all the information being provided is a short shock of bad news and then no information about how to deal with that and how to have a good life anyhow, well, then you end up with peter singer who i happen to find repugnant. um, if you're not familiar with peter singer, don't read him right now, i can give you a quick synopsis.

Re: This is my two cents and some, Not David's

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I know Peter Singer mostly through reading Michael Berube's rebuttals.

I'm actually going to assign both some of Singer and Berube to a class next year.

Re: This is my two cents and some, Not David's

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i have a limited capacity for reading things that make me furious, so i have not read much of his stuff. but i used to visit a household full of vegetarian atheist philosophers, areas he is known to write in, and they'd have magazines with articles by him in them.

Re: This is my two cents and some, Not David's

[thickie.livejournal.com]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's about making a choice. An educated choice. So you don't say, "If I only would have known.", or "Geez, I didn't know that."

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I have some things to say about Down syndrome to people who support reproductive freedom (as I do). I have different things to say to people who support the legal abolition of abortion (as I do not). I am going to try to say them together. It ought to be a challenge.

I can't say that my key points are really emphasized in the piece, but it's as likely my fault as the reporter's. I'm glad you got - "i think that your point that we need to spend more time thinking about what the *lives* of people with disabilities are like is a very good one, and one that i've agreed with for years." - as that's pretty much what I want to stress.

The talk

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

I think getting people talking about this topic, including getting people talking whose opinions you might not agree with, is one of the best things you (or anybody in your situation) can possibly get started. Please let us all know how the talk (and feedback from the talk) work out.

Nate

Re: The talk

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I will. I'm working really hard on writing it still.

Re: The talk

[thickie.livejournal.com]

How did it go? I just realized it was last night.

Re: The talk

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Very well, thanks.

Re: The talk

[thickie.livejournal.com]

That's GREAT! Mazel tov.

Re: The talk

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Big audience? Good Q & A?

K.

Re: The talk

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

25 people, solid Q&A. I have a video but don't really want to podcast it or anything as it is shot from an odd angle and I'm shy. The question is where to take it now, but that's not a question I can consider until April.