Susannah Breslin points us to disability policy attorney Mark Siegel and his blog, The 19th Floor. Mark also happens to have spinal muscular atrophy. After guestblogging on her Reverse Cowgirl blog, Mark was urged by Susannah to write a blog post about the relationship between blogging and disability. Here's an excerpt from "Making Accessible Minds." It's wonderful.
Here's why I think blogging can be great tool for PWD. Having a disability can be a truly isolating experience. When you consider that around 70% of PWD in the U.S. are unemployed and a significant portion are living at or below the poverty line, it's easy to see why we still dwell at the margins of society. Blogging can be a way for a person to shout out their existence to the world; to give people other views on disability that have nothing to do with a telethon or a human interest story on the local news. Blogging can be as real and as honest as the author wants it to be. Blogging can be a way to fight the loneliness that plagues every human being, not just those with disabilities. So as big companies like AOL start to deliver blogging to the masses, I hope they remember to make those tools accessible to everyone. And I hope broadband becomes more affordable for everyone. And I hope people with disabilities are encouraged to share their stories.
