And still they come: yet more BADD highlights

I've definitely reached the conclusion that the overall calibre of BADD entries has been higher this year than in previous years. I mean, I'm really not somebody who promotes for promotion's sake, or in some ghastly and unsubtle attempt to make new friends. In other words, every single BADD entry listed in this and my two previous posts is one I consider to be important: one which has fully met the BADD objective of raising awareness of the societal evil which is disability discrimination.


These are (to me) the pick of the crop, but there are many more entries which are well worth reading. Almost everyone who has contributed this year has given serious thought to the message they want to put across. It's not at all unusual to find opening paragraphs which indicate that the author has vacillated for days, or even weeks, over the relative merits of several important subjects. I am pleasantly surprised to see that there are very, very few contributors this year who have confused writing about disablism with simply writing about having an impairment.


Although I have always done my best to be supportive of it, BADD was not my idea. It is the brainchild of the wonderfully-perceptive Goldfish, as bright and shining light in the blogosphere as anyone could ever wish to encounter. She should be very proud.


Anyway, moving on from the mushy stuff, this will be the last of my highlights posts unless there are some truly exceptional late entries. I don't know whether these posts been helpful to anyone but, if nothing else, I trust that they will have at least made the authors of the entries conscious that they have been read and appreciated.


So. My final list of goodies:-



Jade Lennox on the bizarre belief of programme designers that accessibility standards are only relevant to external customers -“It isn’t accessible because it’s for internal audiences”. (It is probably better not to get me started on the average IT bod's understanding of the requirements of disabled customers. Suffice it to say, much of what Jade says had resonance for me.)


Schooling Inequality: this is an absolute joy. It's not every day you get to witness someone's epiphany about what disability actually is.



What can you say about the Unreliable Witness? Even by his own self-imposed high standards. he's outdone himself with this satirical piece.



Insane Journal: because the Princess Bride reference kicks serious bottom. And I’ll be quoting it from now on. In perpetuity. And quite possibly ad nauseam.



Ashlupa. Downright chilling. But, oh, what a battle cry!



JayAngel on health privilege. This may just be the single most important post of BADD 2008. It is hugely powerful. I want to grab non-disabled people by the scruff of the neck and hold their heads close to the screen until they have not just read, but understood, what Jay is saying. Please read it. At least once.

The Editor