Introduction
Disability issues are something that I am passionate about.  Here you’ll find my many opinions about disability rights and also reviews and suggestions of romances and other books you might enjoy that feature main characters who have physical disabilities. Check out the Current Fiction page to see my own contributions to the genre! Come on in and enjoy 🙂
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Progress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
Nice new website …
How about a RSS feed for the blog ???
cf
Thank you! I will look into that
I just added a link to the RSS feed on the right. Thanks for the idea!
Just found your site through your comments on mine, much appreciated! I’ve added a link to your site here in my blogroll. Cheers!
Cool! Thank you 🙂 I really enjoy your writing style so much, I’m looking forward to going back through all your posts.
Where do I find Carl Thompson´s writings?
Oh, you’ll love his writing! He has a blog at http://www.workingatperfect.com
Our government has just introduced a bill where approx. 40% of people currently on a disability pension will be forced off it to go on unemployment benefit,which doesn’t pay as much. Anyone with a disability or who cares for someone with one, knows the constant cost of treatment, equipment etc. Unfair…
Yes, I’ve heard a lot about this on Twitter. Do you know what can be done? Do you have a suggested action?
Spend any time in a wheelchair, and you will notice what a non-person you become. Few will even make eye-contact with you, as if your disability might be contagious.
If you are wise, you tell yourself that often it is because they do not to be thought of as staring, or they do not know what to say … most are just uncomfortable by the mere looking at you.
The same phenomenon occurs if you should be a maintenance worker with a mop or broom in your hand — no eye contact with inferiors, you know.
All of us are disabled … just in different areas, not all of whom are visible. Great blog, Roland
That’s exactly my view: All of us are disabled in different areas. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I disagree with Roland. As a lesbian/dev/realized wannabe, many, many more people make contact with me. I have literally hundreds of friends, whereas before, I had maybe twenty. I’m now, as a full time wc user, happier and much more popular than when I was AB. I LOVE getting up each morning, going to school and then work, hanging out, shopping, et cetera, in my chair. It is fulfilling to me, I only wish I had decided on this course of action when I was twenty, and not the old bitch that I am at forty. Keep writing!
😀 Happy to see you here, my dear!
It’s interesting how every person has a different relationship with wheelchairs and disability. I wonder how much the experience of using a wheelchair is colored by one’s own feelings about wheelchairs.
It seems like, if you love them and they make you feel confident and happy, then you’ll naturally have an easy time connecting with people when you’re using one. Maybe? It’s an interesting question. I have seen some wheelchair users who are so charming that it doesn’t seem to slow them down at all, and others who can’t get people to treat them like human beings.
Ruth, it seems I’ve been a dev since I was five or six. I was into casts, which lead me, ultimately into self-casting full time three years ago. Besides the casts themselves, I want the effect that casting does, namely atrophied muscles. Since I was ten, I have wanted to have “stick” legs. I didn’t want to be paralyzed per se, but wanted the visual effects that SCI brings. I didn’t want to mess with catheters and pressure sores. Casting seemed like the best vehicle to reach my goal.
Before my chair, I was unnoticed by most, and I liked it that way, maybe because I knew I was different. Society had told me a million times that homosexuality was wrong, so I withdrew. Now, being disabled, in my mind I have “blossomed”, and become the person I should have been all along. WCs have never bothered me, but rather turned me on, including having an orgasm, in public, brought on by seeing and conversing with a sexy para! It is very interesting what arouses women.
BTW-it’s great to be here. It’s comforting to me. Thanks so much, Ruth.
Interesting! I must admit I have almost no inclination towards pretending myself, but I have noticed a lot of cast videos on YouTube and something about the bondage of it is quite sexy to watch. It seems like you really thought about it in a practical way, to find a way to get atrophy without catheters and sores!
It is interesting what turns people on, particularly women. It seems like women’s sexuality is much less straightforward than men’s. Perhaps because we have society pressuring us to be “good girls” and repress sexual desire, so it comes out in strange ways. I can’t imagine how much more difficult it must be when those sexual urges are for other girls and the pressure that you must have felt to hide that.
Ruth, thanks for the words of encouragement. It means a lot to me. I don’t classify myself as a pretender any longer, although I did when I was casting. Since last May, when I removed my pair of SLCs for the last time and exchanged them for a pair of AFOs and flats, I think of myself as a realized wannabe. I think of it as the pinnacle of my being, and it’s brings me so much happiness and joy, that I don’t want it to ever change.
About being a lesbian, I never really thought of it as pressure. To me it was the way I was , much deeper than those that chose alcohol or drug abuse, or the ever-popular hairstyle/hair color that seemed to dominate the thoughts of now middle-aged women. I never felt much peer pressure to get a date with a guy, and I loved the Girls Night Out every weekend.
Please keep up with the dev stories, for both our sakes.
Cami
I appreciate this chance to learn more about you, thank you for sharing. If, by the way, you would like a more private conversation, my email address is ruthmadison82@yahoo.com I’m really happy to hear that you are feeling happy and at peace with where you are now.
I will definitely continue with the stories! 🙂 Even though I write about men, I hope you still enjoy them!
Hey babe is me, ParaPrincess x cheers for the kind words on my blog, I’ll never be you or Annabelle as i tend to type exactly what I think haha x I’m still flustered over last night and he has been texting in Polish. The translation came back, and well, wow. Ha xx
Hi! ;D I’m thrilled to have you here. Your story was super hot, and even better it was real. I think your style of writing things in the flow as they happened is great and I’m sure you must have lots of guys eagerly reading your posts. lol. I’ve been reluctant to comment on your blog just because I know I’m not really the intended audience, but hec, I enjoy it! Texting in Polish? How sexy is that?
Hi Ruth,
I just stopped by to say I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blog Award, you’ll see why if you follow the link: http://tgunwriter.blogspot.com.
best
F
Wow! Thank you, Francine. That is so sweet of you.
Hi Ruth,
I suppose you’re about the second writer I’ve come across to speak on this topic. Not sure if you’re familiar with Laura of http://www.findcatharsis.com but she is also a writer and mother who speaks on this issue.
I used to be a teacher for students with special needs, so I may be able to contribute a little to the subject, as well as learn something new. Like, I wasn’t aware of this disability/unemployment benefits concern or bill that was passed. I suppose what interests me along this area are the elderly who are limited in some capacity. So, I appreciate your passion and the forum you’ve created to express it.
Thanks so much! I have not heard of Laura, I will go and check it out. I have a bit of an unusual spin on these things, as I’m sure you’ll see, but my first priority is equal treatment for people regardless of disability. I’m a hippie at heart: peace, love, and tolerance.
Hi Ruth,
It’s great to see people becoming more aware of disabilities and I am about to start my own novel with a physically challeged heorine.
I am cerebral palsied so have first hand knowledge about all the obstacles she may need to overcome.
Keep up the good work.
Very cool! If you’re looking for a publisher, I run a small press (mainly focused on e-sales) for books with characters who have physical disabilities (may eventually expand into other types of disability too). We could really use a book with a heroine with a disability! Check out http://www.devlovepress.com
Hello,
I just discovered that the movie “Prelude to Happiness” (1972) is now available in the entirety (clips had been available previously) on YouTube. I was acquainted with the man who wrote the scrip and produced the film, and dated the woman main character. The film was shown extensively in Europe, but had poor distribution in the US. The writer complained to me that the director just didn’t understand what the story was about, and lost some of the relevant aspects. You should look it up and provide a review.
Whoops, Missed hitting the ‘t’ on “script.” Why is the subject better accepted in Europe than in the US? Is the Puritanical view of disability so ingrained that no one is permitted to present it accurately? With CGI getting better in movies, some foreign movies are including major characters as amputees. See “Rust and Bone” and “L’angeline.”
Comments please.
Hello again,
Whoops again. The correct French film name is “L’orpheline.” It is in French with English subtitles. Look up the trailer on Imdb.
I recently discovered a website disabilitychatcity.com that has the image of a man in a wheelchair and his girl hovering behind. The picture might inspire several stories. The website is a chat platform.
Hello, after a long time,
Just to make you be aware that the website http://www.halcyonbooks.tumblr.com has finally been launched. There is a lot of recent discussion about devotees there. Please publish this notice on your other sites. Comments needed.