March for Palestine on the 24th
Two weeks ago a photo was shared online of a family in Gaza. Mariam Al-Amassi and her four young children, Karim, Alma, Rima and Ramiz, are fighting to survive in Gaza. Their home was destroyed by the Israeli army in an airstrike. They have no shelter or safety, and are constantly struggling to find basic […]
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Lit Corner: Disability Representation
Good and honest disability representation can be hard to come by. I often wake up in cold sweats remembering Sia’s 2021 Autistic masterpiece Music (note the sarcasm). Misrepresentation of disabled people in media is often caused by a lack of understanding or demonisation of disability. As a disabled bibliophile, I had almost given up finding […]
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‘Can only have been painted by a madman’: Mental Illness and its Power in Art
Mental illness has often been greatly misunderstood throughout history. Ignorance has fuelled stigma surrounding mental health conditions that sees its sufferers demonised, ignored, and shamed. Despite improvements in education and modern medicine, these damaging misconceptions continue to pervade modern culture and cause irreparable damage to those living with mental illness. However, art has long been […]
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How playing video games made me realise something about my ADHD
Reflecting on my ADHD is something I’m doing more often now that I’m an adult, and I’ve found that a recurring source of grief is when my genuine effort and lofty goals get tangled up with my impulsivity and lack of patience. School assessments, particularly creative projects, are where this typically occurred. I would come […]
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The Ableist Argument for Generative AI
Generative AI has been a hot topic, with many conversations about how it is impacting different communities. A recent example is the generators that power the supercomputers (named Colossus) that train Grok, Twitter’s AI bot, and how they’re slowly poisoning a small, historically Black community in South Memphis, Tennessee called Boxtown. What is happening in […]
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‘You Don’t Look Disabled’: The Struggle for Students with an Invisible Disability
It is no secret that people are infinitely more complex than what meets the eye. It is a near- universal acknowledgement that it is impossible to know the true nature of a person’s life from an outward observer’s perspective. However, despite this recognition, society still fails to recognise the struggles faced by those with an […]
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Why You Should Learn AUSLAN
When I was younger, I connected to writing and reading more than to speech. Despite loving to socialise, at times speaking was more tiring than rewarding. This sparked my desire to learn Auslan. It came from curiosity of how it would be to speak a language that was visual-spatial rather than verbal. Returning to UQ […]
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Disability Pride Month: Why Does It Matter?
This past July marked the 35th anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and subsequent Disability Pride Month. During this month, the disability community celebrates Disabled identity and continues the fight against ableism (discrimination against Disabled people). This battle is increasingly crucial in a world of acute disability social welfare […]
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Autistic in an allistic world
I’m me, everything good and bad that comes with that. I’m autistic, that’s who I am, and I’m proud of that now. I won’t say I’ve always been proud; it’s been a hard journey to get to where I am, a lot of self-hatred and self-doubt, but now I’ve accepted that my autism has always […]
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Shocking: Another Guy Doesn’t Much Like the Metro
The Brisbane Metro has many things: a whimsical theme tune. A hefty price tag. A cooler cousin. What it does not have, I’ve personally discovered, is a reliably pleasant, accessible experience. In my younger and more innocent days upon the first rollout of the Metro last year, when I (an ambulatory wheelchair user) still had […]
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