International Perspectives on Disability

When we first got to Galway I noticed that there were a lot of life ring stations along the water. I found this interesting because I am not used to seeing them (at least not as many as I saw in Galway) along water areas close to me. I noticed on the side of the boxes that held the life rings, there was a sticker that had the Samaritans number along with statement that read something like “talk to us”. Continue reading Observations →

I found the topic of forced treatment very intriguing today. Based on Jolijn’s presentation today, I would categorize the U.S. as being a country that uses forced treatment. When I first heard Jolijn use the term forced treatment, I thought that it must be something terrible. Continue reading Forced treatment →

Before going to Dublin Castle, a group of us stopped in a restaurant to get a burrito. I took pictures, but for some reason they will not upload so I will do my best to describe them. On the wall was a giant poster with a man dressed in a woven poncho with a donkey. At the top of the poster, it read “Mexican word of the day: Wheelchair.” Continue reading One step forward, two steps back →

So far, I feel like there is a lot of thought put into making public transportation friendly to those with disabilities, but the thoughts have not been fully formed/carried out. For example, there is a space on the bus for someone who uses a wheelchair. Unlike the UMass busses, this space is completely open with no seats that fold up and down. Continue reading Public transportation →