Gus Walls is not your inspiration porn.
The International Paralympic Committee hosts
a disability inclusion conference and
more on this episode of the disability news report.
This is the disability news report with host Arthur Aston.
Governor Tim Walls was recently named the
vice presidential pick for current vice president Kamala
Harris as she runs for president of the
United States in the upcoming election in November
at
the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Governor Tim Walls gave his speech and acknowledged his family in the audience.
The camera cut to Governor Walls's son Gus who proudly exclaimed
that's my dad as he cried and clapped his hands.
This video clip quickly began to circulate on
television and social media around the world.
The conversation about the video clip quickly took a
turn to what is often described as inspiration porn.
Yes, Gus Walls,
the 17 year old son of Governor Tim Walls has a
diagnosis of A DH D and a nonverbal learning disability.
However,
his diagnoses of A DH D and a nonverbal
learning disability don't have any importance to this story.
I would like to go back to the term that was just mentioned. Inspiration porn.
Inspiration,
porn is a term that was coined by disability rights advocate Stella Young in 2012.
It is used to describe how the media objectifies
people with disabilities to uplift the able bodied population.
While you may not have heard the term inspiration porn
before you have most definitely seen the news story.
Headlines,
girl who suffers from down syndrome gets invited to the prom
or wheelchair
bound athlete scores winning basket in high school basketball game
or even young adult overcomes disability
challenges to operate successful company.
Disabled people are not suffering from
their diagnosis or overcoming their disability.
They are simply living their lives.
A wheelchair does not bind someone or bound them to one place
in more ways than one.
The wheelchair actually provides an individual with more freedom
to do more things and to be more active
in this story about Gus walls.
His diagnosis became the explanation or the reason
why he responded with tears and excitement.
Gus simply responded with two examples of human emotions.
In that moment at the DNC Gus was simply a child
who was proud of his father and for his accomplishments.
Yes,
it is important to acknowledge disabilities in news stories and to recognize that a
person with a disability may experience a unique set of challenges or barriers.
What is not good is to acknowledge these disabilities and then to make them
their diagnosis. The sole reason why the story is important
here on the disability news report, we encourage you to
celebrate disabilities
and the uniqueness that each disability brings
to a story of an individual's life and the life that they are living
but do not make that the absolute only reason why you are sharing their story.
Our next story comes from Paris,
the IPC and UNESCO to host disability inclusion conference.
The 17th summer Paralympic Games kicked off in Paris, France on August 28th,
4.25 billion people are expected to watch this year's Paralympic Games.
Shortly before the opening ceremony of the Games,
the International Paralympic Committee, the I PC
and the United Nations Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organization UNESCO hosted the
International Disability Inclusion Conference to highlight
the impact of Paris sports.
This conference brought together key stakeholders
from around the world including athletes,
paralympic movement, experts,
government officials and leaders in the private sector
to encourage investment in inclusive sports.
One of the forums of the conference focused on the following themes,
fostering more inclusive societies through Paris sports and physical activity,
accessible infrastructure and equipment,
persons with disabilities,
holders of cultural rights at the
forefront of inclusivity and cultural diversity,
inclusive quality, physical education and play,
breaking down barriers through data driven sports policies and programs.
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place August 28th through September 8th.
This year,
the games feature around 4000 athletes who will
compete in 549 medal events across 22 sports.
When I have conversations about the Paralympic
Games with others in the disability community,
the question that comes up most often is why are the
Paralympic Games not shown in its entirety as the Olympics usually are
the Olympics which took place this year.
July 26th through August 11th had hours of television coverage each day
NBC sent their best television hosts from the Today show, Jimmy Fallon,
Kelly Clarkson and Colin Jost also joined on the broadcasting of the Olympics.
The Paralympics, however, are streaming on Peacock,
which is a paid platform owned by NBC and Comcast.
And they are also shown on the USA network
which is not a cable channel that everyone receives.
The Paralympic Games should be given equal time on television on the NBC network.
Just as the Olympics were shown,
we are keeping up to date on the Paralympic Games as they take
place and we will provide an update on the medal count for team USA
on an upcoming episode of the disability news report.
Her next story is Temple's Institute on
disability launches a new community center.
This story is out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Temple University.
Temple Institute on disabilities launched the tech
community center,
tech
offers workshops and other classes and is also a place for members of
the neighborhood to gather in the
North Philadelphia community surrounding Temple's campus.
The community center educates community members about the latest technology
and advancements used to assist those in the disability community.
The community center offers a technology lending library and the staff members.
There are available to offer recommendations
for what might be most appropriate for
someone who has a disability in search of an assistive technology device.
D stigmatizing the use of assistive technology in the disability
community is a goal of this new community center.
This is a great addition to the Temple University campus and
is an effective way to educate the community about disabilities.
As it is mentioned in the article,
glasses and hearing aids are two common assistive
devices that we hear about quite often.
However,
there are a wide range of other assistive technology devices
that are not known by the public at large,
by Temple and their institute on disabilities.
Taking this step shows that they are committed and they have a desire to make a
change in the way that society views those
who are disabled and use assistive technology devices.
Our last story is ultra
accommodating hotel concept goes beyond
Ada
accessibility,
a new hotel concept design that will go above and beyond
the requirements of the Americans Disabilities Act was recently revealed.
The new hotel named Morgan's Hotel is scheduled to open in 2026 in San Antonio,
Texas.
The hotel will be located near Morgan's Wonderland,
a fully all inclusive theme park that opened in 2010.
The theme park includes a water park and also a camp.
The the
founders of Morgan's Wonderland are designing this hotel
and they are currently in talks with major hotel
brands including Marriott Hilton and the Hyatt to see
which hotel chain will pick up this hotel,
the hotel will have larger guest rooms,
wider hallways and other modifications that will go above and beyond what
is required by the Americans with
Disabilities Act including sensory sensitive lighting.
Hotel staff will also be trained on topics related to disability etiquette,
including training on how to assist with mobility devices.
Having hotels that provide an accessible experience
is so important and very necessary.
A
study conducted in 2022 by Mmgy Global showed that travelers
with mobility disabilities spent $58.2 billion on travel that year.
We look forward to the opening of Morgan's Hotel
and we are so hopeful that other major hotel
chains will begin to make more of their properties
accessible and inclusive for their guests with disabilities.
We thank you for watching this episode of the disability news report.