I’m certainly not the first disabled person to celebrate the X-Men franchise for its positive representation of disability. The central character, Xavier, is a wheelchair free cripple, and while I might wish that they’d used a disabled actor to play…
My memoir, Husbands Should Not Break, is imminent – the editing and typesetting is now complete, and I’m working with the publisher on the cover. I’m happy with the way that it looks, except for one thing. The draft includes…
60 minutes report: http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/curtis-landers/xwf16yz?from I hate watching television reports on spinal cord injury, which normally to follow a predictable two-part pattern. Part one provides pictures of neck braces, helicopters, ventilation machines, and shocked families, all of which is a visceral reminder…
This is a photo of the boys and I at the recent State of origin (clever Elly managed to find it online, and although you need to look carefully, it’s definitely us). It was a great night, especially since the…
The mainstream media is obsessed with the idea that the single most important longing of paralysed people is to walk again. This is apparent even in the way we speak about paralysis – with the able-bodied assumption that a person…
It’s now been 3 ½ years since my accident, and as time marches on, I’ve been trying to make sense of my new identity. My son’s girlfriend, Kate, has only ever known me in my chair. To her, and to…
one of the more common assumptions about wheelchairs is that they are entrapping. You will often hear it said, “you must long to escape that chair?” Or, alternatively, a well-meaning person might make the observation, “every able-bodied person should spend…
My day yesterday involved trains, sex, buses, an ambulance, the emergency department, and CT scans, so it was relatively exciting, and since I’m going to tell you upfront that I’m okay you, there’s no need for you to worry as…
The journey to Voices for Justice last weekend was my first trip away (other than to my parents place) since my accident in 2010 (quite a change for someone used to yearly trips abroad). We spent two days one night…
As a keen Australian viewer of the Paralympic games, I have been struck by the poor performance of the USA team. As of today, the medal count for the Paralympic games is as follows: London Paralympics (Day nine) 2012 Rank…