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Reporter, PinkNews. “US Government Removes Gender Dysphoria from Protected List of Disabilities.” PinkNews, 17 Apr. 2025, www.thepinknews.com/2025/04/17/us-department-of-health-gender-dysphoria-disability/.

The Trump administration, through Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has signed a measure removing gender dysphoria from the protected list of disabilities under US federal law. This ruling aims to block the enforcement of the Biden administration's prior inclusion of gender dysphoria under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The article highlights the "Texas v. Becerra" lawsuit, where Texas and 16 other Republican-led states are challenging the federal government over this issue. While Georgia's attorney general denies questioning the overall constitutionality of Section 504, disability activists and the states' legal arguments suggest the lawsuit seeks to declare the entire law unconstitutional, claiming the inclusion of gender dysphoria, which they argue is a psychological condition unrelated to physical impairment, imposes retroactive burdens on states and violates the spending clause. This directly connects to disability by potentially dismantling foundational protections required for decades and connects to gender by focusing on gender dysphoria as the specific condition being targeted in an effort to weaken disability civil rights law. Advocates express fear and outrage, urging people to support Section 504.

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Class Archive Post 2: Freedom of Expression

Freedom of expression is one of the main issues that people with disabilities tend to face. When telling their stories, they are often forced to censor it because it may seem “too graphic” or “too personal” for society to hear. This stems from those with disabilities being used as simply inspiration porn. Their stories are only heard when it is used to promote something. Whether it be a company looking for charity donations or a brand looking for sales. The stories of the disabled are used to make profit. It is extremely uncommon for a disabled person to have the platform to tell the true turmoil they underwent during their processes. So uncommon, that when they are given the platform, they don’t know what to say or how to say it. People with disabilities have their stories robbed from them. Resulting in them not being able to live their lives and still see themselves and be seen as a person. Frida Kahlo refused for that to be her case. 

Kahlo was a Mexican painter that was left disabled after she suffered from polio as a child and was later in a traffic accident that broke her spine and badly damaged her ribs and pelvis. She was forced to be bedridden due to her injuries. Kahlon refused to let herself become a victim of the traumas she faced and not let it stop her from being a person in society. She found a way to use art to live through her disability and tell her story in her own, unapologetic, way. She painted over 200 self portraits with each of them highlighting her mental, emotional, physical, and social condition. Frida’s determination to not let her disability stop her from being an active woman in society, own her disability, and tell her own story regardless of what the public may say cemented her as one of the most famous disability artists. 

Florida, Disability Rights. Happy Birthday and Happy Disability Pride Month, Frida Kahlo. 6 July 2022, disabilityrightsflorida.org/blog/entry/Frida_Khalos_6_Disability_Themed_Paintings.

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Lorenza Bottner: Gender, Disability, and Art

This post is written chiefly from Julia Curl’s 2022 article for Hyperallergic—a hyperlink included in the citation—the most comprehensive description of Bottner’s life I could find. 

As a child, Lorenza Bottner was electrocuted after climbing a pylon to view hatchlings in a bird’s nest. This resulted in the amputation of both of her arms. Unfortunately, Bottner was then institutionalized in Germany: however, she would choose to go to art school instead of disability education, and while there began identifying as female, although maintaining a fluid gender identity for her remaining life (Curl 2022). 

Lorenza created "an impressive, multidisciplinary body of work," spanning "painting, photography, performance art, drawing, and dance" (Curl 2022). She was a prolific and incredibly talented artist. She created many self-portraits with paint, photography, and explored themes such as prejudice and objectification in her works, many of which remain untitled. She used her mouth and feet to create these pieces. 

Image Citation: “Installation view of Lorenza Böttner: Requiem for the Norm at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (photograph by Kristine Eudey © 2022 Courtesy of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art” (Curl 2022).  

Image Description: Two pieces are hung side by side on a white gallery wall, both unnamed and unframed and painted by Lorenza Bottner. The painting on the left is a self-portrait of Bottner against a blue background, wearing a red robe, the middle of her chest bare and her hair in black bows. The painting on the right depict a crowd casting judgmental, even hateful gazes at the viewer: a man glares center frame, wearing a red coat, while two women and a man stand slightly distanced behind him, staring with apprehension at, if painted from her perspective, Bottner. 

As a trans-nonbinary person, the second painting really resonated with me. Being androgynous or visibly disabled can both draw looks from insensitive crowds: Lorenza was both trans and disabled and certainly faced a very harsh crowd in the 70s and 80s when she produced work. Despite this, she continued to produce art, often in the form of public performance, using the relative novelty of the way that she presented and the shock of the audience within her work. 

Unfortunately, Bottner would die of AIDS-related complications in 1984. She had dedicated her life t oa beautiful, intense, and thoughtful body of work, spanning disciplines and topic. Through her art, she thoughtfully examined her personal relationship with her gender and the gender spectrum, as well as her relationship with society at large. 

 CITATION: Curl, J. (2022, July 3). Using Her Mouth and Feet, Lorenza Böttner Created an Immense Body of Work. Hyperallergic. HYPERLINK FOR ARTICLE 

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     The artistic work grasp + release was created by the Samoan/Pakeha artist Pelenakeke Brown after requesting her medical records in 2018. The coldness and lack of humanity present in medical terms used, as well as medical files in general, which aim to aid or cure disabilities, were the inspiration for Brown to reclaim her body and the words which define them.

     Throughout history, disabled individuals have been assigned terms and categories that they must remain in, with no room for humanization nor personal stories. I found Brown’s use of her own medical records and the rewriting of her conditions to be deeply intimate and resonated with me strongly.

     Brown’s work connects to both disability and gender in multiple ways. I believe the use of gendered terms was not removed by the artist intentionally. When women face disability or debilitating conditions, there are often additional pressures placed upon them to prove both their suffering and capabilities. The artist’s connection to her childhood self as a little girl and being witness to the strength of her mother are uniquely feminine experiences. Living as a disabled individual while also living as a woman requires the strength to combat medical misogyny and societal misogyny while also maintaining physical health. In relation to disability, I believe Brown’s work is an intimate display of overcoming the medicalization of disability. Terminology, outcomes, and progress are often measured in dehumanizing ways by the medical community that take away from the personal experiences and identities of disabled patients. By physically crossing out and erasing sections of her own medical records, Brown has publicly displayed her reclamation of autonomy. Also creating double meanings with terms such as return, speak, and resistance provides the contrast between disabling terminology and the overcoming of such. Pelenakeke, in her work grasp + release,  has rewritten the story of her disability. By holding onto themes such as voice and resistance, she displayed to the audience how medically documented disability is not a sedentary sentence, and that even medical realities can be rewritten and reclaimed.

Citation: 

Brown, Pelenakeke. grasp + release. 2019. Schwules Museum, Berlin. Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer, 2022. https://queer-crip.schwulesmuseum.de/en/#ch0

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This is Echo, AKA Maya Lopez who is a Marvel character who is deaf, has a prosthetic leg, and still fights crime. Even as a women who people view as weaker she takes on guys who are double her size and still takes them down anyway.

Mack, D. and Quesada, J. (2023) Echo: The saga of maya lopez. volume 1. United States: Marvel Entertainment.

#marvel #echo #disability

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Citation: The Normal Heart. Directed by Ryan Murphy, performances by Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, and Julia Roberts, HBO Films, 2014.

The film The Normal Heart, directed by Ryan Murphy, offers an exploration of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s and focuses on activism, but also on a system that neglects the LGBTQ+ community, especially gay men. The main character of the Film is Ned Weeks, who is an activist who is constantly pushing for recognition, but also a response to an emerging epidemic. The film looks at how AIDS is not just an infection but is a disabling force for individuals and communities due to the social neglect surrounding the disease. Ned is constantly going through the psychological toll of having HIV, having to deal with a huge stigma surrounding AIDS as a disability. The film really highlights how disability and social rejection intersect and how those build on the suffering of marginalized groups. The film really does a good job of framing their experience with AIDS not just as an Illness but as a systematic oppression.

Gender plays a big role in The Normal Heart, particularly the character Emma Bruckner, who is a disabled woman and one of the earliest doctors to recognize the severity of AIDS, and to push for the establishment of clinical treatment. She uses a wheelchair due to polio and is both a literal and symbolic representation of resilience in the face of many different kinds of marginalization. Her disability challenges the traditional idea of a disabled woman who is dependent, as she's portrayed as a strong woman who is deeply invested in the fight against AIDS. Even when her gender and disability place her at the margins of the medical community. We have seen the film and her interactions with other male characters, especially as her role as an authoritative figure, and it reveals the way in which gender and disability influence how someone is perceived, especially in a position of power. 

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Freaks (1932) Movie Poster (Post 2)

The poster connects to disability through the questions it displays and by the imagery of the freaks. For example, the poster asks the questions "Can a full-grown woman truly love a midget?" and "Do Siamese twins make love?" These questions influence the viewers to analyze how the disabilities of the freaks shape how other characters perceive them, and they further invite the audience to evaluate their own perceptions of disabled individuals and whether they bear any preconceived notions regarding the place of disabilities in our society. Also, the imagery of the freaks appears solely below the larger image of Cleopatra and Hercules which shows the viewers how the able-bodied characters see the freaks as inherently inferior to themselves. 

The poster connects to gender through the same methods as it examines the depiction of disability in the film. For instance, the poster asks the question "what sex is the half-man half-woman?" which immediately directs the audience's attention to the role of gender in the film and how that factor can shape the perceptions and actions of the film's characters. Furthermore, the imagery on the poster predominately focuses on Cleopatra which relates to gender because Cleopatra is depicted in both the role of the antagonist and a damsel-in-distress which conveys the idea that the gender of an individual does not necessarily shape them around a specific set of attributes. Instead, people can make themselves however they desire so long as they choose to pursue their goals.

Citation:

Browning, T. (1949). Freaks (1932) The Story of the Love Life of the Sideshow [Photograph]. Original Film Art. https://www.originalfilmart.com/products/freaks?srsltid=AfmBOor6lipFJoFKJiS_kkoNuAeWyOVeM8rKVwJ_FyiCzU8A0e520J3A  

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Archive post #2, Sofia Sosa

Movie Trailers Source. (2024, November 11). MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE Official Trailer (2025). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGVf9EZbyco 

Included in this citation is a link for a movie trailer for the movie "My Dead Friend Zoe" even though I am using this movie for my final project I still thought it was important to share beforehand. For some background information the movie follows the story of Army member Merit after her deployment. I truly feel that this movie helps show a different side of the military with not only what women in the military face but also how any disabilities they acquire from military service are treated by not only the military but society in general. Without trying to give to much of the movie away when Merit returns from her deployment she is constantly confronted with the ghost of her friend Zoe who was in the military with her and passed away during their deployment. This movie specifically focuses on the disability of PTSD and how not only Merit deals with it but how others in the military also deal with the horrors of PTSD.  

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You Can't Stop Us, a 2020 Nike ad, features athletes of diverse abilities, such as wheelchair basketball players and prosthetic runners, who seamlessly blend their movements with able-bodied competitors. Similar to Beatrice Vio's New Belonging campaign, this advertisement uses strong imagery to encourage inclusion, but it also contributes to a larger cultural narrative of able-nationalism, in which athletes with disabilities are praised primarily for overcoming their limitations to "fit" into the country's ideals of resilience and strength. This shows that Gender and Disability is mainly what I’m focused on and its impact.

Nike's efforts to promote diverse representation, particularly of disabled women in sports, are reflected in both campaigns. However, their messaging also poses significant queries: On what terms and with whom does athleticism fit into the national imagination? Are these commercials designed to inspire able-bodied viewers, or are they empowering disabled bodies according to their terms?

I view these advertisements as significant advances toward visibility as someone who studies gender and disability, but I also see them as a reminder to question how businesses may promote inclusiveness while upholding norms for the able-bodied. Being visible is merely the first step; real belonging entails more than just representation; it also entails a power shift.

Reference :

Nike. You Can’t Stop Us. YouTube, 30 July 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4dDs0T7sM.

Alt Text/Image Description:

A still image from the Nike “You Can’t Stop Us” video, featuring a split screen: on the left, a Black male basketball player in a wheelchair; on the right, a female volleyball player jumping mid-air. The two athletes mirror each other’s body positions, symbolizing unity.

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This YouTube video titled “What It Was Like to Be a Mental Patient in the 1900s” explains briefly what mental asylums and patient care were like in the 19th century. Involuntary admission of spouses, children, and relatives happened very frequently, and anyone could pay to have someone confined to mental institutions. There was no need to show evidence of people having a disability or mental illness, as long as someone paid for their confinement. Women and children were subjected to confinement the most, for reasons like disobedience, developmental delays, and behavioral difficulties. People admitted to these asylums stayed there for more than a year. In 1887, Nellie Bly, a journalist, voluntarily admitted herself to a mental asylum to observe the living conditions. She underwent a physical examination before entering the asylum to screen for any mental illness. She said that the abuse by doctors was normalized, and the rooms and windows were locked, having no means of escape in case of an emergency, like a fire. The rooms were also overcrowded, with around 10 people in one small room with zero ventilation. 

  Human experimentation was done on patients to find cures for various illnesses. Dr. Julius Wagner-Jauregg at the Oregon State hospital injected malaria into patients who had syphilis to try and cure the disease. 15% of the people who underwent this malaria treatment died from it. Electroshock therapies and lobotomies were other procedures that were used to cure patients of their mental illnesses. These procedures had many side effects, like incontinence, loss of expression, inability to verbalize, and loss of movement. Diet was also believed to help cure mentally ill patients; for example, epilepsy patients were given food that wouldn’t cause any stomach issues, and many other patients were encouraged to consume eggs. Children were also patients at these institutions, they were put through the same treatments that were meant for adult bodies, leading to a high child mortality rate. In the 19th century, mental asylums were built to account for resting and recreational activities, as it would help the patients with their mental health. The environment of mental institutions differed greatly from one another, some having better food and staffing while others did not. On one hand, involuntary admission into mental asylums was happening, but at the same time, many doctors also recommended that their patients go into mental asylums due to reasons like chronic alcoholism, falls to the head, and “idiocy”. 

  Nowadays, being admitted to a mental asylum is a voluntary process, with the need for evidence of mental illness or disability. The system of mental asylums was started so that those with mental illnesses and disabilities would not have to be in jailhouses and almshouses where their conditions couldn’t be managed. However, it came to a point where a lot of people were sending their family members who didn’t have any disabilities, but rather disobeyed their parents or spouses. Many of the women in these institutions were involuntarily sent there without any form of consent. Many of the women were even lobotomized so that they would become more submissive and obey their authoritative family members. The doctors, not knowing how to treat mental illnesses, didn’t stop them from experimenting and torturing patients to figure out a solution. 

  Accessibility: The video link attached is uploaded on YouTube for free and for a public audience. The video has closed captions attached and is entirely narrated verbally, which makes this source accessible to everyone. 

Weird History. “What It Was Like to Be a Mental Patient in the 1900s.” YouTube, 16 June 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hkwWi1YxM.

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Is There Anybody Out There? (2023) — A Documentary on Disability, Gender, and Ableism

Title: Is There Anybody Out There? Director: Ella Glendining Release Date: November 17, 2023

Overview:

This documentary follows filmmaker Ella Glendining, a woman born without hip joints and with shortened femurs, as she embarks on a  search to find others like her. Along the way, Glendining confronts ableist assumptions about what it means to live a full life as a disabled woman. The film explores themes of bodily autonomy, visibility, and systemic exclusion. This highlights how gendered expectations around things such as motherhood, beauty, and independence can compound the experience of disability.

Why This Matters: Glendining’s story speaks directly to the intersection of gender and disability, especially the societal pressures faced by disabled women. Rather than presenting her body as something to be "fixed," she reframes the narrative around pride, identity, and collective solidarity. This aligns with key discussions in our class and I believe could be another valuable film to watch.

Accessibility Features:

The film is available with closed captions and audio description for enhanced accessibility.

Image Description: The poster for the 2023 documentary Is There Anybody Out There? features filmmaker Ella Glendining standing on a small, floating patch of grassy land with purple flowers. She wears a white tank top, black pants, and bright pink sneakers. The background is a blue sky filled with soft clouds. Above her in large, bold, pink letters is the film’s title: IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? A review quote at the top reads, “A real celebration of humanity in all its diversity.” The Sundance Film Festival laurels are visible beside the title. Credits for the director, producer, and production companies appear at the bottom.

Citation (MLA Format): Glendining, Ella, director. Is There Anybody Out There? [Distributor], 2023.

Image Address:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzdlNTFlNjgtZmExMi00NmEwLWI3NTEtNzUwYzg0ZTYyYWE0XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

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Citation:

Disability History. (2021, December 19). The 504 protests and the Black Panther Party

This digital archive from “The Black Panther” newspaper offers crucial documentation of the alliance between Black activists and disability rights protesters during the 1977 504 Sit-In, directly supporting my final project online exhibit's focus on intersectional activism. By featuring participants like disabled Panther Brad Lomax, who provided essential support to demonstrators, and educator Erika Huggins, who connected racial justice with disability rights, the archive highlights how marginalized communities collaborated across movements. Importantly, it centers disabled women of color as key organizers - a perspective often erased from mainstream civil rights narratives. The Panthers' framing of the protest as a "handicapped win" powerfully reframes disability activism as strategic and self-determined, countering paternalistic stereotypes. As a primary source created by and for Black liberation movements, this material provides authentic representation of how intersecting oppressions were challenged through collective action. For my audience of students, educators and activists, it serves as both historical evidence and an invitation to reconsider who gets credited in social movement histories, while perfectly aligning with my final project online exhibit's mission to amplify disabled women's leadership in policy change.

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Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal (2019), directed by Darius Marder, is a film that explores the lived experience of deafness through the story of Ruben Stone, a heavy-metal drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. Played by Riz Ahmed, Ruben is forced to confront a dramatic shift in identity and lifestyle, pushing him into the heart of Deaf culture and into a profound journey of self-discovery.

Although Riz Ahmed is not actually deaf, many other characters in the film are played by Deaf actors. This includes Paul Raci, who portrays Joe, the leader of a Deaf sober community. This casting choice not only brings realism to the narrative but also highlights the importance of representation in media.

Rather than framing deafness solely as a loss to be "fixed," the film engages with the social model of disability. Ruben’s initial desperation to restore his hearing through cochlear implants is contrasted with the acceptance and pride he finds within the Deaf community. The film challenges audiences to rethink assumptions about disability and the idea that normalcy must be restored. The film uses sound design to take viewers through his journey. Some moments the sound is muffled, silenced, or distorted to depict the experience of sudden hearing loss. This allows the audience to connect with Ruben and eventually feel the same sense of relief he does when he removes his cochlear implant in the end.

The film also touches on issues of addiction, recovery, and mental health, showing how disability can intersect with other aspects of a person’s identity and struggle. Ruben is not only navigating life as a newly Deaf person but also as someone in recovery from substance abuse, offering a more layered and humanized portrayal of disability.

Throughout the film there are also conflicts in Ruben’s relationship with his girlfriend who he started a band with. As he lost his hearing, he was slowly losing her. He clung to his hearing just as he clung to her which took a toll on their relationship. His need to hear again is closely connected to his masculinity. For Ruben losing his hearing meant losing his ability to play drums, live with his girlfriend, and be self sufficient. He disliked the idea of having to leave his independent life with his girlfriend to stay at the Deaf sober community. It restricted his freedom and forced him to come to terms with his Deafness. He often felt like he had a lot to prove in his struggle to return to normalcy.

Marder, D. (Director). (2019). Sound of metal [Film]. Amazon Studios; Caviar.

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Disabled Women and Media Representation

The exclusion of disabled people in Hollywood is more than just being left out. It also means losing influence over how disabled people's lives are portrayed. While my previous post focused on the absence of true representation in casting, I would like to look at how who gets to narrate the story is as important. The media industry rarely employs disabled persons in positions of creative authority, like writers, producers, and directors. Without them behind the camera, even thoughtful representations might fall short or become exploitative.

In an industry where women already struggle for leadership positions, disabled women, especially those of color, are almost completely excluded from decision-making groups. This exclusion influences how disability is portrayed on screen. Disabled female characters are often depicted as pathetic, oversexualized, or angelic, with little complexity. These stereotypes flatten identity and invalidate the lived realities of disabled women who face both sexism and ableism on a daily basis.

According to journalist Gus Alexiou, many studios still fail to provide basic accessibility accommodations on set, discouraging disabled professionals from entering the field. These structural barriers go beyond casting, reflecting how the media industry controls not only representation, but also voice, agency, and ownership.

This is important because, as we've learned in class, cultural narratives influence the public's view of disability. When disabled women are absent or misrepresented, the effects go beyond entertainment to healthcare access, work, education, and even governmental decisions. By highlighting disabled women's creative leadership, we change not just what stories are presented, but also how they are told, allowing for narratives that reflect genuine intersectional lives.

My post expands on class discussions of the cultural and institutional pressures that marginalize people at the intersection of disability and gender. It addresses the importance of accessible media reform not simply including disabled people, but also empowering them to create their own narrative.

  Works Cited

Alexiou, Gus. “Disabled Talent ‘Shut Out’ and ‘Invisible’ in TV Industry and Hollywood.” Forbes, 29 June 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/gusalexiou/2020/06/29/disabled-talent-shut-out-and-invisible-in-tv-industry-and-hollywood.

  #submission

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Cognitive Disability Accesibility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObhvacfIOg0&list=PLc38fcMFcV_vvWOhMDriBlVocTZ8mKQzR&index=5

The above video is part of a larger series on how video game makers can make games more accessible. I chose the “Cognitive disabilities” episode as I feel that is often the most “terrifying” concept for game designers. Text sizes can be made bigger, subtitles can be put in, button mashing can be removed, colors can be changed to symbols, but changing a game for an intellectual or sensory disability can feel vague and game-changing. The solution is often creativity in how a game can be modified. The video brings up a few different strategies like 1) Options to turn off rapid and patterned movement, 2) Putting in Dyslexia friendly text, short paragraphs, large line spaces 3) Simplified objectives and maps 4) Tutorials 5) Difficulty options and 6) Pause options. Many of these are already common parts of modern games. The emphasis in gaming on skill and difficulty often dampens the desire for studios to provide more “light” or “easy” options. This fact alienates not only people with disabilities, but also new players and minority groups like women, who have long been forced out of gaming spaces, resulting in less accessibility to skill building. In general, the masculine identity of video gaming is often a deterrent for many such options, but paradoxically video games are also an escape for many into a hobby that does not limit them physically or socially as much as the outside world might. Below I’ve listed a few more video game options that provide cognitive accessibility.

[Image Description: A screenshot of a minecraft game. The player is in creative mode while it is raining, a skeleton is walking out in front. On the bottom right of the screen there is a small black rectangle with various pieces of text. Some of the text has arrows pointing to the right or left. The text stripts read “Pig oinks”, “Footsteps”, “Skeleton rattles” and “Rain falls”. /End Description]

Minecraft subtitles, while being a tool with low hearing in mind, actually greatly benefit some individuals with sensory needs. The overwhelming sound effects or music of the game can be easily replaced with a smaller, more manageable section of the screen that still offers similar information.  

  [Image Description. A screenshot of the game Bugsnax. The player is facing a purple monster with a hat. Underneath him is text, which announces him as Wambus. Beneath it is written “Filbo needs to shut his grumpin’ mouth. Triffany is off somewhere pokin’ at skeletons. It’s none of my dange business.” Where the text says Triffany, there is a small image of a green monster. /End Description]

One of my all-time favorite examples, Bugsnax is one of the few games that offer something as small as character memorization information for those who may struggle remembering names and faces. When a character is mentioned, their face is put right in the dialogue.

[Image Description: A screenshot of a row of questions with answers “Yes” and “No” highlighted in red or green, respectively. Underneath some of the questions is an explanation from a user. The questions include “Is someone stalked”, “Is there domestic violence”. “Is someone gaslighted” and “Is a child abused”. /End Description]

“DoestheDogDie.com”, while mainly used for films and animal deaths, has quickly become one of the largest sources for trigger warnings across many forms of media. It offers audience based answers and reactions with attention paid to spoilers.

  Citations:

“Doesthedogdie.Com.” Trigger Warning Database for Movies, TV, Books and More., www.doesthedogdie.com/. Accessed 5 May 2025. 

YouTube, youtu.be/ObhvacfIOg0?si=K8CTWQfRKtr61jBu. Accessed 5 May 2025. 

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This article directly connects to disability as its primary focus is on special education and the potential impact of the Trump administration's actions on services for students with disabilities. It discusses the role of the Department of Education in overseeing the rights of students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), concerns about reduced oversight and funding, and the potential shift of special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The article also details potential changes to Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), due process rights, and federal funding for research related to special education students.

The connection to gender appears specifically in the discussion about Section 504. This act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by any entity receiving federal money, which includes educational settings. Students with 504 plans have conditions requiring accommodations. The article highlights that while the Trump administration's changes do not specifically target Section 504, there was a lawsuit filed by the attorney general in 17 states seeking to challenge the constitutionality of Section 504 concerning protections for transgender individuals. The article notes that the Biden administration added “gender dysphoria” as a protected disability under Section 504.

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Advancements in Prosthetics: Feeling Pain

Recent advancements in technology have allowed scientists to develop artificial skin that can feel pain. It is made out of silicone rubber and has the same texture and appearance as real skin. Creating prosthetics that look realistic has been an important goal during the progression of their development. This artificial skin has sensors in it that detect pain, as well as a region that mimics a brain. When the sensors detect a pain stimulus, they will send electrical signals to the brain region of the skin. This allows the individual to feel pain and move away from the stimulus. Additionally, the electrical connection will allow the individual to differentiate between various types of pain, such as a slight pinch or a stabbing sensation. 

There has been much debate about whether adding pain perception to prosthetics is beneficial to the people who use them. A benefit of it is that pain is a sensation essential for one's safety. It allows an individual to become aware of danger. On the contrary, pain is uncomfortable, and people who have needed their limbs amputated have experienced significant amounts of pain during their injury, recovery process, and rehabilitation. People may not want to feel pain if they have an opportunity not to. 

This article is related to my final project because my topic is the use and development of prosthetics, as well as their relationship with gender. As we have learned in class and through assigned readings, prosthetics have a strong relationship with gender, especially masculinity. Throughout American history - and in modern times, as well - men who cannot fulfill their gender-related roles or who do not have a 'normal' physical appearance are seen as emasculate. This is a struggle that male amputees have dealt with. Prosthetics allow them to regain their masculinity since they let a person function at the same or similar level of success of able-bodied individuals. Additionally, prosthetics - especially realistic-looking ones - 'normalize' an amputee's physical appearance. Therefore, since this artificial skin has a similar texture and appearance as real skin, people who wear prosthetics made out of it will face less judgement from society. The article states that prosthetics with pain perception do not significantly improve function compared to those that do not, but with further advancements and research, this could be a possibility.

Accessibility: This article contains four images, two of which show the artificial skin. The first image that shows it is a close-up view of the top of a hand and wrist. A square patch of artificial skin is placed on the hand. It looks real and blends in with the rest of the skin. The patch is outlined by a gold square. Inside the square are six rows of small, symmetrical diamond shapes. The words "RMIT University" - "RMIT" is bigger, bolder, and above "university" - are stamped underneath the diamonds, with a small, gold circle next to "RMIT." The features inside the square are gold, as well. The other image that shows the artificial skin shows a hand emerging from the right side of the screen. Only the fingers are visible. The patch of artificial skin is being held between the index finger and the thumb. It is being held in its top right corner. The patch is a clear square, with the same gold designs as the one described in the previous image.

This article can be made accessible for people who are blind, have poor vision, or have disabilities that impact reading skills by using a computer's read-aloud function. The ability to have the article read aloud to them instead of needing to read it themselves makes it more accessible. The speed of the automated voice can be adjusted as well, allowing people to listen to the article as fast or as slow as they need.

Prisco, J. (2020, December 3). New Artificial Skin Can Feel Real Pain. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/health/artificial-pain-sensing-skin-spc-intl/index.html