CFP: Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and Disability in the Global South Editors: Tafadzwa Rugoho (PhD), Ngozi Emmanuel (PhD), and Beth Haller (PhD) Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 April 2024 Social media and artificial intelligence (AI) have become integral parts of modern society, influencing communication, information dissemination, and social interactions. However, the impact of these technologies on people with disabilities has received limited attention. This book aims to explore the intersection of social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and disability in the  ..read more

from ABC News in Australia. Photo of Ade Djajamihardja and his wife Kate.  As an Asian-born Australian, Ade Djajamihardja is no stranger to discrimination. But when he had his first stroke, he was not ready for the disability that followed. Mr Djajamihardja had a successful media career, including as an assistant director for  ABC TV, and a happy family life with his wife Kate. When he woke from his stroke in a hospital bed, he had mobility and vision impairment. Fear of being a burden "When I was in rehab hospital, I was being taught how to use my wheelchai ..read more

From The New York Times: Near the start of “Dark Disabled Stories,” the playwright-performer Ryan J. Haddad’s richly provocative new show at the Public Theater, he tells a funny, sexy anecdote about a hookup at a gay bar that didn’t go the way he’d hoped. Haddad has cerebral palsy and uses a walker. In the story, he finds himself stranded without it — a plot twist that caused his audience, the other night, to breathe a soft sound of sympathy. Haddad must have been expecting this, because his reaction is right there in the script. He invites anyone who regards him as “sad or pitiable” to leav ..read more

From ITV.  Note: An Irish Goodbye won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film on March 12, 2023. A Belfast actor receiving glowing praise for his starring role in new award-winning short film says people with Down's Syndrome with acting dreams should 'go for it'. James Martin (pictured) stars in black comedy An Irish Goodbye, which has already won the European Audience Award at Leuven International Film Festival in Belgium. It’s hoped that more awards could follow, after the movie also launched at the Oscar and BAFTA qualifying Leeds Film Festival in November to critical accla ..read more

From Time magazine: Pictured is a Twitter chat announcement from 2019. ID: Graphic with a white background with text: “#DisabilityCivics Twitter Chat, Civic Participation & the Disability Community, May 22, 2019, 4 pm Pacific/ 5 pm Mountain/ 6 pm Central/ 7 pm Eastern, Co-hosts: @LurieInstitute @IntersectedCrip @DisVisibility” On the left is a black Twitter bird and on the right is a computer screen with two caption bubbles coming out." On October 28, Twitter users woke up to a new reality: Elon Musk had taken over the platform and almost immediately  ..read more

  Please share widely!   Photographers and illustrators with disabilities, Shutterstock is offering monetary grants for work that authentically depicts disabled people. Please consider submitting your work.   The Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.GADIM.org) has partnered with Shutterstock and the World Institute on Disability (www.wid.org) to offer $50,000 in grants and a guide to increase and diversify portrayals of disabilities in the Shutterstock content library.   Learn more and apply today: https://shutr.bz/3vfisu2  ..read more

 From The Verge: Netflix’s closed captioning, subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing (SDH), and audio descriptions (AD) are all powerful tools designed to help make films and television shows more accessible to people with disabilities. But those kinds of features have also become integral parts of how people from all walks of life consume the streaming platform’s content, and Netflix is planning to give its subscribers more of what they want. In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Netflix is gearing up to expand its accessibility feature ..read more

  from CNN: Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is diversifying its content. The cable channel is set to feature a romance with a lead who has Down Syndrome. "Never Have I Ever" actress Lily D. Moore(pictured) is set to star in "Color My World With Love" as Kendall, "a talented artist with Down syndrome who creates beautiful paintings in the impressionist style that reflect the reality of her subjects as she sees them." Things take a romantic turn when she meets Brad, played by David DeSanctis, in a cooking class. Erica Durance, Benjamin Ayres and Karen Kruper also star. "Thanks to th ..read more

 From Variety:  Pictured is Anna Dzieduszycka, an actor with dwarfism, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film from Poland, "The Dress." UCLA’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report found some improvement in 2022 in regards to hiring women and people of color, but activist group FWD-Doc is demanding that UCLA address other overlooked groups such as LGBTQIA+ individuals and the “invisible minority” — disabled people — in the industry. Jim LeBrecht, co-founder of FWD-Doc and co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Crip Camp” (2020), states, “UCLA’s report that stand ..read more

From Steven Aquino, the diversity,  equity & inclusion contributor at Forbes:  Considering the world is entering into its third year amidst a pandemic, it’s hard to recall what life was like before it. At this point, 2019 feels like ancient history. It might as well have happened during the Jurassic period, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. As a tech journalist who’s covered Apple at close range for years, I remember 2019 for the star-studded event the company held in March at Apple Park to announce, amongst other things, the hotly-anticipated Apple TV ..read more