The Best of Disability Blogs and Banter
Awkwardly Awesome Disability Moments
When Danielle Perez, a wheelchair using comedian from Los Angeles, won a treadmill on The Price is Right, Twitter practically exploded from the irony. “I kept thinking it was a big joke,” said Perez to the television channel, KTLA. “But there was no irony in their cheers or applause.” She says there was an awkward pause right after the prizes were announced that was edited out of the final show, but everyone at CBS seemed genuinely excited for her that she won.
Perez, a double-amputee due to a 2004 car accident, cracked a joke at her own expense in her May 5 tweet saying, “When you win a treadmill on national TV but you have no feet.”
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The social media frenzy poured over into Hollywood Reporter, Gawker, Buzzfeed and other outlets, culminating in Perez’ May 7 guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“Did you realize when the curtain opened and there was the treadmill what was happening?” asked Kimmel.
“No, I was just so focused on cash and prizes,” laughed Perez. She and Kimmel shared a few more yuks, he had her guess the price of a jar of peanut butter, and when he asked what her plans were for the treadmill she said, “I guess I’ll just do what everyone else does, just use it as a piece of furniture.”
“I guess I like to imagine that when you won, the producers dragged the treadmill out and replaced it with something else,” said Kimmel. Since that didn’t happen, he showered Perez with the prize he thought she should have won: A wheelchair accessible Royal Caribbean International Cruise for her and a guest.
Accidental Examples of What Doesn’t Help
A Reddit user asked, what is something nondisabled people do that they think helps, but really doesn’t? The thread received more than 10,000 comments, including the following:
On being awesome just by grocery shopping:
Carlyer10: This one time I was leaving the supermarket and I watched this wheeler dude go-go gadget his SUV into a sweet wheelchair-friendly setup. A ramp unfolded on the side, he scooted onto it, hit the remote on his keychain and it all closed back up. I shouted, “that’s freaking awesome!” And he thumbs-upped me.
Dilln: “Honey, some guy in the parking lot found it awesome that I’m disabled this morning.”
On being asked — again — how his dad’s spinal cord injury occurred:
ARAXION: He took a spear to his back when hunting gophers with his little brothers. The horrible thing is that he made the spears for all of them. He handled the situation very well!
Radardogfoodliradar: The great gopher war of 1974.
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