Crip Buzz: May 2017 – New Mobility

Years Later, Share-a-Smile Becky’s Inability to Access the Dream House Still Stings

On April 10, NEW MOBILITY’s Bob Vogel shared this blurb on our Facebook page:

Mattel discontinued Barbie’s friend Becky, a wheelchair user, because “Barbie’s Dream House” is inaccessible. Rather than make some changes to the Dream House based on universal design, they got rid of Becky. A blogger in the article says Becky’s story speaks volumes: “A lot of the ways we think about disabilities, we talk about ‘fixing disability,’ instead of focusing on ‘fixing society.’”

“Dear God,” commented Pauline Vetuna on our FB page. “The story of Becky mirrors real life cultural ableism exactly.”

“A reflection of life for wheelchair users. “We’d love to help, but it’s too expensive,” wrote Phil Bates.

“Art imitates life,” said Cheryl Butler. “Get rid of the doll rather than fix the house.”

“Becky #resist,” commented Theda Zawaiza.

To say this story hit a nerve is a gross understatement. From our page, that blurb and accompanying link reached almost 120,000 people and was shared almost 1,000 times.

Read PRI’s article here: opens in a new windowwww.pri.org/stories/2017-04-09/becky-barbies-wheelchair-bound-friend-was-discontinued-heres-why

And join the conversation on our Facebook page here: opens in a new windowwww.facebook.com/newmobility

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Chairskater Aaron Fotheringham’s Bad Day at Work

“Houston, we have a problem,” quipped famed WCMX athlete Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham about this photo he posted to his Facebook page on April 7.

“That’s horribly hilarious! That had to hurt. Of all the times to lose a wheel,” commented Samantha Carpenter.

“On the positive side, it provided an epic photo,” replied Fotheringham.

“Well, I guess you’re just wheel now,” observed Rick Weed.