Frida feminist-disability links

for the week o4/18/2008 to o4/25/2008

A Suffolk (NY) special education teacher has been charged with sexually abusing a 5-year-old boy with autism and his 7-year-old brother in their home, Newsday reports. The man, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with six counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of second-degree aggravated harassment and one count of first-degree harassment.

Toronto taxi companies are charging passengers who use wheelchairs more to ride in accessible cabs than is legally allowed, according to the CBC.

Wakako Tsuchida, Japan, has won the women's wheelchair division in the Boston Marathon, and Ernst Van Dyk, South Africa, has won the men's. It is the second time in a row that Tsuchida has won the race, finishing nearly 5 minutes better that her time last year. It was Van Dyk's seventh victory.

Linda Pickle, who worked at the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities at Baylor College of Medicine, has died in Houston. Pickle, who was 71, was left almost completely paralyzed following a severe case of polio at age 16. Amongst other things, Pickle is remembered as an outgoing, cheerful person who worked hard for the disability rights movement. RIP, Linda Pickle.

The rights of people with intellectual disabilities in Australia are being ignored "through abuse, the lack of individual plans, and the lack of individual care," according to this report from the Age.

In Moscow, people with disabilities "simply live in a world apart."