#wylieeast We’re all set up in the library with the button making machine! I’ll be here for about another half hour and then again at lunch time for all of your button-making needs! Come pick one out and grab a summer reading flyer while you’re here!
The narrative of ‘this person was disabled but their disability was cured as part of their story’ is ableist
The narrative of ‘this person is disabled but “overcame” disability in order for them to be a hero’ (e.g. a paralysed person finding a way to walk) is ableist
And just for clarification for the non-disabled, using adaptive technologies, like prostheses or whatever, is not ableist as long as you never forget. Ask yourself questions about the benefits but also the limitations of whatever adaptive thing you’re giving the character.
They have to take a pill every day to treat a chronic illness or chronic pain? Okay, what happens when they forget, or are in a bad situation and run out of pills?
They lost a limb or are paralyzed and now they have a sci-fi cybernetic prosthesis/exoskeleton to replace the lost functionality? Cool. What does maintenance look like? Does it ever malfunction? What happens if they don’t or can’t take care of it? Do they still get phantom pains even with the adaptation?
They’re deaf or blind or anosmic, but they’re a wizard who uses magic to adapt to the lost sense? Fine. What does it take to maintain that magic? Do they have adaptive strategies for when the magic fails?
They’re autistic or have ADHD or schizophrenia or some other cognitive disorder, and they have a chip in their head to make it easier to communicate when non-verbal? Okay. What exactly does it do for them? Does it ever malfunction or give them headaches? What are other ways they’ve adapted to their disability apart from this chip?
Other questions to ask that go for all kinds of things:
Do they have a service animal? For what tasks or situations is it trained?
Do their family/friends know how to help if their adaptive technologies/strategies fail?
Is their disability (or the adaptation) visible or observable to others? How do others react?
Has their society adapted to accommodate disabilities, and if so, in what ways? (Ramps, closed captions, sign language, etc.)
Basically, think about what it adds to the story to have your character disabled. If you were just going to completely cure it with no ongoing repercussions or adaptations, why did you bother making them disabled in the first place? What story were you telling?
May is Mental Health Month, and we want to celebrate the Happy Place you create here on Tumblr. In fact, 90% of you said you spend time on Tumblr better than on other platforms. That’s all thanks to YOU!: the creators, rebloggers, and community members—everyone who is cultivating inspiration, entertainment, and making Tumblr feel like home each day.
This year, you will find a new weekly theme and writing prompts powered by our partners @dayone-app. We want to get you thinking, journaling, and improving your mental wellbeing.
Let’s kick it off with: ☮️PEACE☮️. With just a pen and paper, a keyboard, or a touchpad, our daily journaling prompts can help you find a place for the noise and buzz that fills your mind each day. It may not seem like much, but journaling has been proven to benefit mental wellbeing and boost your mood. After all, small changes can sometimes make a big difference.
So join the fun this Mental Health Month by utilizing our daily prompts! We would also love you to share your PEACE-themedmood boards using the tag #your happy place, so we can find and share your contributions. We hope you’ll find #your happy place with us—because when wellness is everything, all is well. Peace out ✌✌
We’re still waiting on the brochures, but we’ve got all the deets on our summer programs listed in the website now! Everything from Cupcake Wars to Dungeons & Dragons to Fandom Fight! Registration will open in June, but you can start keeping track of your reading at the end of this month! Check the link in our bio and head to the website for full details.
We got a new button maker that will be used in summer programming and then moved to our DIY/makerspace area and we mayyyyyyy have gotten a little carried away with it Anyway, for now, please enjoy our library and Dungeons & Dragons themed creations.
i just want to be a cat in late spring. because then i could just sit in the sun and blink slowly and maybe chase a bug. i think that’s what we all want
You may notice our Instagram profile looks a little different, and that we’ve got a new graphic or two on the teen pages of the library’s website. And why is that? Because one of our incredible teen volunteers, Wendy, reached out to us and asked if she could do a redesign of some of our social media graphics for volunteer credit! And we were more than happy to collaborate with her on this and work out an agreement. Wendy is a senior at Wylie High and her portfolio can be found at wendywu.carrd.co
Do you have an idea for virtual volunteer credit? Use the link in our bio to get more info about volunteering at the library and feel free to reach out with any ideas!
People always ask us: Monterey Bay Aquarium, what are YOUR favorite deep-sea animals?! After decades of waffling, we’re ready to say that *these* ten incredible creatures of the deep are our favorites—for this particular video!
From the beautiful to the bizarre, the deep sea is filled with some of earth’s most amazing and awe-inspiring creatures. To celebrate the opening of our new exhibition, “Into the Deep: Exploring Our Undiscovered Ocean"—the largest exhibition of deep-sea life in North America—we asked Aquarists Alicia, Ellen, MacKenzie, Mary, Dalton, and Tommy to share about some of their favorite critter-colleagues.
You can deep-sea them for yourself this Saturday, April 9!!
Teen volunteer applications for this summer will be up on the website on Monday, April 11th! All teens ages 13 and up and entering 7th-12th grade are welcome to apply!
Starting your college plans? Holly O’Brien (The College Concept) and Kristi Denham (Jal Dennis Group) will be at the library on April 27th to discuss saving for college, the application process, testing timelines, scholarships, and more. Use the link in our bio to register now, or stop by the Help Desk and sign up next time you’re at @smithlibrary!
Have you spent every free moment of your time for the past month playing Elden Ring and still need MORE? Well, we’ve got you covered. Swipe for some YA reading recs chock full of fantasy, dead things, monsters, gaming, and more.
Change of plans! Our Pride & Prejudice panel on Saturday April 2nd has been transformed into Fashionably Dressed, a look at women’s 19th century fashion. We welcome high schoolers 9th grade and up, as well as adults, to join us for discussion, demonstration, and tea and snacks! Registration is filling up fast, so use the link in our bio to snag your spot!
