Read on Twitter
My Opinion and Media @humberjournos class today featured a riveting conversation between @HuffPost editor @wendyluwrites and emerging journalist @HolmesyWrites to talk about best practice in covering disability issues. Some thoughts she shared:
#jrnedu @HumberJRNL
#jrnedu @HumberJRNL
“Disability isn’t just about healthcare, there’s a disability element in politics, healthcare, entertainment. I make it really clear when I work with publications that it’s not just a healthcare story or topic. It’s so much more than that.”
"Being vulnerable can be a huge strength... When you’re vulnerable you’re able to share stories and connect with people that you may not otherwise have.
I’ve kept that with me my whole career."
I’ve kept that with me my whole career."
"Being at a workplace where I’m one of the only disabled people, I've had to put myself out there a lot. It's often exhausting. But because I share my story a lot, it opens up conversations. The same goes with my reporting...
Just because I'm disabled, doesn’t mean I know what it's like to have every single other disability... I do feel like I have a duty to open up to them [sources] and be honest about where I'm coming from and that I'm coming with the best intentions."
“One of the stories I want to cover more is reproductive health…there’s a lot of misconceptions around it…there’s an assumption that people with disabilities don’t want to have kids or that we don’t have sex.” Even doctors make this assumption, she says.
In her free time, Wendy writes fiction stories for young adults. There’s an absence of disabled characters in YA novels too, she says.
