I've changed my look and language over the years but I was struck by the similarity of my philosophy captured by the Crippled (sic) Children's Society (now CCS Disability Action) Access magazine in 1987.
Thanks to Alex Smith for the nostalgia...the actual clipping appears below.
"We must be proud...”
Pride in one’s disability is an important aspect in Philip Patston’s philosophy of what is required for people with disabilities to succeed in achieving their goals in life.
Hekia Parata obviously hasn't read Freakonomics.
The education minister's decision to "introduce performance pay for teachers" has been proven in the US to cause corruption in teachers' marking habits.
In their book subtitled "the hidden side of everything," economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner discuss a study that showed that increases in student achievement correlated to teachers deliberately fudging test marks. Like the NZ proposal, teacher pay was directly linked to higher student grades.
Pink Shirt Day is coming up! On May 18th, we will all join together to celebrate our national day of awareness and action around preventing bullying and promoting positive relationships. We are hoping you will spread the word and get people involved this friday. I know you have a big reach and this is a worthy cause. We'd love for you to tell your network and promote Pink Shirt Day.
Pink Shirt Day aims to reduce bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting the development of positive social relationships. An annual event celebrated throughout New Zealand and the world, Pink Shirt Day aims to create a New Zealand where all people feel safe, valued and respected. While Pink Shirt Day is celebrated on only one day per year, we all recognize that the work needed to prevent bulling must continue throughout the year to make a real difference. Pink Shirt Day is about starting conversations and taking action.
The event began in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2007, when a group of students stood up to defend a classmate who was bullied because he was wearing a pink shirt. The students took a stand by all wearing pink shirts to show solidarity. We’ve been celebrating Pink Shirt Day in New Zealand since 2009.
Every substance known to us is potentially useful and harmful.
Marijuana in small doses is great to relieve nausea or pain. Take too much and you get clumsy and paranoid.
Pseudoephedrine, the base of P or methamphetamine, does wonders when you have a cold, but only in a tiny amount. Smoke a heap of it in a pipe and you lose it badly.
It was a huge pleasure and privilege to be part of the music video for samRB's Olympic amthem, "Stand Tall". Big ups to Sam for including such diversity, including NZ Sign Language, to represent NZ at the Games.
Here's a photo of me and Amy during the shoot, and the video below.
It's fascinating to observe the NZ Government's decision to create the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Mobie), which will come in to formal existence on July 1, merging the existing Economic Development and Science and Innovation ministries with the Department of Labour and the Department of Building and Housing. (Stuff.co.nz 24 April 2012)
Minister in charge Steven Joyce claimed the so-called super ministry will result in "efficiency benefits".
My experience has led me to believe that the larger an organisation is, meaning the more people who work there and the more layers of management that exists, the more the following things decay and drop away:
Here's what my 7-year-old niece answered in a school project asking, "What is Diversity?"
In my opinion Diversity is when you go another country and you learn, National Anthem and eat new foods, see new flags, famous painting. You can learn different languages, see meet new people (friends), different shops, see a new prime minister. New Zealand isn't the same as other countries we might be better than them we might be worse than them but no one cares we are all different.
In the last couple of weeks I've tendered for a couple of diversity training jobs and not got them. On reflection about why, I figure the one for the UN in Moldova ("Where's Moldova?" I hear you ask. So did I. It's here) was cost-related. Probably they found someone closer and that wouldn't be hard.
The other tender was to an NZ Government Ministry. Now, they may have found someone closer (in Wellington), but I doubt that was the reason. Even though they didn't respond to my request, I'm picking I didn't offer what they wanted.
Or, rather what they thought they needed. Here's what I offered:
Following a bit of a stoush on Face(off)book last night after I objected to John Campbell's use of the term 'intellectually handicapped workers', one thing seems clear to me. In this complex, ever-changing world, we cannot always expect to agree on what is ok to think, say or do.
What is often more realistic and possible, though, is to agree on what is not ok to think, say or do. In the world of organisational governance, it's known as a 'limitations policy' – anything is ok except this, that and the other.
Admittedly, I made the mistake of suggesting an alternative term –'workers who experience intellectual disability'. This incited a social networking riot about the word 'experience' and gave licence to everyone to bid for their favourite terminology, which totally detracted from my point:
