Mystery & Magic

Anxiety ridden and hard of hearing service dog handler. Animal lover, Anime nerd & Disney obsessed.

[rum-maj]

im expecting a lot of "pride month is over, now it's time for wrath month" posts. that's cool and all. but july is disability pride month.

pride month is when you're SUPPOSED to be angry. it's a celebration AND a riot. that was the best time to get angry. second best time is now. but it's not wrath month. let disabled people have this.

please get angry with us. please fight with us! we are both losing our rights, if we ever even had them to begin with. please don't talk over us, especially during our own pride month.

did you know over 10,000 people die a year while waiting to be told whether or not they can receive disability benefits?

did you know while being provided disability benefits, disabled people cannot have more than $2,000 total in their bank account? the average rent for an apartment in the united states, as of last month, is $1,995. per month.

while they want to kill queer people, they want to kill disabled people just as bad. please look out for your disabled friends and family. please look out for those of us who don't have friends and family. those of us who are out on the streets.

[teathattast]

[i-am-committing-tax-fraud]

Maurice

[teathattast]

Maurice

[nemesisvariant]

Maurice

[nuiiphy]

Maurice

[catgifsinthesenate]

I'm begging of you, please don't take my man

[animentality]

Twitter threads are incomprehensible and dense and while they insist you can be "ratioed," you technically never win a Twitter argument.

On Tumblr you can win so decisively, you force that blog to deactivate and then that post will drag around that user's dead fucking body for all of time.

Every time you see it, it's a victory lap around a coffin that we'll never bury. It's astounding.

[nicostiel]

#this had to be done

[sunflowersolace]

we need to talk about the disney+ closed captions

first of all, i have an auditory processing disorder. it’s comorbid with my autism and adhd. for those of you that don’t know what that means: i can hear you, i just can’t understand you. talking louder won’t help.

i’m very lucky as that i am able to go most days with only one or two misunderstandings, but because of the fact that it can kick in at any second, i usually watch tv shows and movies with captions on.

i’ve found that the closed captions on many disney+ shows and movies are inaccurate. sometimes they get the general sentence through, but don’t have the exact words. that is already an issue. closed captions should say exactly what the audio says. if a character says “look tim! it’s spider-man!”* the captions should say exactly that, not “it’s spider-man!”

i’ve noticed this especially seems to happen with older shows, namely ducktales 1987 and darkwing duck 1991. but it’s not limited to old shows with bad audio quality, it happens in pretty much every show/movie i’ve seen.**

sometimes the captions will state character a as saying something, when it’s actually character b. i can distinguish voices pretty well, but someone who is hoh or deaf might not be able to. the viewer should know exactly who is talking, if a character speaks offscreen it should have their line attributed to them correctly

the far worse thing though, is when the captions say something completely different from the line.

there is a line in amphibia, s1e15 “wally and anne”, where anne says “i’m one-shoed anne” the captions list it as “i’m gonna shoot him”. not only is this NOT what anne said, it makes no sense at all in the context. people who need captions deserve to know what’s going on.

obviously all streaming and video services are going to have errors in closed captioning sometimes, it’s inevitable. but this is a constant and persistent problem with disney+. they need to fix their system.

given the recent release and popularity of hawkeye, a show with a deaf main character, it’d be nice if disney cared enough about those of us who need captions to allow us to watch movies.

*not a real line, just a random example

** i have not seen everything on disney+, so it is possible that this is limited to cartoons and that live-action movies are treated differently. even then, it’s still a major problem.

[thealphapigeon]

If staff wasnt full of cowards theyd keep the current logo and slap shitty pngs over it to keep it seasonal here are some examples

[galactichusky]

Why are hearing aids so expensive? I only need one and the estimate is still a little over $3000. On top of paying out the ass for service dog training I don’t have the money for it. Plus my insurance barely wants to cover any of it. The audiologist also said she doesn’t know why whatever they replaced the bones in my inner ear with isn’t conducting sound like it should so that’s another doctors appointment I need to schedule 😑. Thankfully Storm did well. This was my first hearing test since getting him and he just crawled under my chair and slept the whole time we where in the booth. He only moved so he could nudge me to alert to my anxiety. At least his training is the one thing going well.

[ghostonly]

Ableism in Subtitles

Something that really pisses me off is the litany of ableist issues found in subtitles. So, let's talk about 3 huge issues that need to stop.

Subtitles should never ever say [Speaking -language-]

When a hearing person is watching a TV show, or a stream, if someone starts speaking another language, if that hearing person knows that language, they will get to know what the person said, regardless of if the average viewer knows that foreign language.

Deaf and HOH viewers deserve the same opportunity, and to rob them of that opportunity by putting [speaking -language-] in the subtitles is ableist.

Every word spoken in a show or movie, unless given translated subtitles in the uncaptioned version of the show or movie, should have every word captioned exactly as it's spoken. If someone starts speaking Spanish, the words spoken in Spanish should be subtitled in Spanish. If someone starts speaking German, the words spoken in German should be subtitled in German.

When a show or movie is created, if you want a character to speak a foreign language, you get an actor who can speak that language. When you hire someone to transcribe a show into subtitles, your hire someone who can speak the languages spoken in the show, or you have them mark points where a foreign language speaker will need to assist and then have someone who speaks that language add in the parts that the transcriptionist can't.

Subtitles should never be cut short for convenience

This is something I see constantly. Shows and movies will frequently cut out words or even large chunks of a sentence from the subtitles to make the subtitles shorter.

When you remove descriptive words, parts of a sentence, or even whole sentences to cut down on the amount of subtitles in a given segment, you are completely changing the attitude, mood, and expression of those sentences. You can completely ruin all of the implicit feelings in a sentence if you remove words that show feelings or the way a person phrases things.

It is not your moral right, as a company or transcriptionist, to decide that deaf or HOH viewers shouldn't get the original phrasing.

I am not deaf or HOH. I have APD and have to use subtitles to keep up with what's being said, or I won't process it fast enough. Because of that, I get to see all of the ways subtitles deviate from the original wording all the time. This isn't an issue that just happens here and there. It happens in pretty much every episode of every show I've watched. And it's unacceptable.

Even if we ignore the way this impacts the intent of a sentence, this is ableist by its nature. When subtitles are made, they are made to fill the gap in a deaf or HOH person's TV experience. When you don't accurately fill that gap, or fill it partway, or half ass it, you are cutting corners on a disability aid. It's like if you sold someone a wheelchair with the wheels not pumped with enough air, or giving someone a hearing aid with damaged battery capacity.

When deaf or HOH people watch TV or movies and they use subtitles, they are relying on those subtitles to give them the most accurate wording possible. So why are companies directing or allowing their transcriptionists to half ass or cut down their subtitles? Every piece of media should be having its subtitles checked for accuracy before they're approved, and subtitles that cut corners should be amended before a show with subtitles is published or aired.

Subtitles should never censor words that aren't censored in audio

If a show or movie has swearing in it, of any kind, the subtitles should accurately depict what is happening audibly. If the audio has swear words censored, the subtitles should depict the noise - or lack thereof - that is used to censor the word. Subtitles should never be censored when the audio isn't.

Not only does this touch on the same issue from the last section, it's also ableist in another way. Not only are you giving deaf and HOH people a different experience than hearing people, you're also infantilizing them by disallowing them from hearing swear words that hearing viewers can hear.

Deaf and HOH adults are not children. They have just as much right to read the word "fuck" as a hearing person does to hear it. Censoring subtitles is disrespectful, ableist, and infantilizing and it needs to stop.

Make a change

I'm not familiar with the details of the ADA and how it regards subtitles, but if anyone would like to work with me to do something about this, I would really like to fight for subtitles to have more regulation.

If the ADA prohibits inaccurate subtitles, we should be reporting companies like Netflix who constantly provide inaccurate subtitles. If it doesn't, we should be fighting to amend the ADA to include regulations for subtitle accuracy.

Anyone who's researched this before or who knows more about it than I do, please tell me what you know or give me some sources I can look into myself. I would research from scratch but I'm disabled and don't have a lot of spoons for it, which is why I'd like to work together with others.

[fairytalepsuedonym-deactivated2]

Anyone else ever feel like this irrational fear that they're gonna get yelled at for so much as existing in the same space as a service dog handler? Ive just seen SO MANY videos of service dog handlers being quite confrontational.

That the other day i took my dog to bathe her at this grooming station where you pay a fee and you can use the supplies thats set up for bathing and cutting a dogs fur. The whole store is pet friendly and only sells animal supplies and a few clothes and packaged snacks and some building tool. We go in and theres another dog there. The genberally accepted ettiquite is you lock the door behind you and you let someone in if theyre trying to cone useit but to keep it locked while you're in there so the store doesn't end up with loose sopping wet dogs running around.

And im minding my business bathing my dog and i look over to try to find something and i see a vest sitting on the grooming table. Spent the entire rest of the vidit in his "this js gonn be the ONE TIME my dog loses her shit at bath time. Please do not bark. Please do not act like you exist in this space."

My dog doesn't bark. And was doing literally nothing wrong in a space she had just as much right to be in and i was over there PANICKING that she or i might accidentally distract this dog. That im sure was off duty since it was quite literally taking a bath and i saw the owner tell a kid "sure you can pet the dog." As they were leaving.

Its entirely possible ill run into this team again or another team so handlers what is the proper way to go about this next time? If i see a loose vest do i just wait and not take my do in there with them?

[galactichusky]

So first off I’m going to say that I acknowledge the fact that some handlers can be extremely rude for no reason. Especially when it comes to pet friendly places. It is annoying having someone else dog bark at our service dogs but in a pet friendly place that’s just going to happen and there’s not much we can do about it. On the rare occasions I do go to pet friendly places like the groomers or a pet store all I really ask is that people keep their pets out of our personal space. As long as the pet isn’t directly in my dogs face or jamming their nose onto his butt then I’m fine. Most handlers I’ve talked to seem to also think like this. A lot of the confrontations you see happen are in non pet friendly stores. So those are fueled by a combination of the fact the pet isn’t supposed to be there, the anxiety a lot of handlers can have around pets, and flight or fight response. But sometimes people are just assholes and in pet friendly places handlers really have no right to ask pet owners to walk on eggshells like this. If they have an issue with pets they should just do what I do and avoid pet friendly places as much as they can. So just give the handler a little space and you should be good.

[galactichusky]

He baby

[mandana-the-service-pup]

What are your thoughts on creating a mandatory service dog registry in the USA?

[mandana-the-service-pup]

I want to discuss something that was recently brought up in this thread (I’m not going to reblog the exact convo because I don’t want things being taken out of context and no hate to anyone who comments/reblogs)

For context, I posted this question a year ago because I was unsure how I felt about the service dog registration debate in the US. I wanted to hear different opinions and arguments so I could come to some conclusion and it really did help me.

Mandana and I have been training together for almost two years now. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong because I’m sure I would have posted about it, but during that whole time I don’t think I’ve come across any fake SDs in public?

My husband saw one at a store but based on his description I don’t think it was fake. It was an adolescent golden that jumped on the checkout counter to greet the employee. It sounds like it could have been a SDiT who probably wasn’t ready for public access or had an inexperienced handler.

So if it’s not fake service dogs then what have been our biggest concerns?

Off leash dogs

People doing inappropriate things around my SDiT

Dog attacks in public access absolutely happen and can have devastating consequences. There’s also access issues that can come from misinformation or bad behaving dogs that shouldn’t be in public access. All that being said, I’m starting to realize that people bringing pets into stores and claiming they are service dogs isn’t the common occurrence it was made out to be (so far based on my own experience).

I don’t agree with the registration debate. In my opinion, the burden it would create for disabled handlers is guaranteed and the benefit is only theoretical. I think there would be much greater benefit to the SD community if there were sponsored outreach programs dedicated to spreading service dog awareness to kids, adults and businesses.

People need to know that service dogs are an option for different types of disabilities. I don’t know which is more upsetting, people who think only guide dogs for the blind are valid or disabled people who are unaware that there might be a service dog for their disability whose tasks could greatly improve their quality of life.

People need to know how to keep service dogs and their handlers safe. It goes beyond etiquette. Off-leash dogs are dangerous. Kids running up and throwing themselves at service dogs are dangerous. Bringing reactive dogs into public (even pet friendly) places CAN be dangerous if not done under the guidance of a professional (which is another hot topic, I’m not saying don’t train, I’m saying there’s a way to train that keeps both the dog and the public safe). These things and more should absolutely be as common knowledge as Stop.Drop.Roll

People need to know what public access training is and what is acceptable behavior from service dogs. This goes beyond fake spotting. Even legit service dogs should sometimes be pulled from public access temporarily or permanently for the welfare of the dog, handler and public. Businesses SHOULD be allowed to remove ANY dog/SD who is out of control and maybe if the standard of behavior was common knowledge then the people who bring their pets into public would be more discerning (NGL, there are some pets who are not SD but their training/behavior would not cause an issue for any service dog in the vicinity).

TLDR // Don’t waste funds on a registry program that hinders disabled handlers. Invest resources into educating the public as a whole.

[galactichusky]

I’ve had my SDIT for about 2 years as well and we don’t really run into fakes either. I’ve seen one dog in a vest that might have been a fake or it could have been a SDIT not ready for PA. The biggest issue we have is pets. For some reason in my area people refuse to leave their pets at home. I actively avoid pet friendly areas so I should not be running into this many pets. None of them have been very well trained either they lunge, bark at us, ect.

One of the main issues I’ve noticed with this is store’s having internal policies that keep their employees from kicking out dangerous dogs. I report a dog that’s behaving terribly and the response I get from the manager is that they cannot kick them out regardless of behavior because corporate policy will not let them. Stores are allowed to kick out dogs that aren’t behaving even if they are legit service dogs but they don’t actually enforce that.

I’m very against making new laws adding more restrictions that will likely only harm handlers when they don’t enforce the ones that already exist. I’m mainly worried that if they put more restrictions they will limit the types of disabilities that qualify or require dogs to be trained by ADI programs. Programs are notoriously hard to get accepted into even if you do legally qualify for a SD and are extremely limited in the types of disabilities they train for.

[joons]

ok, this is my fave fedora removal, hands down

[galactichusky]

Y’all I’m screaming. I’m so excited.

[bigspender]

me: *overestimates the length of a yellow light and completely 100% runs a red light* me while driving away: I AM A BEACON OF SIN I AM A BEACON OF SIN I AM A BEACON OF SIN I AM A BEACON OF SIN I AM A BEACON OF SIN I AM A BEACON OF SIN I AM A BEACON OF SIN I

[galactichusky]

Shitty picture but we had our first in person class today. I’d been so nervous about it that I had made myself sick earlier in the morning. Luckily Storm was perfect and he did dpt before we left to calm me. Also helps that I can mess with his ears while waiting for the teacher to let us in. Love my boy ❤️

[galactichusky]

Someone told me service dogs hate working recently. Someone should let Storm know that. He’s very happy to have a job.

[feferi]

THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN FUCKING SAYING

[talesfromtreatment]

And all these dogs are super fear-aggressive towards strangers as well. The vast, *vast*, majority of dogs a year old or less that we have come in for my shelter’s spay/neuter services are either borderline-traumatized fearful and shut down or they are trying to bite me for the crime of existing within 10 feet of them.

It is not ‘normal’ for a 4 month old shih-tzu puppy to be growling at me from 5 feet away.

It is not ‘normal’ for a 7 month old aussie to lunge for my face when I offered him some food.

It is not ‘normal’ for the 9 month old lab mix to be completely uncontrollable by the owners, up to and including grabbing their arms with his mouth when they tried to put him on the scale and literally knocking them over and dragging them away.

It is not ‘normal’ for the 6 month old golden to be cowering and urinating in fear.

This is a major issue that every level of veterinary and animal care professional is going to be dealing with for the next 15+ years. I sincerely believe that in a few more years, the rate of behavioural euthanasias is going to skyrocket and we’ll be seeing massive increases in incidences of dog bites.

[im-the-punk-who]

Do you know how *FUCKING* irritated this makes me? I work as a dog trainer(and walker, but primarily as a trainer now) and at the start of the pandemic me and my coworkers literally BEGGED people to continue their dog’s routine as normal - if he gets crated during the day when you went to work, crate him for a few hours a day even if you’re home. If he went on pack walks, continue having him go on pack walks. I literally begged people to do training with me at the start of the pandemic - not just because I was out of work but because I - we all - knew that this would happen. I even offered deferred payment or extreme price cuts to training because it was more about preventing the mental breakdowns I knew these dogs would have than the money for me.

No one took me up on it. I had a client base of 75+ dogs at the start of the pandemic and work was completely silent until at least september of that year.

You know when everyone started calling and asking for help with their dog, who is suddenly going off the rails, barking, biting, peeing, destroying things? In June when everyone really stared going back to work and their dog’s behavior started bothering  them. When the dog’s anxiety could no longer be masked or written off as ‘oh i’m just home more often so that’s why Buddy is always with me.’

And to be clear - all of this was preventable. Even in the middle of a pandemic there are ways to socialize animals that are no-contact. Literally just taking your dog to a park and having them sit and watch people walking around is an excellent way to socialize a dog without having to be near people. Leaving your house for an hour and not taking your dog is another. These are simple things and yet as tehy *always do* people thought they knew better then every single animal professional who literally begged them not to just sit at home with their dog for a year and a half and now the animals are paying the price.

And to be clear, I don’t actually care if you think your dog doesn’t have anxiety over this. They do. I can guarantee you they do. Oh they’re just a little more hyper? They’re just chewing some things? They just seem *Really really happy* when you come home now? Follows you around from room to room? Congratulations your dog is showing symptoms of anxiety and you need to address them now before your dog bites someone.

I really really wish that people stopped having such an aversion to calling aggression an anxiety response. Aggression is an anxiety response. No stops. 100% of aggression is anxiety and no I don’t care if you think some dogs are predisposed to aggression they are not. They are predisposed to *anxiety* but people will ignore the hyperactive german shepherd who never settles down or the pitbull who does zoomies 24/7 and jumps on people and needs to be on your ass or she’ll die because that’s cute, right up until that behavior turns to uncontrolled biting and then suddenly it came out of nowhere and it must just be ‘the breed’.

I literally had to stop being a dog trainer for a few months because the expectations people have for both their dogs and us post pandemic are fucking unreasonable. No, I cannot fix your dog in two sessions when it took you 18 months(or probably longer tbh) to fuck him up. No, I will not help you if your only goal is to ‘stop the biting’ and not address your dog’s very real emotional distress that is causing that. No, I can not help you if you want me to do all the work or do not expect this process to take all the time and energy you could have and should have spent during the pandemic just because now you ‘don’t have the time’.

Fucking listen to the professionals - and not the fucking crackpots you cannot turn on two episodes of Caesar Milan(may your dog piss on your remote if you do) and call yourself a dog whisperer. You can watch however many youtube dog trainers you want but unless you have a real, live, professional meet you and see you dog(at *least* through fucking zoom jesus christ) you are going to be addressing the wrong things and *addressing them wrong* because you don’t have anyone to teach you, and watch *you* and tell you what *you* are doing wrong. 

But honestly there is no solution now. Or, there is, but pet owners don’t wan to hear it. They just want a magic easy fix, ‘just put my dog on meds’ or ‘i cant do this, he needs a home better for him’. And pet care professionals are so overwhelmed now and honestly compassion fatigued out that the good ones are leaving the profession or just simply do not have the time and energy for as many *severe* cases of anxiety and aggression that have popped up.