#ddom2019

[autisticsunitedca]

Disability Day of Mourning 2019

Disability activists and organizations are preparing for the annual Disability Day of Mourning on March 1st. Across the country, local communities will gather to commemorate people with disabilities murdered by family members or caretakers. 

The murders of people with disabilities are often framed as “mercy killings,” but that perception sets a dangerous precedent. "The value our society places on disabled people is shockingly clear," says activist, author, and speaker Emma Van der Klift. "Faced with a growing number of child murders perpetrated by parents upon their disabled offspring, the public seems unable to respond with the clarity reserved for the parents who murder their nondisabled children. When we mistake homicide for care and compassion, we help create a climate where these and other atrocities become possible.”

In Canada, Disability Day of Mourning was first observed in 2015, starting in Vancouver. Since then, vigils have been held as a yearly reminder that disability is not, and has never been, a justification for violence. 

2019 Vigils 

Vancouver, British Columbia:

@vancouverautistics will be holding their vigil in the Woodlands Memorial Garden, New Westminster from 5-6:30 pm. 

Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2243051655975208/

Winnipeg, Manitoba:

@manitobaautistics will be holding their vigil at the University of Winnipeg (The Hive), Winnipeg from 6-8 pm. 

Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/260070201577749

Guelph, Ontario: 

Kinnery Chaparrel (individual activist) will be holding a vigil in St. George’s Square, Guelph from 6 pm. 

Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/340573600000332/

Toronto, Ontario: 

Autistics 4 Autistics (A4A) will be holding their vigil on the Ryerson Campus (Sally Horsefall Eaton Centre Bldg, Room SHE560), Toronto from 3-5 pm. 

Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/349632405875581

Halifax, Nova Scotia: 

@novascotia-autistics will be holding their vigil in the Halifax Central Library (BMO Community Room on the 2nd floor), Halifax from 1-3 pm. 

Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1196551217166983

[awn-network]

In the past five years, over 650 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers. On Friday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers. We see the same pattern repeating over …

Today is the 2019 Disability Day of Mourning. This the latest version of ASAN’s Anti-Filicide Toolkit.

[autisticadvocacy]

Find your local Day of Mourning vigil site

In the past five years, over 650 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers. On Friday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers. In the year since our last vigil, …

Disability Day of Mourning is happening in one week. Check out this link to see if there’s an event happening near you.

[iamthethunder]

Autistic Future

Self-determination for adults with disabilities. News from disability communities and the wider world's impact on us.

“We can help the most vulnerable people resist this kind of senseless violence, but we have to care about them and prioritize them in the way we only will when we value their lives equally with all other human lives first. If we want filicide to stop, we have to decide once and for all that there is more to life than being conventionally useful.“

[vancouverautistics]

[Header image description: single lit candle against a black background. Text reads "Disability Day of Mourning. Remembering people with disabilities murdered by caretakers"] Taking place on the unceded territory of the Katzie, Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilwətaɁɬ), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Stz'uminus, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations. Date: Friday, March 1st, 2019  Time: 5:00 - 7:00 PM Location: Woodlands Memorial Garden, New Westminster, BC V3L 5E8 Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2243051655975208/ -----

On March 1st, 2019, Autistics United Vancouver (previously ASAN Vancouver) will be holding a candlelit vigil for the seventh annual Disability Day of Mourning.

The International Disability Day of Mourning commemorates people with disabilities murdered by their caretakers. We honour and celebrate the lives of the victims, who have been taken away unjustly and much too soon. Woodlands Memorial Garden in New Westminster is dedicated to remembering those who died in the Woodlands Institution, which closed in 1996. It was the last and largest of B.C.'s institutions for people with developmental disabilities. The vigil will include several speeches from the disability community, a reading of victims' names, and a moment of silence.

If you have any questions, please contact Autistics United Vancouver via email at vancouverautistics[at]gmail[dot]com. Additional information and accessibility info under the Read More.

----- To learn more about Disability Day of Mourning: disability-memorial.org (Note: This website discusses graphic murders of disabled people) To donate to help cover the costs of the vigil, you can now donate online through our website: https://www.autisticsunitedca.org/donate.html You can leave a note saying if you want your donation to go to all chapters (who are also holding vigils) or just to ours. ----- We will likely be live streaming the vigil again this year. Stay tuned for the link! It will be posted on our Facebook event page. We will also film the vigil and caption it for a higher quality video afterwards. Please let us know if you can help with captioning! ----- Accessibility and Directions to Location: 1. By transit: The nearest Skytrain stations are New Westminster and Columbia. You can take the 103 Victoria Hill Via New West Stn bus from either station, Bay 9 at New Westminster and Bay 3 at Columbia. New Westminster station is more accessible than Columbia. The bus bay is harder to find at Columbia because of the confusing layout. It is less accessible for wheelchair users because it is difficult or sometimes impossible to get into the elevators. Get off the 103 bus at Queens Park Care Centre and Blackberry Drive, which is right at the Woodlands Memorial Garden. Woodlands Memorial can also be reached by the C3 bus route. 2. Parking: As there are few parking spots available in the area, taking public transit is recommended. 3. Terrain: There are hills around the garden, but the location on site of the vigil will be flat and there are paved cement paths through the garden. 4. Scent and allergy reduction: The vigil will be a scent and allergen-reduced space. LED candles will be used. Please avoid using scented products (including perfume, cologne, scented soaps and shampoos) before coming to the meeting. Please do not bring foods with common allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts, and fish. 5. Items offered: We will be providing blankets, handwarmers, stim toys, communication badges, and some nut-free vegetarian snacks. About communication badges: https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ColorCommunicationBadges.pdf Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions and allergies. 6. Emotional support and space: There would be a designated quiet area for anyone who needs a break, and an emotional support volunteer nearby for anyone who needs it. 7. Lighting, cover, and seating: We are in the process of getting floodlights and tents. We also ask for people to bring chairs if they can. 8. ASL Interpretation: ASL interpretation has been confirmed. Please try to let us know by Feb. 25th or 26th if you need them.

[autisticsunitedca]

Disability Day of Mourning

Tonight, disabled communities will gather across Canada to commemorate those we have lost to filicide.

Please join a local vigil if you can. For those who don't have a local vigil near you, we will be live streaming in Vancouver (link below).

If you cannot attend a vigil and need to mourn in your own way, please take that time for yourselves.

Let us take one night to grieve, and let our actions throughout the year fight against the ableism causes these deaths.

[awn-network]

By Emma Van der Klift On March 1st of every year for the last three, a small group of activists – mostly activists with disabilities – have gathered together at Woodland’s Memorial Gardens in New W…

[weathernerdmando]

Somehow I completely missed the Disability Day of Mourning when it happened...  Instead of not saying anything because “Well you missed it” I’m going to say something now. 

We’re not worth less because we’re disabled. We’re not worth less because we’re different. We’re not worth less because we’re neurodivergent, neuroatypical. 

We’re not broken. We’re not wrong. We’re not burdens. 

We are unique, wonderful, lovely human beings who deserve the same rights and same chances that nondisabled people get. 

such as the right to not be murdered by family. 

such as the right to not be disliked (or abused) because of something you can’t change. (my mother disliked my autistic and adhdness and it showed.)

We deserve to live.