Hi Nathasha,
I read your article about Telethons with interest. For years in Australia we have had telethons with no protests, but I understand that overseas it is different.
From reading about disaiblity history, many telethons have been protested against, particularly in America, by people with disabilities for their portrayal of people with disabilities as helpless and needing pity. Then of course the non-disabled population (and probably some of the disabled population as well) calls them ungrateful. I don’t really know what the answer is. I know our Channel 7 telethon is quite bad for portraying people with disabilities as helpless, but as you say where does the money come from otherwise? I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know that many people with disabilities dislike the negative stereotypes portrayed by media and telethons.
Yours sincerely
April Dunow
Project Officer
Disability Arts Advocacy Program
Arts Access SA
101 Halifax St
Adelaide, SA, 5000
Australia