Listen to Dis’ are the inclusivity-focused, disability-led arts organisation championing disability culture through art and performance

Listen to Dis’ is a registered non-profit community arts organisation that champions disability culture through the medium of inclusive art and performance. Their work manifests in many forms including workshops, artist series and theatrical touring, and everything has an underlying message to support and empower the global disabled community. 

Here we highlight how Listen to Dis’ is bringing this message to life: 

Listen to Dis’ VOICE

Listen to Dis’ VOICE is a weekly open-access program where artists join forces to learn, create, explore, and connect. The focus topic changes each week yet is always in keeping with the Listen to Dis’ core message of advocating for the disabled community. Through this profound program, Listen to Dis’ has created some truly important work surrounding ableist ways disabled bodies and minds are viewed. 

Listen to Dis

The Other Ordinary

The Other Ordinary is Listen to Dis’ touring crip theatre company. Launched out of a class at the University of Regina named Devising Inclusive Theatre, and directed by Listen to Dis’ founder and artistic director Traci Foster. Dubbed TOO, it fosters the talents of emerging professional artists that produce tour shows with a focus on how it feels to live and work as disabled people. 

Take their first show, ‘Neither Heroes nor Ordinary People,’ as a prime example, which uncovers the realities of living with disabilities through music, monologue, dance, beatbox, and singing. Their second show, Mine to Have, is about sexuality, sensuality, disability, and 

the political right to live in one’s body. 

Listen to Dis

Visiting Artist Series

LTD’s visiting artist series connects disabled artists with the wider arts ecology by inviting artists, both disabled and not, to host workshops that explore disability art. Inviting artists from outside the LTD’s group enables LTD’s network to expand but also ignites deeper learning on both parts of the essence of disability culture and mindset. 

LTD’s is amplifying the voices of the disabled community through a variety of mediums that all celebrate art, performance and culture. Follow their journey on their Instagram here. 

Through facilitated dialogue and inclusive art practice and performance, we weave new realities for our members and for the broader community – shifting the way people perceive disability and creating an understanding of and appreciation for crip art, mad art, and disability culture.

From Christopher John Francis Boone to Melody Brooks, here are five of our favourite disabled book characters

It’s easier to relate to characters who share similarities with you. So, for anyone with a disability, it’s refreshing to read about someone who has experienced and understands your personal struggles and limitations, but also has a story to tell and is more than capable of facing challenges head-on. There are lots of amazing disabled book characters out there, although some might argue there aren’t enough. Here are some you might want to add to your reading list to get started. 

Christopher John Francis Boone

Christopher John Francis Boone is the main character in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

His autism means he doesn’t think or react in the same way as other people might when he discovers his neighbour’s dead dog. He sets out to solve the murder, and this gets him into a few sticky situations.

The book is well written by Haddon and goes inside the mind of someone with autism, giving those diagnosed with autism a character they can understand and relate to, while helping everyone else get a better understanding of how it feels.

There’s one particular scene which describes the process of Christopher trying to get on the tube and it shows his apprehension over a task that is a daily occurrence for most people, but is a big challenge to overcome for him.

Secrets Typed In Blood Book Cover

Lillian Pentecost

Lillian Pentecost is a character created by Stephen Spotswood in his A Pentecost and Parker Mystery Series. Lillian is described as an unorthodox private detective. She takes on another woman to help her (Will Parker) when the MS makes it difficult to keep up with her caseload.

Set in the 1940s, this noir series has two strong female characters in a time when women struggled more than they do today to be taken seriously. Combined with Lillian’s MS, it shows what women and people with a disability can do when the odds and other people’s expectations are stacked against them.

Reba McClane

Fans of Red Dragon by Thomas Harris will know Reba McClane is the blind co-worker who Francis Dolarhyde falls for. While the relationship may not be the healthiest, particularly because he tries to kill Reba, the FBI profiler, Will Graham later attributes her kindness to Dolarhyde killing fewer people than he might have if it wasn’t for her.

She may not be a major character in the book, compared to Dolarhyde and Graham but this makes her an integral part of the story and shows that it’s the small acts that can have the most impact. Reba is an inspiration to anyone wanting to make a difference.

Notre Dame © Pixabay

Quasimodo

It might seem strange to list Quasimodo as an interesting or inspiring disabled character, particularly when nobody would take being compared to him as a compliment. However, Victor Hugo’s famous character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame experienced more than his fair share of persecution.

Unfortunately, this is something many disabled people can relate to. He was born with a hunch that set his appearance apart from other people and later became deaf. His basic nature was kind, but he was led to commit violence by others who used him for their own gain, or when he is forced to defend himself.

His kindness gradually wins the friendship of his love interest, Esmeralda. Although this turns tragic, the emotions he shows so strongly show he is as deserving of love and friendship as anyone else, perhaps more so.

Melody Brooks

Melody Brooks is the main character in Out of My Mind and Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper. Being unable to walk, talk or write because of her Cerebral Palsy poses challenges, but doesn’t stop her from being the smartest kid in her school, even though nobody else realises it. Her photographic memory means she can remember every detail from every experience in her life. Because she can’t demonstrate this, everyone writes her off, dismissing her as mentally challenged.

The books and Melody’s character are great for helping others realise that there is often more beneath the surface than a person’s disability. 

If you read and enjoy any of the books mentioned in this article, make sure you share them with your friends and family, disabled or not, because we all have something to learn and can take inspiration from these books and the characters inside them.

Rich Davenport is diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), otherwise known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a condition causing extreme tiredness and pain.

Rich Davenport has many talents, all of which can be linked to a love of words. As a comedian, this involves finding the right words to make people laugh, while his poetry consists of creating words that stand up on the page but also make great performance poems. While performing in bands, he’s used to writing and singing lyrics. Davenport has made some great achievements, which most people could only imagine, and much of this was following his ME diagnosis.

Looking back, Davenport sees there were signs of his condition back in his late teens and early twenties. Fatigue was the first symptom he noticed, but he was diagnosed much later on. He now lists his regular symptoms as low energy levels, speech problems (slurring, getting words mixed up, stuttering), problems with memory, muscle pain and spasms, intolerance to alcohol, joint pain and stiffness and noise intolerance.

While ME is more widely talked about and accepted these days, Richard faced more challenges when he was originally diagnosed. He compares sharing his condition in 2001 to anyone admitting to having an STD, with the level of stigma revealing it involved. He was told having ME on his medical records would affect his chances of getting life insurance.

Performing with ME

Richard says, “I’m thankful to be able to still do as much as I can. I’m classed as having mild ME. I know people with ME who are bed bound and use wheelchairs. Some people have died from it too because in severe cases, it can cause organ failure.”

He makes the most of his better days by performing his comedy, poetry or music whenever he is physically able to, knowing that on bad days he may struggle with simple tasks such as getting to the bathroom or ensuring he eats enough, which many of us take for granted.

Talking about his gigs, he states, “The fatigue usually kicks in afterwards, so it’s a case of clearing my gear off stage as quickly as possible then finding somewhere to rest as soon as possible.”

Rich Davenport © ME Association

Award-Winning

The wordsmith remains humble even in success. For example, he won the Best Local Comedy Show at the 2020 Morecambe Fringe. When I asked how it felt to win, he told me, “I was shocked, because I didn’t realise they were giving out prizes! I was also very humbled because there were some amazing shows from very talented performers. It was a huge boost for my confidence after having had to take a break due to the ME and then coming back to it.”

The Progression From Comedian to Writing and Publishing

After sharing a video of himself performing a poem during lockdown. Rich was stunned by the response he received. This spurred him on to follow up on his idea to publish a book. He approached Chinbeard Books, which led to the publication of Gormless, then later followed this up with Horsetrousers. Both books are full of amusing poetic looks at life, whether real or imagined, and are accompanied by illustrations which only add to their comedic nature. He also ventured into fiction in his second collection. Rich felt it was important to donate a percentage of each sale to the ME Association.

What’s Next?

Richard looks forward to seeing what 2023 has in store for him. He hopes to get more gigs, continue working on a third book and would love to see his work produced as audiobooks. He also hopes to start gigging with his current band, Vicious Bishop, who take their inspiration from The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers and Rancid, among others.