Disability in Belgium

Media

Ableism, media and society: how media participates in the marginalization of people with disabilities. (In French, 2024, Média Animation)

Artificial Intelligence

'He Would Still Be Here': Man Dies by Suicide After Talking with AI Chatbot, Widow Says. (2023, Vice)

Social Media

Belgian social media star uses power of visuals to demystify disability. (2022)

Belgium has the most pupils in special education in all of Europe: why is that? (In Flemish, I used Google Translate, 2022, VRT)

Food Security and Nutrition

Discussion on why “Veganism isn’t ableist” (2022, Crip HumAnimal)

In memory of Jos Huys (1954 - 2024): one of the core founders of the independent living movement in Flanders:

“He was the guy behind the spotlight, behind the curtains, very modest. But what a treasure of wisdom, knowledge and right vision he had and what big changes he made happen.” (2024, ENIL)

Conditions in Institutions

A psychologist from a center for disabled people charged with serial rapes. (In French, 2024, RTBF)

The other side of a glass wall The loneliness of life in the community:

“There are two situations in which I have ever felt a sense of community. In both cases, I was surrounded with other people with disabilities. The first was the psychiatric hospital.” (2024, Disability Debrief)

A Radical Experiment in Mental Health Care, Tested Over Centuries. “In the Belgian town of Geel, families have long taken in people with psychiatric conditions. Could this approach work elsewhere?” (2023, New York Times)

Ghent launches campaign for visually and hearing impaired tourists. (2023, Travel Tomorrow)

Second-week update of 31st CRPD Committee Session. With reviews of Ghana, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Mauritius and Ukraine. (2024, IDA)

Struck out Disability Debrief feature on physical education's lessons of exclusion and ableism:

“If gym was so terrifying, it wasn’t simply because I found it unpleasant and was no good at it. It was because I knew we weren’t just playing. Our games were the symbolic staging of something bigger and incredibly important: our place in our group. The sports pitch was where the border between the included and the excluded was being drawn.” (Jan, Disability Debrief)