Image description, alt text embedded: The cripple logo. It is of a neon green rectangle with a thick, bold letter C in the middle. The letter is very wobbly and has breaks in it's stroke, like two mouths coming ouf of it's ends. It is reminiscent of the original cripple logo by disabled designer, Mia Navarro in that it feels a bit eerie and unsettling. The word cripple is adjacent to the bottom right of the letter c. 



 New News
 Intentions
 Digital Library
 Resources
 Things
 Contact Us




*Hi! Welcome to cripple. This is a brand new website and we’re in the midst of a quote unquote “soft launch.” We’re still working through some of the kinks, thanks in advance for your patience.
cripple is a publishing initiative that supports disabled artists and designers.

cripple is purposely non-linear.

Image Description, alt text embedded: A gently turning neon green starburst that has text out of order. It says oh wow new website with an exclamation point. It is swishing from left to right like it's regulating itself by rocking.


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 Welcome to cripple! This is a note about our new website and what we do.

So what is cripple? Cripple is a publishing initiative that supports disabled artists and designers. We say that cripple is purposely non-linear because everything about disability and neurodivergence is never a straight path and sometimes a bit all over the map. And that’s a good thing—though certainly not easy. It’s in how we exist in the world. In how our day to day happens. We rarely start at point A and make it to point B without coming across a lot of inaccessibility, the ever impossible medical industrial complex, significant prejudice and all the while being in pain, sick, anxious and so forth. 

Cripple was founded by emily sara (www.emily-sara.com), in the year twenty twenty, during the thick of covid, in bed. She’s a queer, neurodivergent, disabled, artist, designer, writer and alt educator and this is a wing of her very hybridized practice. She founded cripple while teaching in higher education, recognizing the critical importance of supporting other disabled and neurodivergent artists and designers in bringing their work to life. She found that a lot of publishing spheres don’t quite quote unquote “get it” when it comes to work that talks about disability or understanding the access needs of disabled artists and designers. 

So what does cripple do? Every day, if you join us on instagram—intersectional news, resources, and history are published on our feed alongside our stories. We also do book giveaways—not just our own books but books that are important to our culture of disability. Emily has also curated a number of Resources (located below) and organized them for people looking to learn more about contemporary disability. This section is forever growing and if you come across any additions you’d recommend, please be sure to Contact Us (located below)—we’d love to hear about your work or something else you’ve read or experienced. Everything in our resources section is also free. 

Additionally, we publish our own books, zines and other items by disabled artists and designers—you can find these items in the things section which is currently under construction (but not for long!). Over the years this has included toys, clothing, ceramics, stickers, posters, etc. We think of a publishing initiative as a very expansive term. We also have open calls from time to time. We also take longer than usual to put books out because we really believe in taking care of our bodyminds on both ends (the artist/designer and also our own team assisting with bringing these pieces to fruition). And last but not least, we have a disabled artist+ and lecture series that started in July of twenty twenty four. Please definitely check this out. These lectures are ongoing and we're developing a digital library that will serve as supplemental education for the public, highlighting disabled and neurodivergent history, art, and design—topics that are often overlooked in traditional educational spaces.

We’ve got a lot of projects on deck that aren’t even listed here. So, more soon. We’re really exciting about our collective future and we hope you’ll join us. Please be sure to sign up for our emails under Contact Us (we don’t like getting spam either, no worries, we won’t send out a ton). And come visit us on Instagram, YouTube and more. 

X O X O
    cripple
                                                   
Image description, alt text embedded: A gif of an old school cartoon. It is of an individual driving a yellow speed boat. They’re going fast with the clouds and ocean rapidly passing by in the background and they are holding their head, which is green. They seem as if they are about to puke.  They are sick.




NEW NEWS


October 2024 — On Monday October 21st at 1 pm to 2pm eastern we had a discussion about P.R.A.W.N. (Pay Rate For Access Workers Now) with Madison Zalopany and Alison Kopit.

We need to organize and strengthen access work—especially since a lot of this is done by so many disabled/neurodivergent people who depend on it for their livelihood. So help us organize and learn what we can do to help us, help you.

As with all of our online events, ASL and automated captions are provided.
This was a recorded event and will be posted soon on our youtube account.  

A link to the video will be provided soon—the link to cripple’s digital library is: www.youtube.com/@cripple_publishing_initiative.  
Image Description, alt text embedded: A neon green square with thick black text. It says: Interested in learning about working in access? Work in access and not sure how much others are getting paid? Belong to an organization that should prioritize access? (hint-that’s everyone) Join us for a discussion about P.R.A.W.N. PAY RATE FOR ACCESS WORKERS NOW October 21st 1pm eastern time. Hosted by cripple. Sign up w. link in bio. To the right are three shrimp or prawn emojis that get larger as they descend. The new cripple logo is in the bottom right hand corner.

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July 2024 — Bryan Castro, as part of cripple’s disabled artist lecture series, held an online performance entitled The A.B.C. of Mediums Stuttered. To watch Bryan’s performance, visit our digital library also available at this link: www.youtube.com/@cripple_publishing_initiative

More lectures coming soon, sign up for updates to cripple news in contact us, below in the Contact Us section.

Image description, alt text embedded: A screenshot of the Bryan Castro’s performance lecture that was hosted by cripple online. It is a solid color purple screen that has neon green lettering at the bottom that says I I I I I I I I I I I frequently stutter in my speech. Above is a row of individuals including Bryan Castro and ASL interpreter Cory who is signing alongside him. An image of the automated captions are in the top right hand corner. 

Image description, alt text embedded: A screenshot of an instagram post. Lime green and yellow with hints of cyan streaks. Images of artist Bryan Castro, a person of color/a person with a brown body and a painting of his, checker the bottom of the screen. The text in a black sans serif font and in varying weights says: cripple presents—as part of our disabled artist lecture series. Bryan Castro The ABC of Mediums Stuttered. Wednesday July 3rd 5pm eastern standard time on zoom and free. A S L and auto captions will be provided. The text continues, link in bio to sign up for the event. The bottom right hand corner has a textured blue blob with an older version of the cripple logo. Everything is a bit choppy feeling and very vibrant. On Purpose. 



INTENTIONS


#1. Cripple is a publishing initiative that supports the endeavors of disabled artists and designers. As mentioned above in our welcome section, we do quote unquote “publishing” as a very expansive term. 

#2. Cripple is described as quote unquote “purposely non-linear” because everything about disability and neurdivergence is unpredictable, fluctuating, growing, receding and requires flexibility and intention.

#3. Cripple was founded by emily sara (www.emily-sara.com) in the thick of covid (still ongoing) of twenty twenty from bed—she is queer, disabled and neurodivergent. cripple is an extention of her hybridized art and design practice.

#4. Cripple uses the word “we” even when, at this time, majority of the administrative work, organizing and design is done by emily. We use “we” because “we” are regularly hiring other disabled and neurodivergent individuals to assist with projects to bring the works of other disabled and neurodivergent artists and designers to fruition. Survival when you are disabled and neurodivergent requires community, assistance and support. Our collective survival rests on these qualities as well. Cripple would not exist with out consideration and support of our disabled and neurodivergent community.

#5. Cripple believes in an intersectional lens when supporting disabled and neurodivergent content. This means that although we support content pertaining to disability and neurodivergence—content that relates to race, gender, environment, class and more—is asbolutely paramount to our dialogue as well.

#6. Cripple strives to use terminology that exists closer to plain language and far from art speak. We believe that access begins with language—and though not everything can be 100% accessible at all times (because of conflicting access needs)—it’s critical that we do not uphold the violence of language that dominates our art and design sectors. This also includes support of quote unquote “errors” of language, art and design—so that we can strive to support access over quote unquote “correctness.” The concept of the error is also centered in the history of Disability Aesthetics. Disability Aesthetics was a concept and publication written by Tobin Siebers in twenty ten.


Image description, alt text embedded: A diagram of a spectrum of language, showing the location of where cripple positions itself between plain language and art speak. It is a simple diagram with the previous sentence as a title. Black strokes and arrows show plain language on the left and art speak on the right. If the space was divided up into fifths between the two, cripple would be positioned about one fifth away from plain language. This diagram shows how cripple strives to distance itself from the harm of art speak by not adopting it’s practices. The electric green color of cripple surrounds the diagram as a rectangle.


#7. Cripple believes in instilling access as much as possible and to do otherwise is to uphold ableism and direct harm. Cripple strives to consult and take into consideration our diverse community and their individual access needs. We recognise that access is a forever process and one that continually evolves.

#8. Cripple, the publishing initiative, is lowercase and named after a word that references the history of extreme, violent harm enacted upon disabled and neurodivergent communities. Cripple is a reclaimed terminology and we recognize that this term does not solely belong to any one individual or organization nor does every disabled individual endorse the use of the term cripple.

#9. Cripple is a publishing initiative that subscribes to the 10 principles of Disability Justice as founded by the collective Sins Invalid. Sins Invalid is a disability justice based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and LGBTQ / gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized.

#10. Cripple believes and uses the term disabled as an expansive term to include neurodivergence.

#11. Cripple believes in revision and consideration from our community at large and that these intentions will be forever changing and updated. Though these intentions are numbered, it is to emphasize a list and not a priority of one over the other. Please do reach out to us in our contact form, below, if you have additonal suggestions, concerns or questions.


Here are all of cripples current and ongoing projects:

Instagram resources pertaining to intersectional news related to disability and neurdivergence. Posts are made regularly and stories are made on a daily basis. We also have a highlight that has a link to an instagram channel for jobs, grants, residencies and other resources that anyone and everyone is welcome to subscribe to.

• Regular book giveaways of critical texts that relate to contemporary disabled (including neurodivergent) culture. These are not necessarily texts which we publish ourselves. Book giveaways are posted on instagram on an irregular basis.

• Continuing to publish our own texts and other content by disabled artists and designers. This content will soon be available and located under Things, located below.

• Lending our instagram home and collaborating with other disabled organizations, in support of fundraising for Palestinians who are currently experiencing a full-scale genocide.

• A curated list of resources related to disability and neurodivergence. This list continuously being updated and is free. This content will is available and located below, under Resources.

• An ongoing lecture series that highlights the work of disabled and neurodivergent artists, designers and access workers alike. This lecture series will be recorded and uploaded to our youtube channel. All videos are hyperlinked below under the Digital Library.

• Applying for a non-profit status.

• Applying for grants to fund all of these projects and pay disabled and neurodivergent artists and designers (and more) for the incredible work that they do.


Upcoming goals of cripple (short term):

• Online Shop — Updating our shop experience and hosting work by other disabled artists and designers, soon to be located under Things, located below. Many of these items will also be free for digital download.

• Documentary series — A documentary series showcasing the studios (and non-studios since so many individuals from our community are in bed or cannot afford studio space on top of their individual survival) of disabled artists and designers.

• Purchasing a 3D printer — Hosting an online archive of 3D mobility devices that can be downloaded for free and printed by the user or to be printed in house at cripple and mailed to individuals who need these tools.


Upcoming goals of cripple (long term):

• Grants — Cripple has a long term goal of dispersing quote unquote “no strings attached” grants on a regular basis to disabled artists and designers. This means that individuals can use this money for anything they deem necessary whether it’s food, healthcare, art supplies or otherwise. These grants would also be highly flexible in being dispersed so that it will not interfere with the restrictions set when receiving assistance via disability/social security or similar. Some government support systems can still be suddenly stopped if an individual receives over a certain preditermined threshold in a month. This threshold amount is still often not enough for survival but can be detrimental to an individuals care if these services are suddenly stopped. Because our current society also has shortfalls in our educational system and support for disabled and neurodivergent individuals is not on the same level as their non-disabled counterparts, cripple will be focusing on disabled artists and designers who are at the beginning to early stages of their career. When this financial support is launched, we will post it on our instagram account, send it out as an email and have it posted on this site as well.

• Financing for access equipment and mobility devices — Cripple has a goal of having a fund and simple application process for individuals to apply for access equipment and mobility devices that they deem necessary. Our research has found that individuals who are multiply marginalized have an even larger barrier to access equipment and mobility devices through insurance. This fund would have a short application and would not require documentation of disabilities, as this is one of the many reasons why acquiring mobility devices can be so difficult. Many individuals are disabled or neurodivergent but don’t have the financial means or time for testing. Additionally, individuals who are multiply marginalized can also receive harsher rejections surrounding acquiring treatment or because of familial stigmas—which make getting testing, treatment and insurance approvals significantly more difficult to achieve. Anything that anyone deems as access equipment or mobility devices for themselves would be appropriate to apply for—whether it’s bed lifts, delivery service subscriptions, wheelchairs, screen reader subscriptions, fidget toys, medication costs or otherwise. When this financial support is launched, we will post it on our instagram account, send it out as an email and have it posted on this site as well.


DIGITAL LIBRARY


Welcome to our digital library. Included below is our ongoing lecture series of disabled artists, designers and more—launched in July of twenty twenty four.  The schedule for any upcoming lectures will be posted in the New News section, above, and on our Instagram account. Please be sure to sign up for our emails below in the Contact Us section—we will be sending out links to our lectures along with additional cripple updates.

Our digital library is hosted on our YouTube channel—all future video based content will be located at this link: www.youtube.com/@cripple_publishing_initiative

Individual content is also linked by clicking on the images below. 



Image description, alt text embedded: A neon green screen that says Bryan Castro in bold black font. Underneath is a YouTube logo. In the right hang corner in reversed colors, a bookmarked looking triangle, is the cripple c logo.

Image description, alt text embedded: A grayscale version of the previous image that says coming soon. In the right hand corner is the cripple c logo.
Image description, alt text embedded: A grayscale version of the previous image that says coming soon. In the right hand corner is the cripple c logo.

RESOURCES


A curated list of free resources pertaining to debility, disability (including neurodivergence), disability history, disability rights, Disability Justice, accessibility and other pertinent tools. We are forever adding to these resources, this is a living and ongoing project. If you are reading this with a screen reader, the following list located below is hyperlinked and in alphabetical order with hashtags located at the bottom. 

Do you have suggestions of content to add? Updated links? Anything else? Please contact us below, would love to hear from you.
 

Ableism in Academia by Nicole Brown and Jennifer Leigh

Access Guide


Access Intimacy by Mia Mingus

Access Toolkit For Artworkers


Access Washing by Stacey Milbern

Accessibility in the Arts: A Promise and a Practice by Carolyn Lazard

Accessible PDFS — How To

ADA

ADAPT

Aestheticizing The Stutter by Tyrone Williams

Alterlivability by Aimi Hamraie

Alt Text as Poetry by Bojana Coklyat and Finnegan Shannon

Alt Text Selfies by Bojana Coklyat, Finnegan Shannon and Olivia Dreisinger

The Art of Access: Innovative Protests of an Inaccessible City by Elizabeth F. Emens

Autism and Disability in Nazi Vienna

Autism and Race

Autism Wiki

Black Disability Justice Syllabus by Sins Invalid

Black Disabled Creatives

Black Disabled Woman Syllabus by Vilissa K Thompson


Black Neurodiversity

Black Neurodiversity — Navigating Higher Education by Ben-Oni

Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction by Sami Schalk

Bookshare — Accessible Book Platform

Bookshare Discount for Individuals ("Bookshare is free for all US college and graduate students with qualifying disabilities")

A Brief History of Disability in Horror by Kristen Lopez

Can Britney Spears Vote?: Mental Disability and Suffrage by Olivia Dreisinger

Care In Uncertain Times Syllabus

Censorship of Marginalized Communities on Instagram

Center for Liberatory Practices and Poetry

Clawee by The White Pube

The Clearing by JJJJJerome Ellis

Colonial Forces of Environmental Violence on Deaf, Disabled, & Ill Indigenous People by Jen Deerinwater


Contrast Ratio Checking (one of many, use any)

A Conversation with TL Lewis: Understanding the Intersection of Disability, Ableism, Racism, & Anti-Blackness

Crip Cinema Archive

Crip Crash Course by Sins Invalid

Crip Negativity by J. Logan Smilges

Crip News by Kevin Gotkin

Crip Technoscience Manifesto

Critical Creative Corrective Cacophonous Comical: Closed Captions by Emily Watlington

Critical Design Lab

Crutches_and_spice

DeafSpace

Deaf Poets Society

The Debt-Ceiling Fight’s Collateral Damage By E. Tammy Kim

A Decolonial Feminist Epistemology of the Bed: A Compendium Incomplete of Sick and Disabled Queer Brown Femme Bodies of Knowledge by Tala Khanmalek and Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes

Design Justice Network

Diagnosis Grad School by Olivia Dreisinger

Digital Care Package (On Grief) by Design Justice Network

Disability Dongle by Liz Jackson, Alex Haagaard, Rua Williams


Disability Futures

Disability In Horror Films

Disability, Space, Architecture: A Reader by Jos Boys

Disability Visibility Project by Alice Wong

Disease Fund Finder

Dollar For — Get Relief From Hospital Bills (Free Resource)

Drag Syndrome

Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability In American Culture and Literature by Rosemary Garland Thomson

The Fashion Empire Built on Stolen Ideas by Liz Jackson and Rua Williams

Flight School by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo

Flight School Transcript by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo
(script for access purposes only—please no publishing of this text without permission)


Fragrance Free Femme of Colour Genius by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

The Gallaudet Eleven

GenderFail

Generate Your Own Insurance Appeal by Holden Karau

The Girl, The Well, The Ring by Zefyr Lisowski


Goblin Tools

Graythorn’s Ko-fi


Health Justice Commons

Heavy Air

Hedva's Disability Access Rider by Johanna Hedva

How NYC Drag Queens Revolutionized Queer Healthcare by Daniel Villarreal

How Society Forces Autistics to Become Inhibited and Passive by Dr. Devon Price

In Defense of Autistic Trans Self-Determination by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

It’s Time To Listen To Black Disabled People by Vilissa K Thompson

Index Palestine

“I Was There” ADAPT 25

Kiva Centers

Let’s Sick Dance by Dia Dear

The Links Between Disability and Domestic Violence

Lupus As an Operating System by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson

Making Disability an Essential Part of American History

Mapping Access Toolkit by Aimi Hamraie and Critical Design Lab

Medical Abuse Hotline

Moral Panics in Government-Funded Accessibility by Blake Reid

My Body Is A Prison Of Pain So I Want To Leave It Like A Mystic But I Also Love It & Want It To Matter Politically by Johanna Hedva

Neither Settler Nor Native by Mahmood Mamdani

Non-Carceral Mental Health, Care, Support and Learning Resources by Dandelion Hill

Open Dyslexic Font

Open Source Wheelchairs

Organization Means Commitment by Grace Lee Boggs

Outline For A Disability Critique of Property by David Gissen

Overmanic Zines

Painwise by Olivia Dreisinger

Palestine is Disabled

The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive

Parallels Between Prisons and Psychiatry

Pay Rate For Access Workers Now (PRAWN) by Alison Kopit and Madison Zalopany

The Peoples CDC

Personal and Intimate Care New Module by Open Future Learning

Pods and Pod Mapping Worksheet by Mia Mingus


Post-Internet Literature: Alt-Text by Olivia Dreisinger

Psychiatry Negated: Conflict and the Culture of Resistance in Italy and Brazil by S.W. Warren

Queering the Map

Queer Solidarity with Palestine: Resource Guide

The Radical Accessibility of Video Art (For Hearing People) by Emily Watlington

Repro Legal Defense Fund

Reshaping Beauty: Review of Tobin Siebers's Disability Aesthetics (2010) by Nicholas Hetrick

Resilience Journal Free Download by Yo-Yo Lin

Rethinking Residences Symposium

The Right To Maim by Jasbir Puar

Score for X by Kevin Gotkin

Sensory Shift: A Disability Arts Residency

Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native by Patrick Wolfe

Sick Building Syndrome by Michelle Murphy

Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time by Taraneh Fazeli

Sick Woman Theory (Revised 2019 version) by Johanna Hedva


Sins Invalid

Skin, Tooth and Bone: A Disability Justice Primer by Sins Invalid (not free but critical reading so it’s included)

SPACE To Stutter

A Stuttering Pride Flag

Subway Art for Palestine Project

Taking Over The Asylum: Critical psychiatry, Franco Basaglia and social struggle by John Foot

Teacher Letter For Students Who Stutter

Timeline of the Medical Industrial Complex

Triage for People of the Salt

Undue Medical Debt Guide For Navigating Medical Bills

Unmasking as a Black Neurodivergent Employee by Nancy Doyle

Web Accessibility Initiative

What Cannot Be Held by Toby MacNutt

When The World Isn't Designed For Our Bodies by Katy Waldman

Where Will We Make Our Burial? by Kimi Hanauer

White Supremacy Culture by Tema Okun

Working Definition of Ableism by Talila Lewis

Wynne Newhouse Awards

Why Palestinian Liberation Is Disability Justice by Alice Wong

W3 Free Course On Digital Accessibility

The Yarrow Collective

Zoeglossia

#DisabilityTooWhite

#EugenicsSyllabus

#StaceyTaughtUs Syllabus — Work by Stacey Park Milbern



THINGS


The Things section is our shop. We’re a publishing initiative—but that’s an expansive term. 

More than just books. And plenty of free digital downloads as well. Our new shop is coming, be sure to check back soon.
  
 
Image description, alt text embedded: A gray square that says coming soon. In the right hand corner is the cripple c logo.

Image description, alt text embedded: A gray square that says coming soon. In the right hand corner is the cripple c logo.
    

CONTACT US


Use the following form to sign up for emails. Don’t worry, we don’t like being bombarded with emails either and won‘t send them out that often. If you’d like to contact cripple, we can be reached at studio (at) cripple (dot) info. Thanks for reaching out.
   



© 2024 cripple, Emily Sara

Cripple was founded in twenty twenty by Emily Sara — emily-sara.com
Cripple is a publishing initiative and is an extention of her art and design practice. Emily is a queer, neurodivergent, disabled, artist, designer, writer and alt educator.

Code support for this website has been provided by Mariah Barden Jones who is available for design work and can be found at seahorsegirl.world

Original logo design of cripple was created by Mia Navarro, established in twenty twenty. Mia is also available for design work and can be found at mianavarro.com
Image description, alt text embedded: The cripple logo. It is of a neon green rectangle with a thick, bold letter C in the middle. The letter is very wobbly and has breaks in it's stroke, like two mouths coming ouf of it's ends. It is reminiscent of the original cripple logo by disabled designer, Mia Navarro in that it feels a bit eerie and unsettling. The word cripple is adjacent to the bottom right of the letter c.
Image description, alt text embedded: The first iteration of the cripple logo of 2020. It is of a neon green rectangle with black, thin and wonky lettering that spells out the word cripple. It was designed by Mia Navarro and feels a bit eerie and unsettling. The letters were created using steel wire, photography, and digital drawing.