Wanted: A Leader

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 01, 2008 · 3:17 PM PDT

2008/04/01 · 15:17

I wrote this in 2005 (with recent edits) and thought it relevant.

*****

The disabled community had a leader once, Justin Dart Jr. Father of the ADA.. A man I met once when, in 1996, he spoke at a local community college. He was amazing, and when I finally met him I was too awestruck and shy to say much. I was in the prime of my advocacy, constantly fighting for one access issue or another at the college I attended.

You have to know our history before you can even begin to know the mindset. The holocaust, forced sterilization, and various civil rights laws that granted disabled people an equal education or equal access, not to mention mercy killings and assisted suicide. Our movement is far from young, and also far from over.

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 21, 2008 · 12:51 PM PDT

2008/03/21 · 12:51

Disability is, for the most part, seen by mainstream society as a wartime issue. Many veterans come home from war zones with various disabilities, and everyone rightly pays attention. But as the Walter Reed scandal showed us, more attention needs to be paid to all people with disabilities and the services available to us.

Veterans with and without disabilities are national heroes and deserve the best services - everyone agrees on that. But what about others with disabilities? What about veterans whose disabilities are permanent, who need services that help with vocational training and personal attendant care, not to mention vital transportation options?

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 16, 2008 · 12:02 AM PDT

2008/03/16 · 00:02

In the 1920s, many states practiced forced sterilization. In the 30s, the Third Reich adopted forced sterilization and later euthanasia. A few decades later, the US and other countries outlawed both practices as inhumane.

Fast forward to the 21st century, when inclusion in schools is mandated and the disability movement is building stronger than ever. Forced sterilization is again being debated after Seattle doctors "treated" Ashley X at the request of her parents. When Ashley began showing early signs of puberty, the parents requested that, for her "benefit", she stay a child. Her uterus and breast buds were removed, and high doses of estrogen were administered to this end. Her parents claim she’s better off this way since a small child is easier for them and others to care for, and that due to the ease of care, she will be able to experience more.

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 12, 2008 · 1:29 AM PDT

2008/03/12 · 01:29

Watching the news tonight, I saw a clip from one of Sen. Clinton’s speeches where she used the word ‘retard’ when discussing an energy bill. While I respect that people believe we’ve been held down by so-called PC terms, the reality is that some terms are offensive no matter the subject. The connotation of that term in the public consciousness is as bad as ‘cripple’. Both have been and are still used to degrade people with disabilities.

I’ve already given my support to Sen. Obama, but hearing Sen. Clinton use that word would’ve made up my mind for me. My views on that term are too skewed by my own history of being ridiculed and my knowledge that others have had the same experience. Every minority group has words that have previously been used against them, and mainstream society has adopted the prohibition of the offensive terms. Why not the terms ‘retard’ and ‘cripple’, terms that have been used as negatives against people with disabilities for decades?

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 11, 2008 · 1:46 AM PDT

2008/03/11 · 01:46

Medical marijuana (MMJ) needs to be addressed as far as legalization on a federal level. It’s offensive, not to mention dangerous on many levels, to have to hide the need for MMJ even when you live in a state where it’s legal. And while some states have legalized MMJ, there’s a lot to be said for educating the public (not to mention local authorities) on those laws. Without a law on a federal level, you also cannot travel with MMJ. States who have legalized it have no way of transferring authorizations, so to speak.

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 10, 2008 · 1:55 AM PDT

2008/03/10 · 01:55

On the Obama Disability Policy blog, I wrote about possible ways to make programs better. There are two sections: Social Security Administration and "One-Stop" Shop (instead of the run-around we have now).

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 09, 2008 · 1:58 AM PST

2008/03/09 · 01:58

Say you grow up disabled. You have therapists of any color you need (physical, occupational, speech, psychological) and a whole team that includes your parents who come up, every year, with your IEP – Individualized Education Plan. You have bus drivers you know on a first name basis, and a teacher dedicated to you and others like you - a "special education" teacher (though they’ve gone through a few different names in the past couple decades). In high school, you may even gain another teacher to prepare you for a transition to work. Then boom....

Everything stops.

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 08, 2008 · 4:00 AM PST

2008/03/08 · 04:00

Rather than leave my posts on my page at MyBO (Barack Obama), I'm going to repost them here - either as is or with minor changes. This is the first of such posts; it explains my journey through the years with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

*********

I began with Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) when I was 16. They agreed to pay for driving lessons at the local university where they had a modified van (which they did). From my memory, which is not always completely correct, they had also agreed to pay for van modifications after I got my license.

They never did.

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 07, 2008 · 3:03 PM PST

2008/03/07 · 15:03

Millions of dollars are paid out in social security benefits. Millions of disabled people who could work, some with accommodation and some without, are stuck in the benefit system. But let me posit this scenario...

Millions of people with various disabilities were able to enter, or re-enter, the workforce. Instead of being paid every month by the government, and not being required to pay taxes, they were paid by employers and paid all the various taxes.

You would think this is a logical argument for better social services that, while they may cost more at the outset – though not by much – the millions of new tax paying citizens would offset that cost. With everyone worried about the future of social security, you’d think everyone would be interested in a scenario such as this.

Altwheels

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 11, 2007 · 1:00 AM PST

2007/12/11 · 01:00

44,968 people.

According to the Residential Information Systems Project, the official organization that compiles these numbers annually, that's the number of "Developmentally Disabled/Mental Retardation" patients living in institutions nationwide. By 2006, that number had decreased to 38,172.

That number is still unacceptable.

When people think of institutions, they think of the developmentally disabled and those with psychiatric disabilities. While mostly true, that notion doesn't paint a realistic picture.

RSS

Wanted: A Leader

(Lack Of) Perception: Veterans, Disability, and the Economy

Ashley X: Treatment or Convenience

Power of Words

Addressing Medical Marijuana

Social Services: Ideas for Better Programs

Good Morning, You Have A Disability!

Social Services: Experiences with Vocational Rehabilitation

Economy, Disability, and the 2008 Primaries

Institutions: Making the Invisible Even More Invisible