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Anniversaries and Racecar Beds
Well, Tuesday officially marked the four month anniversary of this blog. If you want to buy me something nice to celebrate, I accept all major credit cards, good red wines (bonus points for sparkling wines), and deep tissue massages. All jokes aside, I’m glad to be writing this and want to thank those of you who read this blog.
This week has been hectic. I wanted to have written Tuesday, but I have been so busy. To make a long story short, I now have four children ages 5 through 14 living in my house, my partner’s nieces and nephews. I got a call on Wednesday saying that we (my partner and I) were going to go pick up the kids because their mother was about to be evicted from her apartment and she couldn’t afford to feed the kids anymore–my partner and I had bought groceries and brought them over several times in the preceding weeks.
My head was spinning as I got off the phone, wondering where we were going to put all these kids. We had one “bed” in the house–ours, a mattress on the floor, and that certainly wasn’t going to hold six people. My mind was reeling when I got home, so I went on a search for bedding. By some miracle, we found enough. I found a mattress and box springs in my attic for one, my father brought over another, an extra from his house, we found a toddler size racecar bed in the garage, and an inflatable mattress to suffice until another actual bed can be brought over. We found three sets of sheets (we had to buy a set for the racecar bed), four comforters (including two that I had made myself!) and four pillows.
Setting it all up proved to be difficult though. Stairs, as you probably know if you read this blog, are my arch nemesis. I climbed the flight in our house way more than I wanted to that day, trying to get everything set up and ready. The room looks really cute though… my Ultram and I are just going to be BFF for a couple days while I recover from too much strain.
Thanks for your patience with me while I try to get settled into all of this. I appreciate your continued reading. By the way, I added a cool little widget so that if you don’t use an RSS reader that you can be e-mailed when I update this blog. It’s up at the top, sort of on the right side, so be sure to fill in your e-mail so you can know when I write a new blog. Otherwise, add me to your RSS reader and I promise I’ll start writing interesting things again soon. TGIF!
Ableism at Work: You Want Us to Do WHAT?
The company that I am working for for the summer holds an annual convention, and this year they have decided to do a “philanthropy project” for all of their members at the convention. The company wanted to work with Habitat for Humanity, but Habitat for Humanity’s chapter in the area where the convention is to take place was not able to schedule a build with them as far in advance as my company’s deadline, so my company scrapped the idea. I did some research then and came up with a volunteer organization that builds ramps to make people’s homes wheelchair accessible. I gave the idea to some people I work with who seemed enthusiastic, but then we talked about it in the meeting today, and it seems some people are less enthusiastic about it than others. First of all, the CEO said that it was a “lame” idea, that building ramps sounded like a stupid idea, and that we should do something much more impressive with a more well-known company. He said we could work with United Way or the Red Cross, but that we didn’t want our members to think we’re small-time like this small, locally based nonprofit. We couuld do anything else, as long as it was with a big company with a big name. I found out quickly that this wasn’t about doing good, it was about making a good name for ourselves. I have felt incredibly jaded with the company since, and I am glad that this is just a summer job.
What do you all do or say when a superior says something ableist or otherwise prejudice or offensive in front of you?
Supreme Court Advocates for the Disabled Against the Insurance Companies
A very important decision came down from the Supreme Court yesterday. The case involved a woman who became disabled while working for Sears. The insurance company at first paid her benefits but two years later decided to “reevaluate” whether or not the woman, Wanda Glenn, was still disabled. A doctor said in one appointment that she would be able to do some sedentary work, but he decided shortly thereafter that he had made a mistake and that work of any kind would be of high risk to her health. The insurance company though, Metlife, continued to deny her benefits despite the opinions of her physician. The case went to the Supreme Court though and yesterday the opinion came down that there was a conflict of interest because the insurance company was both deciding whether insurance claims were legitimate and paying the benefits. Glenn was supported by the AARP and the Supreme Court sided with her. What a great victory against the insurance company. Frankly, I think the fact that insurance companies are for-profit companies is absolutely ludicrous. How completely unethical to profit off of other people’s health issues. You can read the full story on the case here.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to be revamped
The Seattle Times ran a story this morning about the ADA and the Bush administration’s plan to revamp it in response to the many war veterans who have become disabled in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new standards would require that:
• Courts would have to provide a lift or ramp to ensure that people in wheelchairs could get into the witness stand.
• Auditoriums would have to provide a lift or ramp so wheelchair users could “participate fully and equally in graduation exercises and other events.”
• Any sports stadium with a seating capacity of 25,000 or more would have to provide safety and emergency information by posting written messages on scoreboards and video monitors to alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Light switches in hotel rooms could not be more than 48 inches high. The current maximum is 54 inches.
• A new swimming pool with a perimeter of more than 300 feet would have to provide “at least two accessible means of entry,” such as a gentle sloping ramp or a chair lift.
Disturbingly, however, small businesses, even with new facilities, can opt out of the standards if they use 1% of their revenue to attempt to become more accessible. Personally, I think that the government has an obligation to its disabled citizens and should provide financial assistance to small businesses to help them become accessible. Especially in this time of struggle, I cannot think of a better reason to require accessibility for small businesses. The construction of lifts and ramps would equate jobs and accessible buildings would equate more potential patrons for small businesses. Seems like a no-brainer for the government to me.
Additionally, the new ADA would potentially be more restrictive in some areas. Wheelchairs and scooters would still be allowed everywhere, but the government could limit the use of golf carts and Segways in indoor areas. The types of animals that could be used as service animals would be limited to, “any dog or other common domestic animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks”.
Thoughts?
Wal-Mart: We’re rolling back business ethics
If you haven’t heard, Wal-mart has been sued for failing to accommodate and firing a pharmacy worker who became disabled after being shot in a robbery. The woman was still able to do her job but used a cane and required moderate accommodations. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Wal-mart, who is expected to settle out of court for $250,000 in damages and restructure their policies. You can read more on this story here.
Honestly, it’s about time someone went after Wal-mart and their discriminatory practices and horrible business ethics. Evidently this is not the first case this year either. Wal-mart lost another $300,000 earlier this year for another case involving the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It seems it would cost them less to employ better business practices rather than continue to be sued for large sums of money for discrimination. This is absolutely disgusting.
Here kitty kitty
I’ve been absolutely horrible about blogging since I’ve been back home. I’ve been so busy with the job hunt, catching up with people, trying to get the house in livable condition, family crises for both me and my partner… it’s been hectic. I intend to pick blogging back up though now that things have calmed down a bit. I have wonderful news though that may seem entirely unrelated to disability, but I assure you it’s not–I now am the mommy to three adorable kittens!
I have one more furbaby who’s not pictured here, a little black and white girl, but they are just sweet as can be. Research has been around for several years about how companion animals have a therapeutic effect on those of us who deal with illnesses and pain. My kittens have been wonderful for me–petting them and watching them wrestle around and play with each other has lifted my spirits, thus making the pain at least a little more bearable. I hope all is well for all of you out there. Thank you for the kind comments you all have left me. I hope you will keep reading, I have been thinking about this blog a lot lately and all the things I still want to talk about, so stay tuned for that. I hope you’re all having a good summer so far!
Politics of Identity
Disabled. Grrl. Femme. Queer. Dyke. Activist. Gendertrash. Working class. Survivor. Slut. Freak. Cunt. Ally. Anti-racist. Feminist. Humanist.
I think identity is a pretty radical concept. To identify allows community, solidarity, and the ability to relate to shared experiences. Too often though, people who will relate to you in one category of identity will spew oppressive attitudes toward other identities. For me personally, I have experienced this most profoundly in a queer context–indeed some of the harshest ableism I have faced has been from fellow queers. Such an idea is certainly not new or limited to a queer/disabled context though; I am reminded of a friend’s telling of the story of this years Women’s Studies conference in which bell hooks spoke about how there was no cohesive womanist movement and that women should be focusing on the feminist movement instead. It angered me to hear this, that someone who was supposedly so progressive in gender politics was at the same time so regressive about race politics. To quote Audre Lorde, “There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we don’t live single issue lives.” In other words, we must be allies to each others’ struggles. We must not step on each other to fight to the top, nor must we play the “oppression olympics”. Indeed all issues and struggles have importance.
Happy Thursday.
Blogging Against Disablism: The Right Not to Be All Right
“You need to lighten up…”
Oh, how I dread hearing these words. No, I don’t want to watch a romantic comedy, and yes, I do take myself very seriously. It’s the end of the year and I have more work than I can handle, and additional stressors have been added to the mix. I have run out of my Lyrica and am far away from my prescribing doctor, so I don’t even have that to take the edge off and I am TIRED. I need some actual rest. I am trying to deal with additional problems that are way out of my hands, and I’m then told that I need to lighten up. To take myself less seriously. I have not until this week considered the implications of these words.
It was through talking to a fellow disabled friend today that I began to look at things differently. People are right, I am cranky right now. I am subject to spells of crying, insecurity, self-deprecation, complaining, moodiness, apathy, anger, frustration, sadness, self-righteousness, hopelessness, and that’s just before lunchtime. And indeed I am sorry to those who bear the brunt of some of my bad moods. Still, I have realized that the comment that I need to lighten up was highly problematic on a number of levels.
First, it does not acknowledge my illness. I don’t think many would argue that when any of us are sleep-deprived, stressed, or in pain, we are likely to not be in the loveliest of moods. Chronically ill folks often deal with all three of these at once. To expect us to always be in a good mood or to feel like laughing and joking and having a good time is to not acknowledge our illnesses, to not understand that we are, in fact, tired and hurting and we have wants and needs when we don’t feel well, just like everyone else.
Second of all, it draws upon an issue many of us with disabilities have: the expectation of “normality”. It’s something I’ve talked about when dealing with Disability Services here (oh, and how that office could have its own blog post about the rampant ableism/disablism that exists, but don’t even get me started on that!); the expectation that things won’t come up at the most inconvenient time with our disabilities. Let me tell you though, flareups and fatigue are my normality.
I suggest then that my disability is not the problem, that perhaps it’s some others’ attitudes and expectations that are the problem. We have a right to not always be all right. We have a right to hurt and to cry and to be cranky sometimes and to be treated with neither apathy nor pity, but with understanding and patience. Accessibility is not and should not be just about ramps and elevators (though these things are certainly a lifesaver for me personally), but it should also be about addressing mental needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs.
Happy Blog Against Disablism Day.
Some Spoken Word…
“What’s wrong with you?” she says smirking
stoic staring
watching my broken body
slowly climbing eight cement steps
my own personal mountain
letting the heavy wooden door
slam in my face–
at my refusal to answer
“You’re too young to use a cane” he says
unfamiliar, uninvited
looking me up and down
as if assessing the damage
And I’m tired
of inaccessible buildings
nonworking elevators
and walking to
the furthest side of the building
to find the ramp.
But mostly I am tired
of you.
Of your adolescent curiosity
as you try to place me into categories
that don’t fit
Of not using the tools I need
because I can’t deal with
one more rude question
one more rude question
one more fucking rude question
posed by
you, southern sticky sweet
nice girl
concerned girl
cultured girl
charity-lovin’ débutante
but hey, your father’s brother’s mother’s
second cousin twice removed has a neighbor
who has one of those “cripple” kids
so you must really get it
But before you give me one more
tokenizing, stigmatizing
self-satisfying query
please
mind your own
mind your own
mind your own
fucking
business.
__
We did a spoken word workshop for my college poetry class. Spoken word is certainly not my forte in the world of poetry. For me, this was the result. Just thought I would share for those who are tired of explaining. Happy Monday.
