You're right on all counts Virginia.  There is a lot of discrimination
against disabled people.  Only about 30% or so of us are working.  Parents in
the US who have children with disabilities often go into IEP meetings having
to fight for many provisions that their children need in school, only to find
later that those provisions are not available as promised.  Accessible design
still leaves a lot to be desired, and sometimes society abides by disability
rights law only when made to do so.

On the up side though, if you look at the changes over the timeline of
history, you can see improvement -- vast improvement.  For lack of a more
compatible referent, I tend to compare our state to the state of the African
American segment of our society in the United States.  During the
Revolutionary period, Africans were considered to be lower on the
evolutionary scale.  That misconception has continued; I know in my heart
that some white people feel that way still.  But over the years, more and
more people were taking a vocal stand against slavery.  By the 19th century,
the movement to abolish slavery held firmer and more stable ground.  We have
seen tremendous changes in our own century, particularly in the middle to the
latter half.

We still have a long way to go.  Living in a melting pot of the US as you and
I do, we can see plenty of negative discrimination to go around, not only
against African Americans, but against many people who are naturalized
citizens ("ferners").  If you ever get up to Arlington, you have no doubt
driven down Columbia Pike.  On the Eastern side past Glebe Road, that section
has been known as "The Ho Chi Minh (sp?) Trail" for years.  It just happens
to be where immigrants from Vietnam have settled.  If we lived in collectives
like that, nondisabled people would call them "Crip City," "Freakville," or
some other derogatory term.

People still ridicule us, that's true.  I remember bumper stickers that read
"Hire the handicapped.  They're fun to watch."  Everybody on this list has a
story about being abused in some way, I'm certain of that.  But we are moving
in a forward direction, I think.  We just have to keep moving forward and
thinking of the next generation.  Will we accept the current standards for
them?

My Mom is in the hospital right now.  The list knows that, and has expressed
heartfelt kindness on her behalf.  I've had trouble going to see her for a
number of reasons, not the least of which because the hospital grounds staff
decided that the best place to shovel all the snow was in the curb ramps and
handicap access areas of the parking lot.  The first day I went to see her
after her surgery, I pulled a muscle in my shoulder trying to negotiate my
chair through the snow.  Now it hurts to walk using my crutches, or to use my
chair, and I'm trying not to aggravate whatever I've done to my shoulder.

If I don't say anything, they are going to continue the practice of piling
snow in places that we need for access.  I've spoken to the hospital staff
and the director no less than three times this week -- to no avail.  Now I'm
going to write a letter to the administrator, and send a copy to the
Alexandria Commission for Persons with disabilities, and to the Fairfax
County Commission for Disabled Persons since there is an Inova Hospital in
that County as well (two as a matter of fact, I believe).  The next time it
snows, I will probably not need to go to the Alexandria Inova hospital, but
someone else who has a disability will.  Maybe they will fall and become
seriously injured while trying to visit a sick relative.  Maybe they can be
spared that fall, but not if the problem is not brought to the attention of
those who can effect change.

So...I'm mad.  I've hurt myself just trying to visit my Mother and it
shouldn't have happened.  But now I have to do something about it so it
doesn't happen to the next person.  That's how I respond to my own anger and
frustration.  It's a positive move to make things better, and it makes me
feel empowered too -- that's the terrific byproduct.  I expect the medical
community to lead by example; I intend to let them know that.

This is just food for thought.  It's just the way I manage my anger and
frustration.

Betty















In a message dated 02/03/2000 6:10:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<
      I feel there is a lot of discrimination against disabled people. Look
 around you. Some disabled people work, but a lot of disabled people still do
 not have a job. There are still disabled kids who are unable to get the
 education they deserve. Most public bulidings only have limited access and
 some still have no access for people in wheelchairs. After all how can a
 person in a wheelchair open the door to a public restroom and keep it open
 until they are all the way in. I think all public restrooms should have a
 door that opens automaticly. This would be a great help to people who are
 wheelchair bound. I don't mean to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings.
  >>