Hello,

I live in Maryland and I work in DC.

I am trying to keep my comments free of politics.

whatever one thinks of Obama or McCain, her decision to have and raise this child makes me feel good.

as for getting pregnant at an older age, I have worked in risk assessment for over 10 years.? People take risks every day.? There are stupid risks that harm other people, such as driving drunk.? and then there are risks that people take and they hope for the best, which she clearly did.? However, there is something truly troublesome to me in a type of finger-pointing, as in 'she should not have assumed that risk.'

the reality is, we all take risks.? we take risks crossing the street.? more seriously, we take risks when we decide to major in a particular subject, or forego a college education.? we take the risk that there will be a job for us.

having CP or other disabilities/impairments, we take risks when we accept a job. the risk that the employer will not give in to capitalist excess and force us to work a 7 AM to 10 PM day,and I have heard of that.

and we all take risks when we have children.? if we have them, there is the risk that they won't turn out well and that goes for every parent.

sorry for lecture.

that said

in my NOT too humble opinion, the neglect of the impaired/disabled in DC has reached crisis proportions.

DC is a strange place.? you can go less than a mile from somewhere where the 'most powerful people in the world' congregate and then you see devastation.

it is not physical devastation per se.? people have enough to eat.? it is the devastation of people who have been told they do not matter, from an early age.? and many of them are physically or mentally disabled.

this goes beyond politics.? I personally feel the most bitter disappointment in the hierarchy of the Catholic church, b/c they have chosen to ignore this, although it seems there is some improvement.

there is one doctor who seems very good.? he is a psychiatrist.? Dr. Paul McHugh.? he is concerned about issues of both physical and mental disability.

he has a book, the mind has mountains, which covers a variety of topics but among them, he addresses what he calls 'annihilating Terri Schiavo.'

and then there is E. Fuller Torrey.? he is another psychiatrist who fights this.


I don't know of 'regular' or 'physical' doctors who fight this neglect.? there must be some.? psychiatrists are doing it b/c it has become very bad for the mentally ill and those who love them, due to managed care and the virtually complete denial of treatment if you cannot 'self-pay' which is extremely expensive.

one thing that really upset me

it was not here, it was on a message board

is that when I started writing about disability and mental illness, I was told by a woman that she didn't want to hear it.

she said

'get the crazy people out of my club.'

and I got angry with her but I left.

I do think there is a tendency for physically impaired/disabled and mentally ill/disabled people to sometimes see each other as not having that much in common.

and while that is true in a lot of ways I think it is really unfortunate b/c we are all subject to neglect from the excesses of people who believe in extreme self-sufficiency.

having had mental illness (mood disorders, now much better) and CP, both.? this really bothers me.

but anyway

Paul McHugh has some very strong things to say about disability rights in that book, the mind has mountains.

and I hope that whoever wins the next election, they listen to him.

take care,

Mary Katherine






 


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