cherylberyl

My Blog is Group Therapy

cherylberyl — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:26:00 GMT

Your Blog Can Be Group Therapy

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/05/07/blog.therapy/index.html

I got to this article randomly last night through a combination of allpost & the Disability Blog Carnival --which I am hosting right here in just over a month. Topic chosen, but under lock and key... Thought I would torture people with that tease of a shameless plug. You know 6 degrees of separation? This article took exactly 6 clicks to get to. It's from May. Here are some excerpts:

"A 2005 survey by Digital Marketing Services for AOL.com a found nearly half of the 600 people polled derived therapeutic benefits from personal blogging...

"Writing long has been considered a therapeutic outlet for people facing problems... But it's the public nature of blogs that creates the sense of support. Reading someone else's blog can be surprisingly beneficial, says MightyGirl.net blogger Margaret Mason... 'Blogging can create an instant support system, especially at a time when you might not have the energy or resources to seek out people who've shared your experiences...'

"John Suler, a psychology professor at Rider University in New Jersey, [says] 'going public with one's thoughts and experiences can be a self-affirming process.' He and other experts say blogging shouldn't replace face-to-face counseling -- although it can complement sessions when a patient shares their writing with the therapist... 'It's a form of group therapy,' says Leah [a social worker and writer of EveryoneNeedsTherapy.blogspot.com]. 'Not only can you express your feelings, but you can get comments, and that creates a dialogue.'"

My Blog is Group Therapy. Is Yours?

I wasn't intending to go out and find this article. In fact I wasn't intending to go out and find anything. It just so happens that I stumbled across a gem in only 6 clicks. It says what I can't always say to people--the people who think someone is going to come after me with an axe, or the people who read this on facebook and find a big problem with the fact that I focus on only one subject. To those people I want to say, HELLO!!!! This blog is hosted on www.disaboom.com . What else is it going to be about? If I had intended to cover a wider scope, I would have hosted on blogger, typepad, or wordpress.

Those people, and other people I know in real life who do not read this blog, have some huge problem with the fact that over the last year and a half, more and more of my focus has been on disability. Well, to give a very simple answer to their seemingly simple, but actually very complex question of why, because I'm 23, THAT'S WHY.

They think my focus is on disability because I seem to have this need to draw attention to my differences and use them to my advantage. Correct me if you're reading this and I've got you wrong. Truth is, the more I immerse myself in disability, the more I DON'T want to do that anymore.

Really, seriously, this is all just simply because I am 23. Aren't co-eds supposed to be liberal go-getter tree-huggers who go attacking companies for using animal testing, or take a strong stand (either liberal or conservative) on the war, abortion, or gun control, or a plethora or other hot button topics? I've only gotten so deep into disability to fulfill my natural duty as a red-blooded 23 y.o. American co-ed. I don't have any ulterior motive. Unless having a strong need to educate people, help people live more independently, etc is an ulterior motive that is. Look,

I HEART CRIPPLES, AND I AM VERY PROUD TO BE A CARD CARRYING SPAZ.

OK???

[picture description: Timmy & Jimmy, from the Krazy Kripples episode of Southpark]

It was roughly a year ago that I stumbled across BADD 2007 in trying to research ableism. And then I forgot about it and found it again in Sept. And I hermited (is that a word?) myself in my room for 3 or 4 days and just read blogs, mostly BADD postings, under the guise of 'I have to. There might be something good in here for the workshop.' At some point I came across DBC and read some of those too. And I liked what I read.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I needed the disability blogsphere to play a part in my life. Partially because I can only stand to hear so much worry from people who think the focus of my life is misguided. Mostly because I haven't found a single disability blogger who is in the closet. If you're "disaphobic" you won't be hanging with us cool gimps (or our allies, I'm cool with anyone who's cool with us).

After spending my early years trying unsuccessfully to pass, my tween years feeling dejected because there is just no way a spaz (even a mostly walking spaz) can ever pass, and my teen years just lost (because if I couldn't pass, now what?) it was nice to come across people who seemed to have a very solid sense of who they are. And who they are is a crip. If you can't hide it, embrace it. I'm not saying that being a crip is all roses, you all know that, but it is rather freeing to be comfortable in your own skin (or at least start to be). The more I blog the more I seem to be OK with who I am. Because you all seem to be OK with who you are.

[picture description: DISABLED & PROUD]

People are still going to find it hard to understand how I could feel a close commoradery with a bunch of people I'll likely never meet. I'm not sure I could ever really explain that to someone. For those of you reading through facebook or a random google search, maybe this will help. When anyone finally becomes out and proud, or starts on that journey to become so, there is just this innate magnetic attraction towards others like you. Especially when you've always been different. When we can crack jokes about wheelchairs and artificial limbs, we're finally on the inside instead of off on the side just watching-- watching all the other kids play soccer or learn to drive or get to "second base." It always feels nice to be part of the incrowd.

With disability, this is harder to achieve because we are still being encouraged to pass as much as possible, even by people who are well-meaning and seem to "get it". We're also still being denied the right to claim ourselves as a minority and a culture. So there are just less of us who are out. Personally, I prefer the uppity intellectual crip, so that limits connections even further for me. The club is even smaller.

So then, well, I don't drive, for example. Fictitious person John, a quadriplegic, who does drive, can't get into fictitious person Suzie's house (say she has aspergers) because there are stairs to the front door. But if I could only get to Suzie's house, I could get in, because those stairs have a railing. OY!!!

Blogging just works for us uppity intellectual crips. Blogging works for me. Blogging is 100% barrier free. Bloggers need not be able to walk, talk, hear (it's 99% text, except for stupid embedded, uncaptioned youtube videos), type (voice recognition software), or even see the screen (that's what screen readers are for).

[picture description: stairs with a red circle/slash and the words barrier removal team]

"Blogging can create an instant support system, especially at a time when you might not have the energy or resources to seek out people who've shared your experiences." To Margaret Mason: YOU GO GIRL!!! The woman summed up this whole long post in one sentence.

Click Here, There, and Everywhere, Or the Curse of Alltop.com (with a bit on Britan's Missing Top Model Mixed In)

cherylberyl — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:49:00 GMT

I want to thank DeafMom for the breaking news that alltop.com has a new disabiity page. Click the logo to be directed there. I'm not being scarcastic at all. Alltop is AWESOME (do you think that will get me moved up the list?). Hopefully in a few days, as people figure out that the page is there, we'll be getting more traffic here. Besides just www.disaboom.com, there are 9 on-site Disaboom blogs listed (including mine & DeafMom's), as well as 4 off site blogs written by fellow Disaboomers.

But I have a problem with Alltop. It works too well. I LOVE IT! I don't really read offsite blogs other then on carnival day. It's too burdensome to click here, there, and everywhere. Disaboom makes it so easy. A bunch of great blogs all in one spot. Here comes Alltop and it does the same thing. WHOO HOO! How great!

Right... until you actually start using Alltop. It sucks you in like a vortex, and it hasn't even been around for a week. Alltop certainly works. Yesterday through Alltop I discovered a great blog by Patrica Bauer, Disability News. It's also a very comprehensive site. A one stop shop of all things great in disability news. By all, I really do mean all. Alltop lists your last 5 posts and an excert from each one. Patrica's last 5 posts were all from between 6:04 and 7:47 this morning. And they all sound incredibly interesting. Now how is a girl supposed to keep up with that? Especally in the fall when I have a jam packed schedule.

Here comes what I am going to call the "click here phenomenon" or maybe the "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie phenomenon." You see, all I did was click on the folder in my bookmarks toolbar labeled Blog Roll. From there my first site is Alltop Disability. Seems innocent enough. Except that once I was on Alltop I then clicked on Patrica Bauer's blog. The first post listed was about the new British reality show Britain's Missing Top Model. Under her Headlines Column is listed a link to another post of her's that links to the youtube video below. In the very beginning of the show there is a voiceover from one of the judges. “Disability has a natural place in life, so why shouldn’t it be a part of fashion?” That certainly caught my attention. So of course I was compelled to watch the entire 1st episode, contained in six different parts.

The video is not captioned even though there are 2 deaf contestants. That pisses me off.

One of the contestants is a part-time wheeler. You'll notice if you look at the end of part 5. For most of the show she was walking, and then all of a sudden she rolled in to meet with the judges. I did a double take and had to rewind it. There was no mention of it in an interview or a voiceover or anything at all. All I can say to that is YES!!! If you're a walkie or a full-time wheeler you'll never feel what I feel, being that I have an ever changing combination of crutches, AFOs, UCBs, my Jazzy, and my rarely used Quickie. In the summer I like to wear my Naots and then use absolutely nothing at all. You see, as most of you know, to the AB world disability is black and white. But in addition to the "people with invisable disabilities are lying" crap is the "people only walk or don't walk" crap. The "sometimes walk" thing doesn't exist. People don't know what to do with it. So the fact that a part-time wheeler is getting TV exposure, and that it just is what it is, does fill me with a bit of glee.

From youtube I then went to the show's site because I was curious to find out what this Disability Bitch thing was. From there, I clicked to see Miss Bitch's blog. I read about how Disability Bitch loves Chinese disability awareness. Not sure how I feel about that. I also became her fan on Facebook. And then somehow, I went to check out Spastic Fantastic, by Laurence Clark. In that post Laurence linked to a 2003 Ouch! survey of the 10 most offensive words. Can someone please explain to me what a window-licker is? I was about to go off on a tangent about the word special, but that deserves it's own post.

Alltop became my "cookie" today, and I'm sure I had better things to do. What am I supposed to do with Alltop then? Pretend it doesn't exist. I can't do that, I like it too much, and I like blogging too much. But it is certainly a problem for me.

Students Work on AT for the Blind, Google Maps, Employment Sites, & Creature Discomforts

cherylberyl — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:45:00 GMT

A few small stories for you:

Usability Meets Security: Professor, students address challenges facing blind computer users

http://www.towson.edu/main/abouttu/newsroom/usability031408.asp

"As crucial as they are to thwarting spam, CAPTCHAs present a formidable obstacle to blind or visually impaired users." So 2 professors and an undergraduate computer information systems major at Towson University set out to find alternitive CAPTCHAs "...that would be equally usable by people with and without impairments."

Read the article to find out more.

Sight for the Blind and Speech for the Deaf: AProfessor Turns Cellphones into aids for the Disabled

http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i42/42a01302.htm

"Ms. Narasimhan, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, soon became the hub for [4] student research projects that develop technologies to assist the disabled by doing such tasks as identifying buses or translating sign language into spoken words. Their creations turn the most ubiquitous device on a college campus — the cellphone — into an independence-enhancing machine."

Besides the project mentioned above, the other 3 projects are technology that will allow people (any person) to not only access local bus schedules from their cellphone, but also detirmine whether busses are running on time, enable cellphones to read UCP codes so that a blind user can easilly identify a product, and allow redially avalible cellphone cameras to become currency readers.

2 of these projects caught my interest. The first is the currency reader, being this is a hot button issue at the moment. The second is the ability to pull up bus schedules and current locations at a moments notice.

Some people I know don't understand why I don't use the bus at all. Becaue I qualify for paratransit, all I have to do is flash my yellow ID card and the bus is free. Bus schedules are why. My eye tracking is bad. I don't see anyway that I can read a bus schedule. I'd probably have to have it read to me. If I were to go to the same place at the same time of day repeatedly, well then I'd probably have that memorized, but what if that bus doesn't show? Then what? I won't know any of the other times. Completely randomly, recently I came to know that in addition to driving dirrections, google maps will complete your trip by public transportation, including such details as walk from your building to X corner for the bus, and how many minutes it takes to walk there. Plug in the time you need to get there by and they even give you 3 different options to choose from. That's great! If I miss the bus, I have the next one already written down. But what if I go somewhere and have no idea what time I'm leaving? Then what? If I had something at my fingertips that could read to me the next bus, I'd take the bus all the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recently I got an email with a link to this site. It says the employment sites are targted at college students, but the job postings I saw looked like anyone could appy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And lastly, I'm on the update list for the Creature Discomforts Campaign, even though I don't live in the UK. The email I got said, "Leonard Cheshire Disability unveils six brand new Creature Discomforts characters online [last Thurday] ... From next Wednesday and throughout the summer the characters will appear in adverts on ITV, online and at bus stops. The adverts will be gradually revealed online over the next two weeks."

To Gen Yers (20-somethings) is it all in our heads now?

cherylberyl — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:24:00 GMT

Today I did a guest lecture in class. Identity Development & Disability. It wasn't my favorite presentation, in fact after my Disability and the Family presentation of 4mos ago (the last one I did) which was fantastical, I'm a bit disappointed. But whatever. True to all the presentations I've ever given to adults, I got a thank you from someone after class. That's all that matters. I got someone to think. In fact, my professor, a developmental psychologist, told me that while I was talking she kept thinking of ideas for research. Please do them.

I'm off on a tangent. Sometimes I ask this when I talk, but not in the same way really as I did today. As a starting point, "What is the first thing you noticed about me?" Mind you this is the 5th week of class. Only one person answered.

"You contribute a lot in class."

That was it. From the looks on people's faces, he'd sumed it up. The professor said unless someone saw me get out of my chair (kept in the hall during class), if they just saw me sitting there in a desk, they wouldn't know?

WHAT?!?!?! What about my waddle. What about my mild speech issues? HUH?!?!?! Not what I was expecting at all. A friend called me and reamed me out after this post, not understanding why I wouldn't choose to get rid of my CP. She'd get rid of it in a heartbeat. It's the first thing people notice when they see you and she HATES it. Apparently not.

Come to the issue of people rushing to open doors for me and/or in my oppinion, opening them for themselves and then keeping them open longer then socially normal because here I come along. I bring this up A LOT. It's a hot button issue for me. Time and time again I get people (including this professor) who assert that they don't just do that for me. They're just nice people. And they sound completely genuine about it.

The whole experiance was actually very unsettling for me. I've only recently been doing peer presentations. In high school we purposly didn't do them. The coordinator of the program I was in thought it would make people too uncomfortable. Freshman year I think I did 4 or so to undergrad/grad special ed majors. But that was different. That was more of a business talk. So I've done a lot with kids and a fair amount with professionals, but really I've only done peers for the last 2 semesters. It's certainly been different. I'm confused though because I started this after a guy was doing a talk and people said they think of PWDs as people in wheelchairs, the elderly, or little children. Except when I talk, I'm not getting that.

Little kids still stare at me all the time, but teens/peers/"real" adults do not. Why? Why aren't I different? Why aren't I a freak anymore? Truth be told, I'd rather be a freak. I've grown up a freak and an outcast. It's what I know.

So maybe it's all in our heads. Maybe what we experiance now in our lives is a projection of residual feelings from growing up so different. Maybe I'm still so awkward now because I assume too much how people will react to me. Maybe I'm not giving people a fair shot. Or maybe I created a self fufiling prophicy. I don't know.

I'm not saying that ableism isn't alive and well, what I'm proposing is that since we are now mature "adults" we know better, and us AB gen Yers just no longer see the big deal. I hope I'm right. How cool would that be? I googled Gen Y. Some sites put us as a very narrow segment, but I found a somewhat consensus of people born between 1977 and 1989-97 (so let's say 93). We Gen Yers are 31-15.

To compare ableism to racism again, I hope most people would agree that Gen Yers are predominately not raceist. Of course some people will always be raceist, but we didn't grow up in a racially segregated world. Accepting peers of a different race is second nature. At least to me.

IDEA was passed in 1975 2 years before any Gen Yers were born. I hope we all started school mainstreamed/included, or at the very least, when appropriate, in a segregated classroom within a predominately regular education school. While I know services needed to be fought for us to be there, we were still there. We had just as much right as any AB kid to be there.

At 23, I'm smack dab in the middle of Gen Y. The ADA was passed when I was 5. I don't remember life without it. I can get into a movie theatre, or a mall, without it being an issue. Not all places are accessible, there are places down the street from me in older buildings that still have steps outside, but my point is, even though things still aren't perfect, I generally feel perfectly welcome to go about my merry way within society.

Maybe that's because my disability isn't severe. Maybe I'm in quite a good mood today and I'm idealizing society. Maybe if I came back to this severly depressed I'd think I wrote this on crack. I don't know...

We weren't hidden in someones back room or thrown away to institutions. Gen Yers didn't grow up in an abley segregated society. So maybe, like in the case of race, AB Gen Yers just don't know any different. Maybe it's second nature. I can hope.

Yes, as kids AB Gen Yers could be pretty cruel. Kids are still cruel to kids now. Kids are cruel to the disabled kid, the fat kid, the kid with bad acne, the poor kid without a lot of clothes, the socially awkward kid--AB or otherwise, for that matter, a popular kid who shows up at school with a bad haircut. Kids also stare at me, yes. But kids are equal opportunity bulliers. Anyone is fair game. Kids just have this thing with different. Maybe it's developmental? Am I saying that excuses such behavior? No. Kids need to be taught that it's just plain wrong to do such things.

But maybe people have done a good job at that. Like people like me. I used to talk to 3rd graders about my disability. Adults don't generally make fun of people who got a bad haircut (or so again I hope). So maybe when they reach a level of maturity where their brains develop enough to realize that staring and taunting is wrong and start accepting the guy with a bad haircut, they also accept all us gimps. I hope.

Or maybe I just hang around a university with intellectual people of a similar socioeconomic status. Maybe it's just that select segment of the population. Maybe things are different in other geographical regions or in areas with different level of education and socioeconomic status.

I hope not. Cause then as we begin to take over the county I'll start to really believe that I'm no longer an outcast.

A Salute to a Maryland Athlete (Baltimore Sun)

cherylberyl — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:10:00 GMT

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bal-te.md.ho.mcfadden30jun30,0,1805374.story

"[Tatyana] McFadden, 19, a member of the U.S. Paralympics team that will compete in China in September, had limited endorsement opportunities when she competed in Athens four years ago. But since then, she and other disabled athletes have noticed a marked rise in corporate sponsorship opportunities.

'It's an eye-opener to the whole world,' the Clarksville resident said. 'People will see us. People will get to see what the Paralympics are all about.' ...

McFadden, who will be featured on 100 million 16- and 21-ounce cups in McDonald's establishments across the country, is among a growing number of athletes with disabilities who are being sought out by corporate America for sponsorships.

As unseemly behavior among able-bodied athletes has become more prevalent in recent years, corporate America has increased its efforts to reach out to athletes with disabilities, said Dave Rosenberg, executive vice president of GMR Marketing, a San Francisco firm that matched McFadden with Hilton. ...

In addition to Hilton and McDonald's, McFadden has sponsorships with Princeton Sports in Columbia and Eagle Sportschairs, a Georgia-based manufacturer of wheelchairs for athletes. ...

'Tatyana's story is one of determination and leadership, and we are tremendously inspired by her athletic achievements, her efforts to advocate equal opportunities for athletes with disabilities, as well as her strong, loving bond with her adopted family,' said Dianna Vaughan, vice president of marketing for Hilton Hotels."

Accessible/Universial Design: Somebody Actually Gets It!!!!! (WOOT!)

cherylberyl — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:40:00 GMT

I'm surprised that I haven't come on here and ranted and raved about the gym at all. You see, the gym was open even after finals were over, but then the Friday before summer school started was the last day that it was open--until further notice. They were doing "repairs." I went there the first week of summer school, found out, and left. Somehow I heard it was opening back up the following Monday. So that Tuesday I got in my Jazzy and sped over, only to be told by someone in campus rec to try back early next week. I had really been looking foward to a good 2mi run that day. . Instead of wasting my time changing and going over there, last week I got smart and called first. "Try early next week." AAARRRGGG. Seriously? Can't you tell me anything better then that? It had been so long since I'd gone for a good workout (my own fault) that I didn't know what I was going to do. Have a temper tantrum maybe? I NEED TO RUN!!! I was starting to lose faith that it was ever going to open back up.

So the other day I went on the campus rec site. It said it was opening up yesterday. I was still a tad bit skeptical, so yesterday morning I called again. "Will the gym be open today?" "Yes, yes, it will be open at noon" (regular summer hours). Insert happy dance.

I went today right after class. Trust me when I say that it was well worth the wait. When I got in there I parked my chair in my usual parking spot and then my mouth hung open. Nothing was "different." They hadn't done any repairs at all. But where was half the stuff? It was missing. Where did it go? All I saw was empty space. Huh???

It took a bit for it all to sink in. Wait a minute! The front desk is in a different spot... It's a new front desk... It's a lower front desk... The front desk is wheelchair height! I'm not a full-time wheeler, I don't work out in the chair ever. I always get out. But I can still appreciate the awesomeness that it was. And you know what? Now that the counter is lower, the desk attendant doesn't have to stand for the whole shift. There's a chair there. I'm sure they appreciate it. Why look at that... accessible design benefits everyone.

The first thing I always do when I work out is get on a recumbant bike. It loosens my bum knee enough so that it can do everything else I want it to do. They're upstairs and I'm always lazy and use the elevator to get up there. My Dr would rather I use the stairs I'm sure, but my view is that I'd rather save my energy for the workout, not waste it on the stairs. Hmmm... was there a bit more room to get to the corner where the elevator is?

Get off the elevator. WHOO... where did all the empty space come from up here? Well some absolute genius decided to turn all the cardio around so that they faced long ways instead of short ways. Now instead of 5 short rows of cardio machines there are 2 very long ones. Everything was so far apart. By shifting all of the machines 90 degrees it created so much more space. I counted the floor tiles. 3 tiles between the back of the first row and the front of the second row. I wish my eyes didn't suck. I wish my brain had the capacity to interperate distance. I wish I had even half a clue how big each tile that is. Minimal clearance under ADA guidelines is 36in. I'm pretty sure each of them is more then a foot. You have no idea how frustrated I am that I don't know.

Because they moved the cardio, they then had to relocate the 4 TVs they had up there. Before, when the machines were short ways the TVs were too small for anyone in the back to see them. With machines only 2 deep, everyone can see now. For those that are people watchers, instead of the machines facing a wall, they now face the balcony so that if you don't want to watch TV you're welcome to watch everyone lifting downstairs. There are mirrors on the wall directly behind where the cardio stuff is now. That's the area set up for sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, etc. Because the cardio's been moved, there's more room back there. What's that you say again? Accessible design really does benefit everyone. I'd like to note that there's still the same number of machines up there. They didn't get rid of any.

Then I went downstairs to lift. Why did they flip everything around so that the free weights are cloesest to the entrance and the machines are over at the other end now? *Lightbulb Moment* Full-time wheelers are less likely to transfer to machines to work out. Free weights and the 2 cable machines (I heart cable machines) are much easier to use from a chair. Putting them closer to the door makes them easiest to get to and puts you closer to the desk if you need assistance. And what does anyone else care? Nothing's missing over there either. As I walked through that area to get to a good spot to do my floor work, I tried to count all the floor tiles every time there was a change in distance between things. Some things were apart by 5 tiles, some 6, some so far apart I lost count. Oh HOLY COW is the clearance amazing over there now. If you're AB and hurt yourself and am hobbleing around on crutches, that doesn't mean you can't work out you upper body. All of that clearance makes it so much easier to hobble.

I did some floor work right between the free weights and the machines. After I got down, but before I got started, I scaned the area. Did they get rid of any of the machines to make that extra room? Everything was in a different spot. Where's this? Where's that? Well this is over here, and that's over there. All machines present and accounted for. Again they managed to make things more accessable without getting rid of a thing. All machines seem to be at least 36in at least on one side, if not both. Maybe I should take the chair for a spin to check that out for sure? The only machine completely inaccessible is the chin dip thingy. It's blocked by a support beam from the balcony. But no wheeler can get up on that thing. I can't get up on that thing.

Is the whole gym accessible? No. Besides the chin dip, the 2 very small rows of cardio downstairs are still rediculously close. But to seperate them would mean completely blocking all access to the elevator, or stealing clearance from the free weights. Leave them where they are. I'd rather have elevator access and extra clearance. There's enough cardio upstairs.

I've had more then a few gripes with this school through the years. There are things that they just don't get. Lately, people have made my blood boil a bit. This was nice to see for a change. Campus rec got a new director over the winter, and my understanding is that no one asked him to do this. My understanding is that they weren't reported or anything. My understanding is that this was one of his first orders of business. My understanding from talking with disability support is that he initiated everything. Can I get a cheerleader with pom poms in a short skirt who can jump high in the air and cheer? Somebody gets it finally. Accessible design benefits everyone and doesn't take all that much effort or money. The only new thing they got was the lower desk. And what's moving 4 TVs in the scheme of things?

If you live in Maryland

cherylberyl — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:53:00 GMT

Now Accepting Applications
The Coordinating Center is accepting applications for the Leaders in Disability Policy program. This program is an excellent opportunity for individuals with disabilities and those who are passionate about disability policy to learn how the government works and to gain the skills needed to effectively address the policies that affect their lives and communities. The curriculum is designed to address the diverse issues that people with disabilities and their families care about and is applicable for individuals at all skill levels. Classes are held in accessible locations and accomodation needs will supported.

If you know of an individual, family member, or provider who would be interested in or benefit from this innovative program, please forward this information. You can find out more by visiting our website at http://www.bealeader.info.

Applications will be accepted until August 1, 2008.

Sponsors make this program possible
It is the generosity of our sponsors that ensures the continued success of Leaders in Disability Policy. Please let me know if you can recommend an individual or organization as a potential sponsor.

If you have any questions or need more information, do not hesitate to contact me.

Jodie Sumeracki
Program Manager
jsumeracki@coordinatingcenter.org

Leaders in Disability Policy
At The Coordinating Center
8258 Veterans Highway
Millersville, MD 21108
(410) 987-1048, Ext. 161
(410) 987-1685 (fax)

*Leaders in Disability Policy was intially funded through a grant from the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council

Powerchair: A Very Dichotomous Piece of Equipment

cherylberyl — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:52:00 GMT

I was just writing an email to someone that ended up taking on a life of it's own. They tend to do that a lot... Here's part of it.

Here are all the reasons I hate my powerchair (linked to accompanying previous posts where applicable):

People in wheelchairs get fat, and I can't get fat. That's been made perfectly clear by quite a few people including my own mother.

If I don't walk I won't be able to walk, plain and simple (see post linked to above). Then there's a very good chance that I'll need a PCA, and it's not bad that people have them, it's just that I imagine going from never needing one to needing one would be quite an adjustment. I've learned too much by hanging around here so much. I've learned that full time chair users have to worry about pressure sores and have a much higher likelihood of osteoporosis. I refuse to break bones by accident. Pretty scared of breaking my hip. It hurt enough the first time (on purpose). Not looking for a repeat. It's the worse pain I've ever felt in my life and I have a crazy high tolerance.

I've been told to take it to the main part of campus and then dump it somewhere and walk. Like I didn't already know that. In case you don't know, scooters have keys, powerchairs just have buttons. I can't figure out somewhere where I won't be paranoid someone will steal it, and for that matter, break it more then I already have. I suck at steering. Insurance won't pay for 2 chairs in one year, so when I finally order the power assist, this one better last.

Where I generally eat lunch is on the second floor of the building it's in. It's a bitch to get up there with the chair. I go up there for lunch about 3 days a week and I have standing fri night dinner plans there. If I drive the chair to the main campus and then am in essence chained to it (cause someone will steal it) I won't go up there ever. Who wants to eat alone all the time, and people will actually miss me. I also need my 2hr lunches there. They're 2 hours during the day where I can decompress when I'm very stressed. But the chair is huge and it's tight to get it in there, and again, I steer like crap. That and the building is old and the only way to get it up there is by using the service elevator. It makes me feel like I'm a second class citizen. I can't even say anything cause I know enough about the ADA and the rehabilitation act to know it's still legal. That infuriates me. I just can't bring myself to do it that often. I do it once in a blue moon. I'm better then that. I'm a whole person and I'll take the stairs thank you.

If I sit too much cause I'm chained to it my back will kill me and after about 6 or 7 weeks I'll have trouble standing in the shower. Back to point number 2.

And my very latest reason: A full time wheeler asked me the other day what the big deal is? What's so great about walking anyway? Well people who walk are smarter of course. I picked that up in preschool but I've never been able to express it so succinctly before. And no one will be my friend if I use the powerchair everyday because they'll think I'm stupid. That took a lot to get over and I was 18 when I decided that.

After all these weeks trying to get to the bottom of this, I don't think this is everything. I think there's a lot more somewhere that I haven't figured out yet, because very simply, I am a second class citizen. Helmes really speaks to me. So yes, being able to get to the mall all by myself, or to a meeting I had a week and a half ago, or being able to help a friend without having to wait for my mom to drive me or without spending forever waiting for a cab is AWESOME. People think of developmental milestones in terms of little children, but that's a big one. I just pulled out my notes from class. Why isn't just simple "independence" on Havenghurst's list of developmental milestones you need to pass in moving from an adolescent to an adult? He's got emotional & financial independence on the list, but not self-determination--to be able to decide what you want, when you want it, and what you need to do to get it. It's a freedom most AB adults take for granted. Unless you're born with CP or down syndrome or have it snatched away from you in a second when you have a stroke at 65 and no one will let you out of a nursing home. Now I'm on a tangent, but I'm angry at this point. Second-class citizen. No one thinks to study anyone with a disability before they come up with these things. We don't take self-determination for granted ever, and as I said in the post, in instances where I can do something with the chair that I could never do without it, I will always feel empowered. But at the same time it's also a very oppressive piece of equipment. Sometimes being able to take the stairs instead of the service elevator, or walking to class, is just as empowering. Because I can do that myself without the chair and without the hassle it can cause me. I guess that's the 7th reason I was looking for.

U.S. reluctance to sign treaty on disabilities is painful, puzzling

cherylberyl — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:26:00 GMT

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008015343_disabop25.html

"A treaty that takes effect this month could benefit one quarter of humanity: the 650 million people, as well as their families, who live with disabilities. The U.N. International Treaty on the Rights of People with Disabilities is also the first international treaty that guarantees the rights of such people to equality and self-determination.

People with disabilities are the world's largest minority, yet the United Nations reports that only 45 countries have disability-rights laws.

The U.S. has not signed the treaty, either, but it should. ...

In far too many nations, people with disabilities lack rights to vote, work, marry, own property, sign contracts or retain custody of their children. Ninety percent of children with disabilities in less-developed nations receive no education. ...

The treaty enshrines important principles that Americans hold dear: nondiscrimination, equal protection under the law and the right to autonomy and independent living in integrated, community settings. ...

We know that our society is richer for — and that everyone benefits from — including people with disabilities in schools, housing, workplaces, voting booths, houses of worship, public accommodations and every other sphere of life. ..."

Cultural Development & Disability

cherylberyl — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:58:00 GMT

As I said in a post last week, I'm in summer school. The class I'm taking is adolescent psyc. As an aside, I just got my midterm back and she came over to me and told me that I got the most multiple choice right of anyone in the class Today's topic was cultural development in adolescence. Or should I say ethnic development. You have know idea how much this makes my blood boil (well maybe you do because you all live this too). We're a culture too and people are going to get that even if I have to cram it down their throats. I doubt there's research on the topic, so I raised my hand incessently today.

We were focusing mostly on Helmes' stages of ethnic identity and it was amazing how well it suited us and our culture. Someone brought up the difference between light colored and dark colored African Americans. Lighter skined ones are "better." I'd like to propose a comparison between African Americans and people with physical disabilities.

As I wrote in a different post last week, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my powerchair. I'm very anti-chair and that's not helping me. I keep asking myself if I would ever look down on somebody else who couldn't walk at all. I don't even have to think. The answer is of course not. So why do I insist on walking so much that it's so bad it's affecting my grades? Well it comes to me after whoever said that like a bolt of lightning. People who walk are smarter of course. Now really I do see the falicy in that, but this belief is so deep rooted that I picked up on it in pre-school. When I was little I didn't want to be within 500ft of a kid in a chair. I wasn't like them. I could walk. God forbid anyone thought I was like them. I'm not retarded. So now I'm 23 and "people who walk better are smarter" seems to have been burned in the back of my head.

So lighter skined blacks are better and people who walk are smarter. Anyone have an oppinion on that?

ATTN Disaboomers: S. PA-NOVA

cherylberyl — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:18:00 GMT

If someone could please explain to me how I always manage to show up to my shrink appts early but I'm usually 20mins or so late to class, that'd be great. So anyway, last week I conned a friend of mine into driving me to my appt to save the cab $ and he got me there 15mins early. Usually I just rock out to my ipod while I'm waiting, but I happened to glance over at the table next to me where a copy of the June issue of Baltimore Magazine was sitting. The cover article caught my attn--Baltimore's best salons. Turns out that wasn't so interesting, but Baltimore Blogged was. The article featured some popular local bloggers and the site Blogtimore, Hon. The site is a blog aggregator, meaning that once you give them your RSS feed (for example http://www.disaboom.com/Blogs/cherylberyl/rss.aspx) the site will list your content so that it may possibly peak the interest of other local bloggers. I don't know how much extra expoure this will get me, I just got listed yesterday. As long as you live somewhere between S. PA and NOVA the site will list you. Please be nice and put CherylBeryl in the referred by box.

In other news, Saturday I went to Giant (the Giant in DC, MD, VA, & DE, not the one in PA, they're different) to get some perscriptions and found out they're now giving back $0.05 for every bag you bring. Yes you say, "but it's only $0.05, who cares?" Well if you bring in 5 bags you get back a quarter. The economy is bad and gas is up (even if you don't drive, cab prices went up too ) It can be an old plastic bag from Giant, a paper bag, a dept store bag, a tote, anything. I got lucky in that I always buy a lot of frozen food so when I go in the summer I always bring one of those reusable insulated bags. Otherwise while I wait for a cab outside for 20mins in 90 degrees things would get ugly. If you use a scooter and have a basket in the front, tell them to put you're stuff in there loose and make them count it. If you use a chair, hand them your backpack. Heck, I may just bring a backpack next time. I'm sure I could find a use for an extra $0.05 somewhere...

What's that you say?!?!?! You find your chair empowering???

cherylberyl — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:34:00 GMT

[picture discription: a bad picture of me in my Jazzy powerchair from Feb 2006]

That's right ladies and gentleman. Me of all people, the person who walks around so much that she's so tired she falls asleep on the floor with the lights on and walks around close to tears from exhaustion. I like my powerchair. Today. We'll see about tomorrow. As I said in an email this morning, these last 3 weeks I've felt like some sort of foreign being has invaded my body. I've been in a great mood, I'm "popular" all of a sudden, and low and behold, I like the chair. Today. Things will probably change if/when I exit the alternate universe I'm in currently.

Why do I like the chair all of a sudden? Because I'm BORED. I don't have a working TV or computer (still) and right now I live alone. You see, in addition to being a chronic chair hater, I've also been absolutely convinced for years that I'm incapable of finding ways of entertaining myself. Enter TV and computer. That I don't have anymore. Summer is light on my schedule. Some days (like weekends) I may have 6 straight hrs to fill. What am I going to do? Stare at the wall for 6hrs? I've been a fan of staring at blank walls for years. I do so on a daily basis. But not for 6hrs. I absolutely draw the line at an hr and a half. On top of everything else, the gym has been closed for repairs since May 20-something and every week I check to see if it's open and they say, "Try early next week." I'm in much need of a good 2 mi run.

What have I been doing? Well a few weeks ago I went to the supermarket about a mile down the road 3 times in a week. I ventured into the public library maybe 1/2 mi down the street (as opposed to sticking to the school library) and read part of one of Marlee Matlin's books. Unfortunately they didn't have Moving Violations. I went to the zoo with friends. That time since a friend with CP came we split and half the time she used her scooter and I used my crutches and then we switched. So it wasn't actually my chair, but it counts. The day before I went to the mall (across the street from the supermarket) and searched and searched for a pair of sunglasses that weren't huge. Don't understand that trend. I can usually walk the mall, but I had to cover the whole thing 3X to find them (then I lost them 2 days ago and had to get another pair ). I cut through Barnes & Noble to get to the mall because it's safer, so I've been there too. While I was still out that day, a friend called and asked if I wanted to go with her to someplace "on the strip." I said "No prob. I'm in my chair already there. Call me when you're leaving. No need to get me. I'll meet you at the place." That felt cool. Afterwards we went 2 stores over to have dinner, and then I took the chair (and myself) home. I had a meeting on Fri and instead of wasting my $ on cab fare, guess what I did? I took the chair. It was a block further than the mall and thankfully in a completely accessible building.

Not in the chair, I've gone up to Wegmans for dinner with that same friend (LOVE that place) and down to the inner harbor with her to hit up a bar. Afterwards we went into Little Italy. I've gone to a pizza place with another friend, and then to his place for a bit of TV (because I can't never watch TV and of course we couldn't go to my place). On Father's Day I went to Harbor East with the fam for a late brunch.

My therapist said last week that she thinks bored suits me. I can't argue with her. I feel exhausted just reading that. Except that for once, even though I still walk about 1.5 mi to/from class 2X/week, I'm not tired. I'm committing suicide just by writing this. I'm never going to live this down. I may have just given up my right to fight with people. Except that well, I'm still worried about getting fat and losing muscle mass, because the more I use the chair, the more I want to use the chair. It's so comfortable and much faster than I am. There's a lot of appeal to that. It's a very dangerous slippery slope, that I'm afraid I may already be on.

But why am I really empowered by the chair? A close friend called yesterday afternoon. He really needed me. It was a rough day for him. But he also needed to be out. He wanted to go to the mall. "How long will it take you to finish what you're doing and cab it?" he asked. "Well if we're going there, then I'm taking my chair and it just so happens that I'm already in it. I'll call you when I'm leaving campus and I'll be there in 20mins." We went to the mall, cut through Barnes & Noble, the art store, Hudson Trail, and Trader Joe's. I'm empowered by the chair because I was able to drop what I was doing almost at a moments notice and be there for somebody that needed me. That's something I couldn't do without the chair. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Damn chair... It's just supposed to be pure evil.

The Summer of Stares: Part III

cherylberyl — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:08:00 GMT

No, you're not crazy if you don't remember me posting part I or II, there aren't such posts. This post is titled part III because this is the 3rd such summer in a row. I've been in summer school for 6 out of the last 8 summers. I'm not allowed to work and I need to be occupied. If I wasn't in summer school I don't know what I'd do with myself. this is the 3rd summer because it is the 3rd summer in summer school here.

Why do I call these summers "the summers of stares?" Well, because I get stared at several times a day 5 days a week. Honestly, it's gotten old. This campus has at least 4 camps that run throughout the summer. Maybe more. And that's not including summer cheerleading camp for high schoolers and such. We're infested with kids. Kids who like to stare at me like I'm some sort of side show circus freak.

You know it's not so bad when adults or big kids stare. They don't stare. They glance. It's just an ever so slight glance in my direction and then they're on they're way. In fact, I can't even prove that they're looking at me because I look funny. I'm hard on my feet when I walk and I clip my keys to the outside of my purse. Because of the way that I walk, they make a lot of noise. They may just be wondering what's making the racket. When I'm in the chair speeding along at 6mph, not only are they wondering what that noise is, but they realize they need to get out of the way. I don't like when people don't get out of the way. Thankfully that's not often. I love going fast. It's the only time when I'm faster then everybody else and I doubt the thrill of that is ever going to go away.

But back to kids. Kids stare. The turn their head very sharply 90 degrees in my direction and lock their gaze on me while still walking straight in the direction they're going in. As an aside, I don't know how they can do that. I can't. It might be somewhat dangerous. It's not so bad in the grocery store or in the mall. Their parents are there and they don't let them stare all that long. Also it's probably only one kid, and since I spend most of my time on campus or in my friends' apartment and not in public places (poor college student, can't afford to) it's not so often. But camp counselors have too many kids to look after. They're not paying any attention to me or the fact that one kid in their group is staring at me. As I said, right now we're infested with kids. It's one kid probably yes, but that's one kid per group. You have no idea how many groups cross my path within the course of a day.

School ended sometime last week so all the camps started Monday. As I was walking to the library to use the computer (still don't have my new one yet). I got my first stare of the summer. And I got really upset. Part of me can't understand why I'm so upset. I've grown up with people staring at me. It's just a part of who I am, the same as having blond hair. But this summer is different for me. This summer I'm bipolar. I'm just dealing with so much right now (although I'm happy to say I'm improving very nicely) that I don't need to deal with this on top of everything else. I just don't need to be stared at like I'm a circus freak M-F. Maybe I could get a neon sign to float over my head everywhere I go that points straight at me and reads simply "not a circus freak." Although, I think that might backfire. I think I'd get more stares with a gigantic neon sign over my head.

It's just a damn shame that these camps don't have inclusion programs. I went to camp from when I was 3 to when I was 16. The vast majority of the camps that I went to had inclusion programs. Even the camp I went to in the late 80s. I started there in '88. It's been 20 years. C'mon people. Get with the program. I even started an inclusion program at one camp. The director wanted to start an inclusion program and knew me, so the summer before (when I was 9) she used me as her guinea pig. I loved that camp and I loved the drama day camp I went to before that. I didn't go to there for the inclusion program. I went there because I simply loved the camps. It just so happens that no one stared at me there. That's a good thing.

Those kids are missing out on so much. I worked at a camp one summer (the camp I went to at 3) which still has an inclusion program. There was a kid in my group with aspergers syndrome, a kid with a mild LD, a kid with a rare genetic disorder who had his own nurse come to camp with him because he was tube fed and such, and a girl with CP that was so severe that she was in a chair, non-verbal, had to be fed, and was 13 I think and still in diapers. In other groups of the same age range there was a kid with CP in a powerchair who could talk and feed himself, a kid deathly allergic to peanuts (I consider that a disability), a kid in a chair who was recovering from some kind of orthopedic surgery, and another kid who I think has CP who was in a chair, walked sometimes, made noises but not words, had to be fed, but was potty trained I believe, and had several seizures throughout the summer. The AB kids wanted to hang out with the disabled kids. They were very concerned when the girl had seizures, and one kid who was a great swimmer actually begged to be placed in the lower swim group so he could be with the kid with the genetic disorder who was his best friend. There was no staring at that camp. The AB kids never thought twice about the disabled kids being there. It was camp. It was just the way things were, the same as me having blond hair.

Maybe that's why I'm so upset about being stared at? Because it's 2008 and it's not supposed to be this way anymore.

Call For Papers-- Just Found Out But Deadline's THIS Friday

cherylberyl — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:53:00 GMT

CALL FOR PAPERS: ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY CENTERS ON DISABILITIES ANNUAL MEETING

http://www.aucd.org/template/index.cfm Deadline: June 20, 2008

Proposals from all segments of the AUCD network and its partners are welcome, including individuals with disabilities and their family members, faculty, researchers, program directors and staff, graduate students, policymakers, administrators, and advocates. In order to ensure full participation of all attendees, pay special attention to the accessibility guidelines and related resources available on the AUCD website. Proposals that address the following topics are especially encouraged: changes and challenges of the future; international, national, and local relationships addressing collaborations across cultures and communities; strategies and present results that demonstrate the translation of research into practice and policy formulation; leadership development of student trainees and others; diversity and cultural knowledge and competence; involve multiple AUCD members and existing partners; address leadership development at all levels; and demonstrate research-to-systems-change outcomes and promising practices. Questions regarding the AUCD 2008 Annual Meeting & Conference should be directed to Crystal Pariseau or Laura Martin at AUCD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know I've talked a lot on here about my independent study (to the point of overkill probably), but I don't know if I ever mentioned that we tacked a research study onto it. What's the point of putting all of your blood sweat and tears into something if you then have no idea if you actually did what you set out to do? So we did a little pre/post-test, using an established scale, but I don't have it with me and I can't remember what it was. We're hoping that in the course of 3 hours we were able to alter students' ableist thinking. Even if just by a tiny bit. So you may ask, "Did you?" Well, I have not a clue. The professor in charge of number crunching couldn't start on anything until about 4-6 weeks ago. She was finishing her disertation, teaching 2 classes, and she has a 1 year old. Althrough she still has a 1 year old and is teaching summer school, she's now a Dr., so she's able get to work on this. I'll let you know as soon as I do. From what I understand it's somewhat of a lengthy process.

In the email she sent me this morning, she asked me if I wanted to be included as an author. "You will have some responsibilities to prepare and present as the conference draws closer (if we are accepted)." My answer was "YES YES YES!!!!! Of course I do. You didn't even have to ask." This is my life's work after all.

I'm so excited!!!!!! If I could actually jump, I'd be jumping for joy. I'm an undergrad.

Damaging Textbooks Aimed at Human Services Students

cherylberyl — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:14:00 GMT

I spent a year of my life doing an independent study where I planned a disability awareness workshop for the students in my department. Why did I feel the need to do this? Here is a chunk from another post back in Jan:

"If you poll a bunch of family studies majors as to what their future career goals are, a popular answer is working with special needs children. Then poll a few family studies majors as to what the first thought is that comes to mind when they hear the word disability (as was done a year and a half ago). You get answers such as the elderly, people who cannot work, young children, and people in wheelchairs. My first thought to that? What the hell am I then? My department is small. We take classes with the same people over and over. Even if they don’t know my name, I would be willing to bet that 90% of family studies students know who I am. I’m hard to miss, being the token gimp and all. I am a 23-year-old college student in a very structured pre-professional university program, who just happens to have CP and bipolar disorder. I am neither elderly nor a young child. I do not work now, but I am a full time student and I volunteer 1-2 days a week. I will of course work after I have my degree. There is no reason why I should not be working. As to the wheelchair thing, I’m on the fence with that one. I happen to have 2 wheelchairs in my possession, but I don’t use them all that often.

"My second thought? I would not want any of you working with my (fictitious) disabled child. In fact it scared me half to death to think that people being trained in the human services are left to go out into the real world with no real knowledge of disability whatsoever. My classic example? Say you don’t want to work with the special needs population at all, say you want to work in crisis intervention. Say you work at a battered woman’s shelter and a woman comes in with her son who is autistic. What then?"

During that time I also took a class with possibly one on the most offensive textbooks I have ever seen. I don't have the book with me, so this is not an exact quote, but in the chapter that discusses understanding where both you and your client are comming from, there was a sentence to the efffect of, 'your client may be fat or thin, young or old, rich or poor, physically or mentally handicapped or whole' The part I bolded is a dirrect quote. I could never forget that. A friend of mine from home congratulated me on being part of a person. I spoke up. My department is changing the book for this fall.

This summer I'm taking adolescent psyc. The course started Tuesday. The first thing I did when I opened the book was flip to the index and look up disability. On the one page that anything is mentioned, it is insinuated that all PWDs are stupid. I even brought the book to my shrink today and had her read it. I wanted to know if I was being over sensitive. After putting it in context with what came before and after in the chapter, she agreed. Again, I don't have the book with me at the moment. I wish I did so I could quote it. The only place disability is mentioned in the book is in chapter on education. The focus was learning disabilities with a gigantic focus on ADD. What about everybody else? Do we not exist? Also, what really bothers me is that there is nothing mentioned about the socioemotional impact of disability during adolescence. I feel based on personal experiance and observation that the impact during this time in particular is incredibly signifigant Why aren't people learning this?

Apparently the first book I mentioned is rather groundbreaking. At least they tried (however unsuccessfully). We're mentioned continuously throughout that book as a distinct group. Not so in the adolescent psyc book. That focuses exclusively on culture (ie race/country of origion). Um, disability is a distinct culture too.

Then the other night after stewing on this for a couple of hours I remembered that my human sexuality book has a 2 or 3 paragraph mention about CP in the chapter discussing sexual disfunction. To the extent of my knoweldge, that's a blatent falicy. CP requires being creative when it comes to sex. So does spina bifida, SCI, and a host of other disabilities. Did I miss the memo that stated that creativity is the same thing as dysfunction? Because I thought they were completely different. I mentioned this to my shrink today as well? She asked me if it was true. I sid a real quick "no." It is so easy to cause damage. If you don't know any better...

I'm angry and I'm upset and I'm saddened about the whole thing. No wonder the students in my department have such a narrow misguided view of what disability is. Look at how they are being taught. I think any one of you would also be frightened at the thought that they are all going out into the world to help PWDs having this background.

What needs to be done (I think) is a 2 pronged approach. The first would focus on college students. Get to human services professionals, medical professionals, teachers, etc. before they go out in the field. To do this you absolutely have to target professors, which means getting a lot of research done. They like hard evidence. It's what they'll listen to. The other side of the coin is to focus on young children. Make it so that by the time they go out in the world this stuff is second nature. A no brainer. Like racism. People are always going to be racist, people are always going to be ableist, but look at the percent of people that are racist vs 40 years ago. What did it? I think a lot of it has to do with exposure. Most people don't have to learn not to be racist now, they just get it. Wouldn't that be nice if eventually we didn't have to do things like workshops? This would involve a lot of community outreach.

But why should anyone else try to do this if I won't even do it? So I do... It's the most important thing that I do. My hope is that others do too. It's 2008. Things shouldn't be like this; but they are. Things desperately need to change.