Child Banned From Using Walker at School

by Treadmarkz

Below is a link to a story about LaKay Roberts, a child with cerebral palsy who is physically able to use a walker. But her school is trying to ban her from using it, citing concerns that she will fall in the hall and get hurt. I am in a wheelchair but when I was in school, I was able to strap in to a full body brace and use a walker. And I fell occasionally. But that was the worst that happened. Because you know what I did after I fell? I got up. When I was in school and I had my daily physical therapy session which included my “walking” in my braces and walker/crutches, I had a therapist or teacher or classmate who walked with me. Are you telling me this school can’t afford to give that much to this child so that she might have the opportunity to develop a certain degree of independence. Independence does not come easy. It requires that we first depend on another. That we have someone to lean on, someone to help us up when we fall. Because as we strive for independence, it will inevitably happen. We fall. But we get back up. And when we do, we are that much closer to freedom.

Here is the link to which I am referring.  Let me know what you think.

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Wheelchair Innovation From the Perspective of a Walkie

by Treadmarkz

For my 200th post on this blog I want to tell you about my brother. I talked about him long ago on this blog, how when we were kids he, though not disabled himself, taught me how to pop wheelies on my chair, and he rigged my wheelchair with systematically placed life preservers, and installed a ramp at the end of the dock whereby he would go flying off the end of the dock into the Mississippi River. Yes…in my wheelchair. I never did it of course.
Ever the innovator in wheelchair technology I just wanted to note that in the course of a 15 minute conversation this weekend, he pointed out no fewer than four improvements he could envision being made to my Quickie. Not sure how many of them he felt confident in his own ability to install. At least one. I will not discuss what they are until we see where this goes. Never know. Quickie may want to put us to work. Suffice to say they would make recreation in a wheelchair much more mobile and convenient in various ways.

Two-Thirds of Americans Agree – Stay Out of the Handicapped Parking Zone If You Don’t Need It

by Treadmarkz

A new survey reveals that 2/3 of Americans say that “able-bodied” people parking in “Handicapped” parking spaces is amongst their top driving pet peeves. Surely a hefty percentage of that 2/3 are not people who would have needed that parking space. Surely most of them are able-bodied. So this, to me, is a great sign of the expanded consciousness of Americans – a sign that we as a country are looking out for each other. I assume we always have been but when much of the news reveals the selfishness and consumerism of Americans, this is really refreshing to me.

 

 

Nazis Got Their Ideas on Forced Sterilization From The U.S.A.

by Treadmarkz

It is a very sad thing to see that your country was the inspiration for one aspect of one of the most horrific acts of “ethnic cleansing” in human history. But it is true. As Anderson Cooper reported tonight on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360”, the Nazis took inspiration for their program of forced sterilization of Jews from the United States Government. The U.S. reportedly sterilized many thousands of people who were considered weak or not fit to procreate, including many with various types of what we would today merely call disabilities, but back then they were just defective quasi-humans, apparently. See the full story here.

Requiring Voters To Have Photo ID Would Exclude Disabled?

by Treadmarkz

In my local paper today, I read an editorial on the debate over requiring voters to have a photo ID. It claims that 10% of eligible voters with disabilities, (27,000 people in Minnesota where I live) would not have photo ID and would therefore be excluded from the electoral process.
Okay, my first questions is why is this? Though I do not myself have a driver’s license so I have no right to question this, I do know that it is not too expensive to get a photo ID which can be used for every occasion except for operating a motor vehicle. I understand the economic problems disabled people face in the competitive work force, but if 10% of disabled adults in this state cannot afford to get this ID card, a one-time expense, then this state, this country really, has more problems than I thought.
If this is the case, then let me propose a solution, and then we can debate why it is not plausible so we can make sure nothing ever gets done about it. My solution is we reissue Social Security cards to all adults, but make it a photo ID rather than the flimsy proto-cardboard they’ve been using since the time of Plymouth Rock! Every legal citizen has one. In switching over from the old to the new version, we might just be able to weed out some of the illegally held Social Security numbers in the U.S. as well.
Tell me where I’m wrong.

…Considering Their Age

by Treadmarkz

I like to raise questions on this blog, so I am going to raise one now.
Suppose you have a conversation with an older person. At the end of the conversation you find out that person is even older than you expected, lets say 90. This 90-year old was a very sharp, lucid conversationalist. And you remark to another that the 90-year old “did really good, considering their age.”

What just happened here? Did you A) compliment the person, or B) expect too little of the person based solely on the number of years they’ve been around, and in fact suggest a presumed disability?
Just asking. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m extremely touchy on the subject, just wonder what your thoughts are.