tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post2188094850680736693..comments2024-03-16T16:44:18.220-07:00Comments on Bad Cripple: Is Being An Ordinary Human Possiblewilliam Peacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-43568685551287460012010-05-10T05:22:47.982-07:002010-05-10T05:22:47.982-07:00Kata, What amazes me is the long article in questi...Kata, What amazes me is the long article in question got by an editor. To me this shows just how deep disability is in our society.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-48726408309951523982010-05-09T20:21:17.423-07:002010-05-09T20:21:17.423-07:00Thank you. I made the mistake of reading that mess...Thank you. I made the mistake of reading that mess while fighting my insurance for my medication, so I was already in a bad space. I have meds now, but the article is still as bad as I recall. The amount of hatred that was spewed into writing it... and no, the writing was NOT Lyrical. Reporting shouldn't be an Essay either. I used to work for a paper and the writing was hackneyed due to the writer's attempts to write around blatantly obvious needs.Kateryna of the Cenotaphhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01948759290608332351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-36036117844907508372010-05-06T10:08:15.490-07:002010-05-06T10:08:15.490-07:00Becs, Ignorance is bliss. When it comes to disabil...Becs, Ignorance is bliss. When it comes to disability ignorance is rampant. Your story is ever so typical. What is out of the norm is your support for equal access--an effort that too often meets stiff resistance. Good luck!william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-47030308638437968672010-05-04T17:35:58.403-07:002010-05-04T17:35:58.403-07:00I just got back from the local Library Friends Boa...I just got back from the local Library Friends Board Meeting. One of the librarians was very pleased with himself for getting funding for a program for "special needs" children.<br /><br />I raised my hand and said, "That's great but perhaps you're not aware that the library's ladies room is not wheelchair accessible."<br /><br />The crowd - only one other brown head in the batch - protested that the doors were awfully wide.<br /><br />I said, "Yes, the door to the bathroom itself is large. The door to the handicapped stall is large. But a wheelchair will not fit entirely into the stall. Pediatric power chairs can be surprisingly large. The child will likely need a care giver in the stall with her."<br /><br />Everyone looked dumbfounded and then the board president said, "Oh, the mayor got that ADA grant but he wasn't going to do anything because he says everything's accessible." (Note: The mayor is an ass.)<br /><br />I pressed my case and when I was done, said to the other brown head, "It's a matter of civil rights." She nodded. <br /><br />Perhaps I will be giving Hizzoner a phone call tomorrow.<br /><br />Gah!Becshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03057614535554183360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-13095988984217225732010-05-04T09:33:49.612-07:002010-05-04T09:33:49.612-07:00Gary, you are so right that the constraints cause ...Gary, you are so right that the constraints cause rage. I found myself in this boat last night about a family event that's inaccessible. It is painful, painful, like being in solitary confinement.<br /><br />William and all, I know we all feel alone in this sometimes, but I think we're not. And yet here I am, feeling alone here.<br /><br />This is an insightful post--the NYT is really influential and more people need to confront their disability bias. We all know the couple of reasons why people have to dehydrate themselves--which leads to kidney stones and other issues.<br /><br />This has got to be the meanest phrase I've ever seen in a newspaper: "a spirit that does not fit a body, a body that does not fit a wheelchair, a wheelchair that does not fit a world." And most abled people are probably too dense to see that and would defend it.<br /><br />Sometimes the "Option 2" crips are less disabled but have less help and resources--people won't make accommodations, for instance, or they don't have money for transportation, specialized computers or software, adaptive sporting equipment, DME, etc. And sometimes they are far more ill.FridaWriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321658097813377806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-81126971203035061372010-05-04T05:29:50.197-07:002010-05-04T05:29:50.197-07:00The responses are, well, heartwarming! Yesterday w...The responses are, well, heartwarming! Yesterday was a doom and gloom day. I felt alone, isolated, and had little hope people with a disability could ever be treated equally. Ah, what a difference and a few comments can have!<br />The article in the NYT was terrible. In retrospect what bothers me the most is the comment was made by her supposed friend and doctor. How can such a person dehumanize her supposed friend?<br />Matthew, Evil spirits, religious beliefs, the concepts of suffering for sins, and belief in God all cause significant social problems for people with disabilities. I for one have been driven away from the Catholic Church by thoughtless and bigoted people I encounter. <br />Gary, Yes, we do indeed need more elevators, ramps, and cheaper adaptive equipment. We will never get these things until society values such devices and the people that use them. The lack of value placed on such items is present but ignored in the story.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-34405763943831399352010-05-03T17:34:07.904-07:002010-05-03T17:34:07.904-07:00well said my man.well said my man.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01468763478053932144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-53820463049826655742010-05-03T15:24:36.954-07:002010-05-03T15:24:36.954-07:00I read the article, one writer friend telling me i...I read the article, one writer friend telling me it was almost like an "essay," by which is meant that the writing was lyrical. Me? Forget the reporter's cluelessness. Forget the overcoming, courage, victory storyline that we see all the time. What I wanted to read is some acknowledgment that to be constrained by society provokes rage. Or let's put it this way: were the woman to have written the piece herself, it would have been a very different "story." What the NYTIMES readers received was a feel-good reflection of society's take on a PWD who actually integrates his or herself into society, which is meant mostly to assuage some vague guilt.<br /><br />I'd rather have more elevators, ramps, and cheaper wheelchairs.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04513058592327921546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-67858533409360649952010-05-03T13:16:32.588-07:002010-05-03T13:16:32.588-07:00The stuff about evil spirits reminded me of someon...The stuff about evil spirits reminded me of someone I spoke to through Facebook shortly after posting some articles about the Gilderdale affair on my blog. She had ME herself (not too severely though) and had some theory about it being caused by spirits heating the body up and causing inflammation.<br /><br />The thing is that most experts say it's caused by auto-immune reaction to a viral infection. But having read some of Lynn's internet postings and what her friends said of her, she sounded like a very pleasant and gracious woman, always concerned about the well-being of others despite her own abysmal condition. Not someone who sounded like she was possessed by evil spirits.Matthew Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675719484819810707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-37511452431729024472010-05-03T13:00:34.859-07:002010-05-03T13:00:34.859-07:00I was greatly disappointed when I read that articl...I was greatly disappointed when I read that article yesterday. Why is it so easy for reporters to to miss the high points in articles like this? I was pleased when one of her students said they should just have two elevators if one breaks all the time. Leave it to a kid to be on the right track and state the obvious.Courthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01415333124217381665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-17753144510392938822010-05-03T12:53:21.114-07:002010-05-03T12:53:21.114-07:00Thank you for this. It is nice to know I am not a...Thank you for this. It is nice to know I am not alone in finding that article painful. Thank you also for helping me to understand why I found that article so hurtful.Assiyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08555670525635631421noreply@blogger.com