Tag: Disability

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Disability

Hard Truths: Disability and Poverty Go Hand in Hand

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Maxfield Sparrow unstrangemind.com Photo © *Hajee | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Person with black hair and a blue coat. They are holding a hand-lettered cardboard sign over their face. Sign reads, “VERY HUNGRY PLEASE HELP!”] I am not the only Disabled person economically struggling, as disability and poverty go hand in hand. Why is that? The answer is complex, since disability leads to poverty and poverty leads to disability. It’s a vicious cycle and sometimes a downward spiral, leading people to lead lives perpetually circling the drain, always on the edge of annihilation. Let me see if I can untangle some of it for you. “You’re dooming yourself to a hand-to-mouth existence.” That’s what my parents told me when I dropped out of high school. And they were right. Well, they were half-right, anyway. I have spent the last three decades living hand to mouth, but it is not a fate…

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Disability

Autism: What ERs and Hospitals Need To Know

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Photo © ILO | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Doctor giving a heart exam to a patient on a hospital bed. Both people are East Asian.] Kate Ryan Why I am Writing This I am a professional disability advocate in my mid thirties. I am also autistic and have various learning disabilities/mental health diagnoses. I have always been very lucky in that I live in Massachusetts and so have been able to access healthcare despite the fact that I am very low income.  I was a personal care aide for many years and due to this I developed back problems. In the spring of 2016, they became significantly worse. I tried many, many therapies and medications, including alternative ones. I was eventually diagnosed with an extruded disc and had surgery in January, 2017. Although my surgery was supposed to be a routine day surgery, and all of my health care practitioners knew…

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Disability

Being Homeless Is Even More Complicated When You’re Autistic and LGBT

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World Homeless Day in San Francisco’s Castro District Photo © Steve Rhodes [image: Black banner with white lettering reading, “Make Yourself At Home” draped from a second-story window, next to a LGBT Pride flag.] Kris Guin queerability.tumblr.com Homelessness is not discussed as much as it needs to be, especially as it relates to marginalized groups like the LGBTQ and disability communities. LGBTQ people and people with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by homelessness. 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, and 40% of people with disabilities are homeless. LGBTQ people and people with disabilities often become homeless because of skyrocketing rent, unsupportive families who have kicked them out of the family home, and discrimination from landlords—among many other reasons. Some cities are getting better at addressing LGBTQ youth homelessness by funding LGBTQ housing programs, and some people with disabilities may qualify for housing assistance through Housing and Urban Development. However, with…

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Disability

Why Supported Decision Making Is a Better Choice Than Conservatorship

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Image © Falashad | Creative Commons   [image: Smiling white woman with crown braids hugging a person with an auburn ponytail.] Many families or guardians assume that when high-support autistic teenagers transition to adulthood, they automatically need to be legally conserved for their own protection. But that’s isn’t necessarily true. We spoke with UCSF’s Dr. Clarissa Kripke about why Supported Decision Making can be a better choice than pursuing conservatorship, and the many reasons why. —- Dr. Clarissa Kripke: When people with disabilities and their families start to think about transitioning from child to adult services, they are often encouraged to consider conservatorship.  Conservatorship is a legal process where a court appoints an individual or organization to make decisions for an adult. Courts do this after finding that the adult is unable to provide for his or her own needs for health, food, clothing, or shelter. They must be found unable…

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Disability

Tom Perez: The Political Leadership Our Disability Community Needs Right Now

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Tom Perez, upholder of the ADA source: Wikimedia Commons [image: Tom Perez, a Dominican- American Man with a goatee and glasses, in front of a sign reading “Next 25 Years of the ADA”] The bigotry-rooted horrors of the first two weeks of the Trump administration have been coming at dismayed Americans almost faster than we can keep up with them. Those who are reeling, from today’s appointment of civil rights slackard Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, yesterday’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch—who has ruled that autistic students don’t deserve equal education rights—for the empty Supreme Court justice seat, or public schools enemy Betsy DeVos’s pending confirmation as Secretary of Education, may be wondering who we can rely on to protect our community’s rights. I have an answer for you: Tom Perez. Former Obama Labor Secretary Perez is running for chair of the Democratic National Committee, the organization that guides the Democratic…

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Disability

Why Belittling Self-Advocates Hurts Autistic People of All Ages and Abilities

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Maxfield Sparrow unstrangemind.com [image: Screenshot of Inigo Montoya and Vizzini from the movie The Princess Bride, with white overlaid block text reading, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.] Last week, the San Francisco Autism Society of America (SFASA) held its 16th annual conference at Stanford University. In her opening comments, Jill Escher, the president of SFASA, went through a few words and phrases, claiming to “defuse some autism vocabulary stinkbombs.” I disagree with so much of what she said about … well, about pretty much everything she talked about. But I want to focus in on one word that I feel she completely misrepresented on so many levels that it was mind-boggling: Self-advocate Escher chose to show a 20 second video clip of her son to the audience, to illustrate her lack of understanding of the meaning and expression of…

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Disability

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

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Today would have been Rosemary Kennedy’s 98th birthday. In her honor, we are are featuring autistic writer Kate Ryan‘s review of the book Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, by Kate Clifford Larson. —- Rosemary Kennedy [image: Black-and-white photo of a smiling white young woman with dark 1940s-style coiffed hair.] Growing up in the Boston area, I knew about the Kennedys.  It seemed to me, as a child and an adult, that everyone knows about the Kennedys, and their big, boisterous Catholic family that would leave such an impact on Massachusetts and the world. About their political aspirations and horrific assassinations, about their charitable foundations, about their triumphs and tragedies.  About Jack and Teddy and Eunice and Rose. Until recently, however, I have known very little about what is perhaps one of the saddest tragedies to come out of the Kennedy family: that of Rosemary Kennedy. A new biography by Kate…

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Disability

#BlackDisabledLivesMatter vs #AllDisabledLivesMatter

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Pharaoh Inkabuss blackautist.tumblr.com   [Photo: Black person at outdoors demonstration holding two signs. One says, “Black, Autistic, Proud” with the Black Power flag and power fist. The other says “Black Disabled Lives Matter.”] Each July, hundreds of people participate in the Chicago Disability Pride Parade, where Chicagoans see the living history of the contributions the disability community made in Chicago. It’s also where participants can enjoy meeting fellow members of the disability community, and display their pride in their community. July 23rd of this year was my second Disability Pride Parade; I marched on behalf of the Chicagoland Chapter of Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN). My co-chapter leader, Amanda, made a few signs for the parade; one of them had a message on each side. On one of the sides, it reads: “Black Disabled Lives Matter.” I marveled at the sign and I carried it with my right hand. I also…

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Disability

The Faith Community and Social Justice: How to Prioritize Disability, Low Income, and LGBT Needs

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Kris Guin queerability.tumblr.com Source: Mel Green/Flickr [image: Church wall hanging: rectangular quilt reading “Welcome” in blue letters, surrounded by red hearts in white diamonds, on a swirly rainbow background.] I think that communities and people of faith should make social justice work a priority. Not only do I think that people of faith have a moral imperative to make the world a better place, but I think it’s good for the faith community. I don’t know how non-Christian faith communities are, but I think the Church and church* are inaccessible to many folks. Dressing up in nice clothes is a social standard in many churches because of the belief that you need to “dress up for God.” This prevents many people from being able to go to church on Sundays because some people might not be able to afford nice clothes, or some people might have sensory issues with nice…