I've ranted quite a bit about the problems I've been having with my city's Paratransit service, but I fear that I've been giving everyone the impression that I've got some hidden agenda against persons with developmental disabilities because I point out the way the service seems to accommodate them better than those with physical disabilities.

Recently I got accused by a blogger of displaying prejudice against those with development/cognitive disorders because I posted a response to an article she posted about paratransit issues, including describing the problems I've encountered, but it was interpreted as demanding prioritization of physical disabilities over development conditions- when I was trying to explain that I felt it was unfair for *any* disabled group to get special treatment over others.

It seems like there's no way for me to express the frustration of feeling like wheelchair users and those with other purely physical conditions are being gradually excluded and given a lower priority by those in charge of various services and resources. Never critical of anyone else's access to those resources, just very fed up with those in charge seeming at times to pick and choose who they'll accommodate based on what's socially fashionable rather than real needs.

Where paratransit is concerned, in the past people were picked up and taken to their destinations based purely on where they were going and when- never seemed to matter what anyone's disability was or what their trip was about. Nowadays, I can't help but notice that as a wheelchair user my trips that aren't medical or specifically disability "official business" are more of a hassle and much longer sometimes than the clients who travel only for disability reasons and the main focus of the service seems to be all about better accommodating those with developmental disabilities, and I wish people understood that I'm not blaming them, I'm taking issue with the way the carers at the group homes, work centers, and adult day care facilities have made the paratransit service for all intents and purposes the private bus for one segment of the disabled population at the expense of others, and no one will just be honest and admit it openly *or* prove that it's not priority based.

I'm not saying that they should get a lower priority- I am saying that I want to see a return to how it used to be, where no one was "special" and everyone more or less was accommodated fairly.

Beyond that, I feel like anytime I get too upset about problems with wheelchair accessibility in various places I'm being seen as biased against those with other disabilities because I've gotten chided about it- even here in this forum when I posted about how frustrating it is to see so many inaccessible art galleries, I got some very terse responses about how some people's disabilities make it impossible for them to go to a gallery at all, so I was out of line in my remarks about wheelchair access. Here again, not the case. I simply was commenting on how when I'm out doing something "geeky" I feel weird being the only wheelchair user- but still knowing that many people with less visible disabilities are out and about too.

I'm not at all bitter about my situation- overall I've been feeling more confident about getting out and doing things I enjoy, more than I use to do. I'm pursuing my interests and I take pride in how well I've adapted and how my disability doesn't really adversely affect the things I want to do. However, I get more frustrated when tertiary things become a problem, like paratransit being a PITA when I'm traveling for something that "normal" people do (said sarcastically ;-) ) or when someone occasionally seems bothered that I'm disabled but not "acting" like a disabled person should- doing what I want instead of staying home and "accepting" that PWDs aren't supposed to have a life outside of "being" disabled. I've just gotten fed up over the years with how "conservative" the disability and healthcare communities seem to be- I've met too many people over the years in the medical and disability support fields, and among the general public, who really can't process the concept of PWDs not letting their conditions dictate everything, and seeming to express disdain towards those who's interests are more "intellectual" and offbeat. I've dealt with a few people myself over the years who actually seemed disappointed that I'm a sci fi geek and not a wheelchair sports person ;-) Tori Amos fans are sometimes seen as a bit strange anyway, but I'm even stranger being 39, *and* a guy in a wheelchair who loves her music ;-) On a more serious note, I resent the hostility I've encountered *because* I'm a guy who's not playing the macho pity games (I'm sorry to say) some guys in chair engage in.

Don't get me started about the attitudes about relationships and disability- officially we hear that disability doesn't matter but there's an "understood" unwritten rule that seems to say otherwise- some PWDs seem to push the idea that relationships among PWDs are something "unsavory". At the same time though discussions about sexuality do occur, but it's all juvenile macho posturing and locker-room talk/humor about it, and no frank, mature, adult discussions about actually being in a relationship or dating seem to be allowed. Early in my own disability I joined what was advertised as a social group for disabled singles. Guess why myself and quite a few others were politely asked to leave several months later? Because we were attempting to interact with other PWDs at the group's events! The group actually was called "DateAble" but at every event, the organizers kept people separated- especially the higher-functioning persons.

And yet again I've launched into a shotgun-blast style rant because it's so hard for me to stay focuses when I get revved up about something.

My point is that I've been disabled for 17 years, and I myself feel that I've adapted just fine. What I'm fed up with are perceptions and how those perceptions seem to drive some of the crap many PWDs have to deal with on the part of non-disabled persons. I want to do more than just rant- I want to *do* something about it and get more upset because I have no idea *how* to do that. The last time I tried to get involved with disability awareness was early in my disability and I ended up making other PWDs angry with me because I wasn't acting angry or bitter enough, so I'm wary about doing something now, but I've got to do more than just gripe and rant.

Part of it is that the kind of advocacy/awareness I want to promote really would be for all PWDs, but I know it's going to sound harsh I really do mean everyone, which would include leveling criticism at other PWDs who do think it's only about them and their condition. But how to express that without yet again being accused of making it only about me or just wheelchair users?

So I'm asking: what can be done? Am I being naive, or are there enough fed-up people like me who also want to do something?

I apologize for the stream of consciousness of this- it's just so hard to keep it short when there's so much I want to say, and I get irked at myself when I can't articulate it better than it just sounding like a litany of things that piss me off.

 I've posted a retrospective picspam celebrating the Pilot episode here at my journal.

This is an online, international event that will be held in Second Life, but is accessible to those not on Second Life via our text Chat Room. See below for details.


We are holding our next peer-lead support gathering for women with disabilities on:

Friday, January 8 from 5:00 - 6:00 PM SLT/Pacific.
(8:00 PM Eastern Time, for other timezones, click HERE)


We hope for a continued lively discussion, in a safe and supportive space.

NOTE: This gathering is for women with disabilities ONLY.

Second Life Location:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/3DE/165/33/260


IF YOU DON'T HAVE OR WANT ACCESS TO SECOND LIFE:
You can still attend this meeting online via IRC. To visit our Chat Room, go to our website at: http://www.gimpgirl.com/ and click on "Chat Room" under the Main Menu on the left.

I literally laughed out loud when someone sent me this at work.

( Sorry, I couldn't resist! )

Reminder: Our support meeting for women with disabilities is Today, January 3rd, at 2pm Pacific/SLT! Join us at http://gimpgirl.com or on Second Life! Please view post below for further details.

Did anybody else like the Mysteries of the Universe thing?
( only spoilery if you don't want to know what features the DVD contains, lol )

( Why doodling is important and like practicing for the Superbowl. )

To finish up, here, have a page of crayon doodles Sneak did with her little cousin.
( Doodles! )

This is an online, international event that will be held in Second Life, but is accessible to those not on Second Life via our text Chat Room. See below for details.


We are holding our next peer-lead support gathering for women with disabilities on:

Sunday, January 3 from 2:00 - 3:00 PM SLT/Pacific.
(5:00 PM Eastern Time, for other timezones, click HERE)


We hope for a continued lively discussion, in a safe and supportive space.

NOTE: This gathering is for women with disabilities ONLY.

Second Life Location:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/3DE/165/33/260


IF YOU DON'T HAVE OR WANT ACCESS TO SECOND LIFE:
You can still attend this meeting online via IRC. To visit our Chat Room, go to our website at: http://www.gimpgirl.com/ and click on "Chat Room" under the Main Menu on the left.

I've got some theories and speculation.  Now, I am SPOILER-FREE, so please no spoilers in the comments.  All I know is what the producers have seen fit to show us at Comic Con (the commercials), and promo posters.

( Click here to enter the No-Spoiler Zone )

Reminder: Our support meeting for women with disabilities is Today at 2pm Pacific/SLT! Join us at http://gimpgirl.com or on Second Life! Please view post below for further details.

Is the LOST hiatus making you crazy? Can't get your LOST fix? Want to explore how Season 6 will affect characters?

Come to ontdlostrp to write for a LOST character and explore their personality on a whole new level. The RP is quite active and filled with dedicated writers. The players have been having a ball, chilling with Jacob at Hooters, watching Ben get beat up, camping with Sawyer on the beach. But we need more players!

Especially need: Jack, Faraday, Hurley, Richard Alpert

( More info here )

Come join our RP! Please take time to read through the community and various journals before deciding to audition. Many main characters are still open, including Richard, Jack, Faraday, Jin, Bernard, Hurley, Frank etc.

Stop by and have a look!
ontdlostrp

Merry Holiday, everyone!  Here, have an appropriate song.

As the Equity Rep on my school's Law Student's Society I'm in the process of compiling an "Accessibility Checklist" as it were for my faculty so that they stop planning events that are needlessly inaccessible. However, I think I might be re-inventing the wheel. Do  any of you fine folks know of a checklist or guide already in existence? Ideally, it will include multiple areas of access: mobility, visual, hearing impaired etc..

Thanks in advance!

(crossposted, with a bit of editing, from my personal journal)

(aka where I've been, aka Assistive technology design fail)

So. I've been in the bad habit lately of going to bed at "night" around 3:30 in the morning.

So, Saturday Night/ Sunday morning, I'm getting into bed. But I've parked my chair in a bad position, and my left heel is jammed against the left front tire (I need to brace my foot against it, a little, so it doesn't slide back too much as I'm leaning forward). When I try to get my right foot back down, to stand up, so I can get in the chair again to move it, I loose my footing, and slide onto the floor into a yoga position from Hell.

My right leg is bent and crossed under my left leg, sort of in a lotus position, with the bottom of my foot facing almost up, except that where, in the lotus position, your thigh is out to the side, my thigh is pointing strait forward. My left leg is also pointing straight forward, but slightly bent. The left front tire is between the two legs where they cross. So I can't uncross them, and get out of there. If I could move the chair strait back one foot, or less, I'd be home free. But I'm on the floor, the joystick that moves the chair is three feet above the floor, and the on/off button is pointing away from me. There are levers you can turn, to release the drive gears from the wheels, but they're in the back, behind the back tires. Only a person behind the chair can move them. And when is a Wheelchair user behind the chair? Especially in an emergency situation when it might be needed?

[snippity the drudgery details]

My wobbly legs aren't much good at getting into the chair, And I need Audrey to pull me back into the seat. An hour after she leaves, I have to go potty. I'm fine (more or less) getting onto the toilet seat. But when I try to get back into my chair, no matter what I do, I can't find a place to grab hold of with my right hand (under the joystick) so I can actually slide back into the chair.

[snippity again, flash forward]

Anyway, once in my manual, I saw my motor chair from the side, and I understood at once why I couldn't do the one thing I was sure I could do. My chair's joystick looks like this, with the front part tilted up; my chair's joystick was knocked almost 90 degrees, so instead of pointing up, it now points in, cutting the space down on that side by several inches (it was already tilted in a bit, 'cause I pull on it, out of habit, when I need to lean foreward. But this was outragious. I must have knocked it with my hip or something, with my balance flail.

It's a fairly common joystick design. But I really dislike it. It won't fit under desks, and it gets in the way when I need to reach for something. So why do it? What are the advantages?

Edited to add: Seriously, why? There's got to be some advantage, that's more or less wide spread. I really don't think some engineers decided to be annoying. But I just don't see it.

 Just a heads-up -- at iTunes right now, you can get a whole bunch of Season recaps, and it looks like the Pilot FOR FREE.  I don't know about all of you, but if it's free, I'll take it.  It says it's only for a limited time.

Worked out at the gym today and started chatting with a woman in the locker room. She's living in a senior apartment building and disgusted with her fellow apartment dwellers who use electric wheelchairs because they are "lazy."

"I sometimes use a wheelchair," I told her, and I started to explain that some people with osteoporosis who seem fine are in danger of falling, and some people with emphysema need scooters, etc., but she interrupted me.

"Well," she said. "You have MS. I don't expect much of YOU."

And then, when she saw the look on my face and after I said: "Well, I certainly expect much of myself," she said: "I don't want to be politically incorrect!"

I did not slap her, nor did I tell her to fuck off when she later said she'd pray for me. I did ask her, instead of praying that I go into remission as she said she would, to pray for ramps in all buildings.

She laughed.

Oh, ha ha that is TOO funny. Oh, my stars and garters.

Then I came back to my desk to discover this story of a shithead trying to take custody of his child away from the mother because she's a quad:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/quadraplegic-mother-fights-maintain-custody-son/story?id=9403163

So. I propose a truce, old lady in the locker room: I won't assume old people are useless and helpless if you won't assume cripples are. Pray for justice for this poor fucker with extraordinarily bad taste in men. Not for me.