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Mediator is exactly
Disability
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03/11/2021
Tom Dickinson Oral History, 2020/03/11
“Chef” Tom Dickinson is the Culinary Instructor for Fairfield High School in Northern California. A native of Oregon, Tom shares his journey in overcoming his personal challenges as a student with Autism who was often dismissed by his educators, to becoming a beloved teacher himself. He is currently organizing the development of a comprehensive culinary program that teaches students essential life and job skills. Tom reflects of the effects Covid-19 has had on his life, community, and students. He reflects on the challenges of online learning and shares the creative ways he has tried to connect with students using technology during the pandemic. -
2021-03-02
'Persistent gap' nationwide in COVID plans for people with disabilities, advocates say
This story resonated with me. While I was able to get the Covid-19 shot because I am a teacher, my disabled husband is not covered in any Tiers for the shot. We have no idea when he might be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine and it is scary for us. Why on earth would they not consider such a vulnerable population as a priority for the Covid-19 vaccine. -
2021
CRSJ COVID-19 Series
The American Bar Association is hosting a series of webinars on various social Justice issues and how they relate to Covid-19. Webinars include: Pandemic Trials: Defending Criminal Clients During COVID-19. New Jersey COVID-19 Jail Release Agreement. Expanding Pretrial Release in the Age of COVID-19. Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on African Americans and Communities of Color. COVID-19 and the Compassionate Release of the Elderly, Infirm or High Risk. Reentry Planning for COVID-19 Releases. Issues Affecting Native American Communities During the COVID-19 Crisis. COVID-19 and Child Welfare Cases. Coronavirus: Homeless Community Adverse Impact from Eviction & Lack of Safe Housing. Public Health Measures In Response to COVID-19 (CLE), Lessons from Past Disasters: Criminal Justice Response to COVID-19. COVID-19: Threats to Democracy and to Public Safety Through the Lens of the Asian American Experience. Religious Freedom Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Disability Discrimination in the Rationing of Life Saving COVID Treatment: Who Gets Left Behind? This is not the full list. -
2020-01-09
THE19 (Metaphor)
Imagine a hurricane approaches your beachfront community, a beautiful place of both cottages and mansions on heavenly stretching strands of sand and coconut trees. The storm started far out in the ocean as a tropical storm, an abstraction a week or more away. Then it developed into a category 2 as it approached the continent and crossed Cuba, still days away but becoming a concern. Before long, forecasts by experts confidently showed exactly where landfall would occur, the strength of the winds, the height of the surge, the flooding that would accompany it, the millions it would impact, the estimates of the extent of damage and disruption (and death tolls) predictable. You do the right thing and with your family and neighbors evacuate and move inland and find safe shelter. It’s inconvenient and uncomfortable at times, sharing and aiding your fellow refugees. They don’t have the brand of cereal and chocolate milk your kids like. They run out of Coke. But pitching in until it’s safe to go home seems the best and only course. And soon you’re glad you did because by the time the hurricane makes landfall the news come in that it is a Cat 5, indeed, “the second most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the United States.” Imagine as you watch the pummeling rain and listen to the ominous wind and wait, you already know this story: “In 1969, Hurricane Camille claimed 259 victims along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Most were guilty of only being on the wrong place at the wrong time, unlike twenty who perished while attending a beachfront “hurricane party” beer bash and barbecue. Despite evacuation warnings delivered by vehement emergency teams [experts], their festivities continued unabated. The partygoers definitely declared that the concrete foundations and the second floor location of their party provided plenty of protection from the impending hurricane. Their confidence proved to be tragically misplaced when a twenty-four-foot wave slammed into the apartment, destroying the building and subjecting the partiers to gale-force winds and violent ocean surges. Most of these hurricane worshippers were killed. A few survivors were swept miles away, ….” (The Darwin Awards, 1999) Imagine you know there are old folks in your very own town who chose to stay. Folks who just couldn’t imagine leaving the idyllic homes in their idyllic locations where they have lived in for decades, and who have weathered previous storms and thinking this one too “isn’t that bad,” or thinking. “Unless it has my name on it, it won’t get me.” You pray for them. But you also know some who stayed defiantly, the young and strong, and the middle-aged but “free” who resented being told by anyone what to do--especially by “experts.” And some of those protestors (an alarming number of whom you know) raised the bar, rebelled blithely, partying practically on the beach, posting selfies and videos on Facebook as the storm intensifies--to prove it was safe. As final proof, a video is posted of an engorging wave, a wave as large as any building you could hide in, a dark seething mountain of water. The video records shrill, exhilarating, victorious whoops of glee of the partiers it approaches. Then nothing. Now imagine, immediately you are asked by experts to stay in your shelter a little while longer, not forever, but much longer than you had ever expected to stay. Why? you ask. We’ve been so good. We did everything we were asked. We deserve to go home. We’ve run out of Lucky Charms and Quick and Coke. Despite your pleas and imploring, the experts are firm. Because, they say, a second hurricane is already coming, practically on top of the first. It’s not a Cat 5, yet, but…. This is unimaginable. This wasn’t forecast before. But, it’s here now, the experts nod somberly. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough, you hear yourself say, but…. Finally, imagine, dozens and dozens of your neighbors, even members of your own family, saying, I can’t take it anymore. This is not my life. I haven’t had a beer or a Buffalo Wings in days. You watch them, so impatient and tired of waiting and angry for the fun they miss. You watch them rush back to the beach. W. K. Sheldrake (Wayne) is the author of Instant Karma: The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum, #1 on Outside Magazine Online’s list of “6 Adventure Books We’d Read Again and Again,” and Foreword Magazine’s ‘Gold Medal’ Adventure Book of the Year (2007). He is recording his pandemic experience of Pandemic Disability in a memoir The19: Confessions of a Mad (American) COVIDodger. He lives in Southern Colorado with his “high risk” wife where there is plenty of wide open space. They do not currently have a dog. -
2020-11-01
“Pandemic Disabled”: The New Disability that was Always There
The A.D.A needs a new classification of “disabled”: Pandemic Disabled. -
2020-10-27
Mandatory masks in compliance with Human Rights Act, according to New Brunswick Human Rights Commission
In this document, the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission ruled that those unable to wear a mask due to age, mental disability, or physical disability were exempt. -
2020-03-25
Mandatory shopping orders implemented to help pregnant women
When these orders by the state and corporations were released everyone was reading them. These played a very important role in ethics. Governor Baker and many stores like Target released orders to implement for shoppers during the pandemic. There were large crowds, long lines, and hectic shopping everywhere, these orders were placed to help those at a disadvantage. Baker said stores must allow an hour before regular hours for those 60 or older and this included disabled people and pregnant women. Target‘s order specifies that pregnant women were allowed to come in during shopping hours that were restricted to these certain groups of people. This is a very ethical thing to do for these people. Standing in line or being high risk in crowds was very dangerous for everyone, but especially for these people. These orders relate to an ethical archive piece that represents how pregnant women were treated during the pandemic. This was a small advantage for them in these unprecedented times. These were put out to reassure their accountability if a situation struck out where these people were put in danger in the crowds when shopping. Also, they both acted in this very quickly, they knew it was ethically the right thing to do, in order to protect these people with a disadvantage or at high risk. -
2020-08-26
Grandpa & Gracie
I’ve missed my Grandpa terribly, but we’ve able to bond during the pandemic through a continuous email exchange concerning my dog. I’ll send him photos, and he’ll help me conspire ways to keep her safe from falling in our pool. We’ve been able to connect through our shared love of Gracie, even though we haven’t seen him or my Grandma for months. It’s been one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had in this plague year, especially because Grandpa is mostly deaf and can’t communicate well in person. It’s interesting how technology (and Gracie!) have facilitated connection between us. For a nonagenarian, he’s probably more proficient with technology than I am! -
2020-10-27
Texas social workers can no longer discriminate against LGBTQ Texans or those with disabilities
After backlash, the Texas government rescinded a recent action they proceeded with. -
2020-10-13
Possibly Fake Cards To Get Out of Wearing a Mask
Both my mother and my brother suffer from asthma. Before mask-wearing became mandatory by law, they attempted to use a card they had found on the Internet. The card looked legitimate, but we've since found out it may have been fake. Both of them printed it out and had it laminated so they could keep it in their wallets and bags. It stated they did not have to wear a mask due to health issues. Over time, my mother kept having experiences where people in public places such as grocery stores would get upset with her and “call her out” for not wearing a mask. She still stayed six feet away from people, but this was apparently not enough to reassure some. They would become angry and verbally abusive even after she showed them the card and explained that she had asthma. Because of these incidents, she looked for alternatives to masks, including a clear plastic screen which she tied around her forehead and it covered her entire face. But this was very inconvenient and difficult to wear. At the height of the quarantine, stores would not accept the card (as I mentioned earlier, it may have even been fake). As the quarantine began winding down (right around the time restaurants started opening), she was able to wear masks for short periods of time, as long as she could take it off soon after. *My parents got it through a third party, hence why I think it may have been fake. -
2020-10-07
The Fight To Stay Healthy
This pandemic we are living in is like being in a black whole of the unknown. In some places people are acting as if it doesn’t really exist or that it doesn’t affect them. The truth is, it may not be affecting them right now, but it very well could be. The truth is, we know nothing. This period of time in our history is a different experience for everyone and people do not have any clue about what is to come. My experience of this time has been chaotic and an ongoing feeling of paranoia. My brother and I are both high risk for COVID-19. I have In 2013 at 2 years old he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; he is a childhood cancer survivor and is now 10 years old but will continue to need to be cautious and always aware of his health. The picture I have provided with this entry is one from a few months after his diagnosis. This is the picture that remain in mine and my family’s heads; our motivation to continue to be hyperaware of our daily routines and who we encounter. I am asthmatic and have continued to have a weak immune system and suffer from respiratory illnesses. Protecting ourselves, our family, and those around us is the highest priority during this time. We are taking precautions and rules from the CDC very seriously. This has been a season of fear, loss, and uncertainty, but it has also been a season of faith, curiosity, and new beginnings. I have also had some family friends and family members lose their jobs during this time. COVID-19 has not just affected people’s health but the livelihood of the normal we once knew. Moving forward people will either embrace that or fight against it. Even while embracing it my family and I will continue to be cautious with our interactions, where we go, who we see, and be empathetic tot those who have lost their lives and their loved ones. -
2020-09-14
Deaf students at Arizona school will learn virtually, but not without obstacles
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, students are adjusting to their new normal when it comes to online classes, virtual events and social distancing to prevent the spread of the disease. But for deaf and hard of hearing students in Arizona public schools, as well as for many more enrolled in private schools, these adjustments introduce new barriers to communication and learning. Last year, according to the Arizona Department of Education, 1,622 deaf or hard of hearing students were in public schools. Sequoia Deaf School, part of the Edkey Inc. charter school group in Mesa, had 52 students enrolled in grades K through 12 for the 2020-21 school year. Its experience navigating the pandemic illustrates some of the challenges deaf students face, such as difficulty reading lips and faces behind masks, the shorter attention spans of young deaf students and the loss of their nurturing school community. -
2020-07-26
Jewish Melbourne: 'consider those with hearing difficulties while wearing a mask'
Chevra Hatzolah encouraged people to consider those with hearing difficulties while wearing a mask: "😷 Please consider those with hearing difficulties whilst wearing a mask. 😷 Please: - Be patient - Speak louder but do not yell - Articulate your words - Speak slowly - Use your hands and body language (gestures and pointing) - Move to a quiet place - Use alternative methods to communicate e.g. text Information is sourced from: https://www.deafvictoria.org.au/coronavirus/ Wherever you can, keep 1.5 metres apart from others, wash your hands often, and cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow. And if you have symptoms – get tested. In a medical emergency call 9527 5111." -
2020-04-01
Me, My Mom, & Her Mental Illness
This is an auto ethnography about me and my mom's experience when the Covid 19 outbreak and quarantine first started. My mom is a Black woman with Schizophrenia and I am her caretaker so it expands into larger societal issues as well. -
2020-06-13
When the ideal bar mitzvah is a Zoom Mitzvah
My boy-girl twins had their b'nai mitzvah during the pandemic. It went from me planning a big party, to me trying to make them feel happy about themselves on Zoom. But the secret is: This was possibly the best thing that could have happened! My son is autistic, and we were struggling with how he would deal with the sensory overload of performing in a large synagogue. I wrote a story about it that was published in the Forward, and I want to share it here. -
2020-08-30
Deaf students at an Arizona school will go virtual, but not without obstacles
By Katelyn Keenehan/Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-05-26
Reflections on staying at home with a child with special needs
As schools closed, a more unique kind of panic that kept me up at night during those first few weeks, being the mother of a child with special needs. -
04/08/2020
State Policies May Send People with Disabilities to the Back of the Line for Ventilators
An article by Liz Essley Whyte describing policies on medical rationing, state by state, and the efforts by disability advocacy groups to enforce equal access to lifesaving treatment. As disability rights activist Ari Ne’eman states in the article, ‘There is a long history of people with disabilities being devalued by the medical system. That’s why we have civil rights laws. We don’t have an exception in our country’s civil rights laws for clinical judgment. We don’t take it on trust.’ As Matthew Foster, an Alabama resident. says, ‘I have a right to live.’ -
04/22/2020
Stephanie Hebert Oral History, 2020/04/22
This is an interview about the Social Distance Powwow group that was started during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The interviewee, Stephanie Herbert, gives information about the Native Powwows and how the Native People are coping during the Coronavirus Pandemic. They cannot gather together and dance in Powwows, so Stephanie and her cohorts have tried to find a workaround for that. They started a Facebook group to help foster connection with others from around the world, which immediately gathered thousands of followers. -
05/13/2020
Adam Azzalino Oral History, 2020/05/13
Adam Azzalino is a graduate student of history at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. In this interview, Adam discusses how the pandemic has affected his life as a graduate student working on his thesis and his life as a person with a disability. He is living in the dorms at his university and working on his final thesis for his program. -
2020-07-11
Ottawa ACORN mobile clinic brings COVID tests to disabled, disadvantaged
"Saturday’s mobile clinic was organized by Ottawa ACORN, an advocacy group for low and moderate income families. It approached Ottawa Public Health to help organize the clinic, which was supported by The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO, Ottawa Inner City Health and the Ottawa Paramedic Service. The Ottawa Mission supplied hot meals to staff and those waiting to be tested, and the company Honey Group brought its mobile SMRT testing booth, which offers contactless testing." -
5/20/2020
Katherine Schneider Oral History, 2020/05/20
The interviewee is an older blind person who discusses their experience with the pandemic lockdown in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They discuss some of the challenges with living with blindness and continuing to work online and the non-inclusivity of other disabilities in teleworking and regular life during the pandemic. Additionally, they describe the challenges of being blind and trying to maintain social distance from people when you cannot see them. They also talk about how a good aspect of the pandemic is the sense of community and neighbors helping neighbors by checking in on people. Lastly, they talk about how they feel that people with disabilities are an afterthought during disasters and one way to remedy this is to have people from the disabled community on planning teams to help identify issues such as access to information and emergency planning. -
2020-07-03
My Battle Call
Reminders such as these have been circulating. Trying to help hearing people understand some challenges those in the Deaf world are facing right now. One of them being our inability to read lips and facial expressions. Many Deaf, deaf, HoH people have been shamed in public recently because we can not understand people wearing masks. Hearing people can be very rude shouting at us, "What are you deaf or something?!?" Well, yes sir I am! -
2020-06-18
Californians must wear face masks in public under coronavirus order issued by Newsom
It is now required to wear masks in California. I finally broke down and bought a sewing machine to make masks for my family. Most masks are fairly cheap right now. Going for about $5-$10 each for a homemade one and about $20 for nicer manufactured ones. I was able to buy enough supplies to make masks for everyone I know for the price I would have spend to purchase me and my family enough to wear and wash for the week. I watched a tutorial on how to make the masks and by last night I am now able to bake a mask in under ten minutes. I am bummed about the mask mandate but it does not affect me much as I was already wearing them. Masks are making life difficult for people like me who are Hard of Hearing. I worry what next year will look like when the schools open and I go back to teaching. -
2020-04-06
How to Communicate with Those Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Communication is difficult for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. -
2020-06-24
Deaf man makes masks for Deaf and HoH
The deaf, Deaf, HoH community are scrambling to get ahold of these masks with clear windows. It really only helps if everyone were to wear them, or at least family members and people who deal with the public. Also, side note: hearing-impaired is not PC! We prefer to be called HoH. I wish the reporter had done some research. -
2020-06-26
Government vital communication to deaf/Deaf/HoH community lacking
One of the frustrations amung the deaf/Deaf/HoH communities is the governments communication during a crisis. Several times there is no sign interpreter available on screen while politicians are speaking. Sometimes there is no live CC available. A few times, fake interpreters are speaking gibberish during a live governmental press conference, putting the lives of many in the Deaf community at risk. There are millions of deaf/Deaf/HoH in the U.S. and I feel like the pandemic had swept our needs aside. -
2020-06-26
Backorder form for communicator surgical mask
The demand for clear facemasks is high right now for both medical professionals and everyday people. It makes me happy to see that people even care that deaf, Deaf, or HoH can communicate. Unfortunately, many of us worry for our health if we were to become sick and need to go into the hospital right now. What about medical error from miscommunication? Pencil and pad of paper seem our best bet to not be misunderstood. -
2020-06-13
Do face masks make it more difficult to communicate?
As someone who is Hard of Hearing, I worry about returning to work in the fall. I never realized how much I rely on lip and expression reading before now. With masks and zoom meetings I struggle to understand conversations that normally would be simple. I have hearing aids but unfortunately they do not help much when context clues are deprived. Soft spoken, mumblers, low voices are all drowned out into the background. I search peoples eyes for clues, are they laughing? Are they concerned? In my Deaf and HoH support group the threads are now saturated with frustrated people just venting. Something as simple as a trip to the grocery store now requires a pad and pencil while pointing to the ears repeating, "I cant hear you. Let me write it down. I am Hard of Hearing/Deaf. Sorry. Sorry." While people behind you get irritated. I have thought about getting a neon shirt to wear at the store with the words, "I am Hard of Hearing, I can't hear you!" In zoom meetings I can see peoples faces. It provides context I miss so much. But I have low-frequency hearing loss so the voices of men are blurry at best. Arizona State University has a fantastic disability resource center and they have started providing me with a captioner who attends classes with me and transcribes for me live. I don't always need her but it has been nice not having to message classmates through a class to ask what was missed. This is a new world for many deaf/Deaf/HoH who are my age. We have always had ways to work around our disability. Now masks and technology are depriving us of coping skills we relied on. -
2020-06-17
California prisons to release up to 3,500 more inmates to prevent further spread of COVID-19
California is planning to release more corrections inmates early on July 1st in an effort to slow the spread of the corona virus. While this is a step in the right direction advocates point out that this group of inmates does not include those with disabilities, medically fragile, or preexisting conditions. The article also highlights how the virus is spreading from on facility to another through prisoner transfer. While transferring prisoners to facilities with lower populations sounds good to aid in social distancing the people being transferred are actually spreading the virus into new facilities. -
2020-05-26
Transparent masks made to assist deaf, hard-of-hearing
A print news article and accompanying video discussing the challenge the increase use of masks to prevent the spread of covid-19 has presented for those with hearing impairments who may rely on lip reading. To accommodate for this a local couple have started making masks with clear plastic windows over the mouth. -
2020-05-09
Window
I am including this selection of two photos of my bedroom window, as this has been the dominant view and my sole saving grace throughout lockdown. The photo on the left was taken in my first week of lockdown on the twenty third of March, which was the first week that I began to stay at home as I am asthmatic and was very concerned about my own health making me more vulnerable. The second photo was taken on the first of June, and marks ten weeks since my own ‘lockdown’ began, I have somewhat lost track of the various stages of lightening of restrictions as I was still mostly avoiding going out up until the point when the second photo was taken. In many ways my asthma and anxiety made this experience pretty traumatising, I stopped walking my dog because I people kept patting her and I had too much anxiety about the conflict of constantly asking people not too, and I was worried about the contact risk to myself from people touching my dog. After the rate of community transmission stabilised, I felt safer going out to places, but then I found the secondary anxiety of people behaving in rude and hostile ways towards me in public due to my obvious coughing or wheezing from asthma after I had an obvious asthma attack in Officeworks. My isolation has thus been pretty intense and long lasting compared to some others and combined with anxiety has induced an intense sensation of feeling trapped in my bedroom. The access to sunlight and fresh air through this window, as well as my beautiful view has been a literal visual lifeline, I found myself taking lots of photos of the window and my view. In many ways I feel like this has made me far more attentive than I have ever had the opportunity to be to the changes between night and day, and the slow seasonal change into winter. -
04/19/2020
What's in the way
Describe the image and what it tells us about the pandemic: I created this drawing because my environmental art professor had asked us to draw the world we would like to see and what's in the way. I wanted to go back to school, see my friends and professors again, so I decided to draw what is in the way. I depicted the lack of COVID-19 tests, the people who claim it is a hoax, the people flocking to Florida for Spring Break, and my own personal lung issues that prevent me from being able to take the risk. I'm sure that are many people who feel the same- and it is scary, and I hate the uncertainty. This image shows some of the many obstacles and challenge facing people amid the COVID-19 pandemic. I made this drawing using paints. -
2020-05-09
Quarantine Thoughts
March 25 This time has truly been a busy and challenging one. It is worrying and stressful. I believe that the 24-hour news cycle is part of the cause for this stress. There is no escape from the virus. I used to watch a lot of sports, but now there is nothing on TV. All ESPN has become is how Covid-19 is affecting the sports world. All anyone talks about now is the virus, nothing else really is being focused on. While this is a very negative view of this whole situation, I have observed one positive myself from this whole ordeal. I have been able to spend more time with my family and this has made weathering this whole situation easier. But this does make me feel for those who are not in the same situation as me. There are many whose parents are still working outside the home because their job requires them to or to help those with the virus. To those people I offer my gratitude and wishes for their well-being. April 15 What I have found most interesting about these times has been how hard it is to do work. I really did not think it would be this challenging. I expected some change, but it really is much harder to concentrate and get motivated in these times. But the more I think about it the more it really makes sense as to why it is so hard to do work and focus. At Fordham I would normally go to the library for 2 or 3 hours a day and be able to focus and tune out the rest of the world and just focus on the tasks at hand. It wasn't hard to focus back then. My biggest worry was the next exam or my GPA. A pandemic wasn't on my mind always in the background. This pandemic makes it hard to tune out the world. It is all over the news and all anyone talks about, so it’s just hard to think about anything else. It is also harder to do work at home. At the library I was there for one reason, to do work and I left when I finished. It is different at home. There are distractions everywhere and it is not a place I am accustomed to doing so much work. It was a place I came to relax and take a break. This whole ordeal has really been an adjustment. But I count myself among the lucky ones. My challenges are mundane in the face of what others are facing. All I can truly say is that this is truly a crazy world we live in today. It is like a movie playing out before our eyes. April 21 Over the last week it looks like things are starting to improve a little bit in New York. We are making progress against the virus and the curve has begun to flatten according to Governor Cuomo. We still have a long way to go though. But hopefully this trend continues, and New York will be able to go back to some sense of normalcy this summer. Not every state is like New York though. Not all states are taking the proper precautions about Covid-19 or are truly taking it seriously. New York is thinking of opening in June. Other states are considering reopening next week. This is truly concerning. All the leaders of these states seem to care about is the economy. They want to open back up as soon as possible to restart the economy. What these leaders fail to consider though is that if they reopen too early the economy would be even worse than it is now and so many more lives will be lost. But they do not seem to think about the future, just the present. April 22 I thought I would post an update today. I have not left the house frequently since the Covid-19 outbreak started but today I did. While looking out the car window I was truly shocked at the amount of people I saw not wearing masks. There were construction workers, runners, and bikers all not wearing masks, even though the governor mandated them days ago. These individuals looked like they were coming in close proximity with others, so I was surprised they were not taking the proper precautions. While I understand those, who cannot get their hands on a mask due to supply issues, I believe that there must be some way to cover your face to protect yourself and others. A simple bandanna or even a scarf could go a long way toward protecting yourself. To me this seemed to show that some people are not taking the pandemic seriously and are ignoring it. May 9 Today I wanted to discuss a particular issue that I have observed during the Covid-19 crisis. This is the issue of ableism in society. I was encouraged to read more into this topic after a classmate had mentioned it a couple of weeks back. Ableism is already an issue in society today, so you may wonder if it can really get worse. It indeed has gotten worse since the Covid-19 crisis has begun. The reason ableism in has gotten worse in society, actually has to do with something called a ventilator. Many states have found themselves woefully unprepared for this crisis, lacking many key products. One of these key products is a device called a ventilator. Ventilators are important because they can provide mechanical ventilation for people whose lungs have shut down due to an injury or infection, such as Covid-19. Ventilators were in short supply towards the peak of this crisis, but the issue has mostly been solved for the time being. At the beginning of the crisis however, some state officials tried to conserve their dwindling supplies of ventilators. Some states took this effort too far though. They enacted policies that could deny individuals a ventilator based on if they have certain underlying conditions such as dementia, cystic fibrosis, or “severe” intellectual disabilities. Upon reading into these policies, I was highly disturbed. We are deciding who lives and who dies based on these policies. In a way we are judging who is more “worthy” of life. The way these policies are written makes it is clear who these policy writers are considering more “worthy” and less “worthy”. These policy writers clearly believe that disabled individuals are less “worthy” of life then the rest of mankind. By denying disabled individuals a ventilator, you are denying them life and enforcing the notion that these individuals are not “worth” keeping alive. I truly believe this is wrong in every way. These policies blatantly violate the rights of the disabled and treat them as “inferior” to the rest of society. -
2020-03-30
Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and the Blind Distance Learning Plan
A plan put out by the Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and the Blind that details how distance learning will be implemented for students in the first month of school closures. It highlights ways in which the schools will work to continue to fulfill Individual Education Plans (IEPs) through distance learning and ways in which teachers and school staff will communicate with students to fulfill their needs during the closures. -
2020-05-01
Kim and Frenchie live staying gone!
I live with my disabled adult daughter and our personal experience is that as two introverts who like to work on solitary activities, we loved being at home! -
2020-04-08
Allergic Asthma in the times of COVID-19
Sitting in the front seat of my roommate's four-door Honda, we pay a special birthday visit to my roommate’s cat, Bunny. During the time of COVID-19, quarantining poses new challenges for people struggling with longstanding respiratory issues, which has led our household to temporarily move Bunny’s home to a friend’s residence. Although we miss him here day to day, nationwide shortages of albuterol and asthma medications due to COVID-19 force us to make difficult decisions on how to maintain our respiratory health during this time. For now, our interactions with Bunny include short playdates and visits to prevent asthmatic flare-ups and the use of medications such as albuterol, which have become so much for valuable and sparse during the times of COVID-19. #DePaulHST391 -
2020-03-25
Interpreting Covid-19 News Reports
Deaf Organizations are coming together to provide Deaf Americans access to news reports about Covid-19. Should the government be providing Interpreted News reports? -
2020-04-01
A different experience
For me at least, being unable easily to go outside the house, the requirement to stay at home is not as big a burden as it is for the able-bodied person. The use of online communication has expanded exponentially, and so I now feel more included than I did before! -
2020-03-28
Online Learning Tips for Deaf Students
An email received by an academic advisor for students with disabilities. It describes several tips for deaf students as most colleges and universities transition to online learning. #HIST5241 -
2020-03-28
OpEd from an ASD Mom
As the general population contemplates their loss of physical freedom and financial uncertainty there is an entire population of people being overlooked- the disabled. As a mother of a teenage son on the autism spectrum I am struggling to help him navigate a new world that I myself can barely comprehend. The basic routine and structure that all ASD children need to thrive has all but disappeared. In its place is only chaos and uncertainty, with parents desperately trying to hold things together. On a normal day my son attends a non-public special needs school with primarily ASD students. That school is now closed for an undetermined amount of time. That school does not just provide a special educator but desperately needed occupational therapy, speech-language therapy and behavioral support. My son also receives various outpatient services, many of which he has attended with the same physicians for most of his life. But, for the public safety, those have now closed- so they have been taken from him as well. As we try to maneuver to telehealth to supplement some of those supports the overwhelming truth of it all is clear- I will now be his teacher, OT, SLP and behavioral therapist. I am a fierce mother, but I am but one woman. How will I balance the need to work with his need for structure and medical care? How can I be at all places at once, doing jobs I am unqualified for? And while I am trying to juggle all professions at once, when will I ever just be mom again? My son is afraid. He is uncertain. But the reality is that there is no way for me to truly make him understand. My only solace is the strong community of ASD parents that have rallied to try to bring some sense of normalcy back to daily life. Our children miss their friends. Friendships are not easy to come by for this community, particularly among neuro-typical peers. So, the friendships formed among this group, within this non-public school, are crucial to their mental/emotional well-being. We all know it and we are all worried. Our children are prone to depression and self-harm. How can we keep them from isolating and regressing in a situation where isolation is required? One parent offers daily Zoom meetings. Every day at 3:00pm. If we can get all of the children to join we can only hope that it will fill the void, and help them feel like they are not alone. But we are all we have. The truth is we are all alone. The services we rely on are gone. The teachers are gone. Our routines are in shambles and the world is crashing down around us. We all understand the seriousness. We all understand the why. But as the world now turns to meet the needs of the pandemic the needs of our disabled children lay in the balance unseen and unheard.