Don’t feel sorry for me
“I really feel sorry for you that you have a disability and have to use a wheelchair.”
The comment came from a man I’d just met in the community.
I was surprised to hear it because I’d just got done explaining my story to him in a very positive light.
He had wanted to know how I live with my disability. When I receive a question like this from someone, I provide an overview of my situation, as I
Categories: inclusion, people with disabilities, Uncategorized
Tags: achievement, courage, dignity, grace, Mary Campbell Center, muscular dystrophy, pity, Special Olympics, wheelchair.
Being in, and of, the community: the power of the CMS rule and us
What constitutes “community living?” There’s the sense, not just in Delaware but across the country, that battle lines have been drawn between those espousing opposing perspectives on this matter. On one side are those who celebrate the victories of the ADA, and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, and the countless state and local efforts to ensure that people with disabilities have the right to be—and actually are—fully included in their communities. In education, employment, housing, transportation, recreation … in, a
Categories: authentic community integration, Center for Independent Living, civil rights, community living, Down syndrome, inclusion, people with disabilities
Tags: Artfest, Center for Disabilities Studies, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CLSC, CMS rule, Community Connectors, The Delaware Way.
What you’ll find at our blog
Why is the Center for Disabilities Studies launching a new blog? That’s easy: to engage the disability community, the public and policy makers in a provocative discussion of issues with the potential to bring about positive changes in the lives of people with disabilities.
How do we intend to do that? Well, for one thing, advocates and experts, people with disabilities and people without disabilities, will pose challenging questions at critically important times. CDS Director Beth Mineo does that in
Categories: Americans with Disabilities Act, community living, Health and Wellness, inclusion, independent living, intellectual Disabilities, people with disabilities, personal care assistants, Uncategorized
Tags: acknowledgement, Americans with Disabilities Act, blog, community living, disability and sexuality, inclusion, independent living, personal care assistants.
Sawa bona
The other day I came upon a traffic light with no power, just as drivers of three other cars approached that same intersection. I did what everyone else did. I stopped where the dark traffic light was, made eye contact to acknowledge the other drivers, then took my turn passing, safely, through the intersection. This acknowledge-the-other-driver dance made me think about the power of acknowledgment.
I’m that person who walks by you and says “hello” every single time. I’m always
Categories: functional communication, people with disabilities
What is independent living to you?
After leaving the hospital with my new injury 29 short years ago, I rolled into a Center for Independent Living (CIL) because I needed help finding Personal Care Assistants (PCA) so I could live independently in my own home. I received no real help, just a very outdated list of phone numbers. I was both disappointed and bewildered. I was even more surprised to learn that providing this kind of help was not something that CILs are expected to
Categories: Center for Independent Living, Health and Wellness, independent living, Independent Living Movement, personal care assistants
Tags: Center for Independent Living, Community Living Policy Center, Family Support Research and Training Center, Independent Living Movement, personal care assistants.