Letters to the Editor
Attitudes Still Changing
Thank
you for reviewing the survey recently completed by the Minnesota
Governor’s Council
on Developmental Disabilities showing improved public attitudes towards
this group (“Happy to Pay for Full Integration,” Access
Press, March 10, 2007). Congratulations to the advocates and self-advocates
whose words, actions and lives made this shift happen.
I was especially interested
in the comments of JoAnn Erbes that people with cerebral palsy
are “not happy being lumped with
people who have intellectual disabilities under the label ‘developmental
disability’ and see it as ‘a putdown’.”
I agree with JoAnn. At the same time, I see this unfortunate attitude
changing, and changing a lot. Increasingly, people with intellectual,
physical, and emotional disabilities are realizing we all have many
things in common. We now work alongside each other to make sure public
attitudes continue to become more positive toward us all, toward
all people with disabilities. I, and I think many others, are not
offended and do not feel putdown if associated with people who have
other types of disabilities.
When people mistake
me as having exactly the same characteristics and support needs
as a person with intellectual, or any other type of disability
that is not my own, I don’t see it as a putdown
but a misunderstanding that I may need to correct. As I hold bad
feelings toward other people with disabilities, I’m putting
myself down. I am confident that many, if not most, people with disabilities
feel this way too.
John Smith
No “Good” in True Poverty
You can sugar coat it
if you wish, but poverty is still
a bitter pill to swallow. [“Stars are the Diamonds of the Poor;
Part II,” Access Press, April 10, 2007] It’s nice that
some people find good in everything, even poverty, but the truth
is that poverty equals fear. Fear of losing more. Fear of not being
able to afford medical or dental care. Fear of not being able to
buy medications. Fear of being alone and forgotten by those who don’t
like you being a burden.
Poverty makes holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter less
of a celebration and more of a financial crisis. It saps the life
out of its victims, and the agencies who are supposed to help you
only compound the problem by trying to destroy any self-esteem you
might have left. Say what you will; there’s very little good
about it.
I like what Pearl Bailey said about it: “I’ve been rich
and I’ve been poor, and I like rich a whole lot better!”
When poverty has you in its grips, life becomes focused on money.
Life should be focused elsewhere. Money should not command greater
attention than simply enjoying life, but it does. When Hamburger
Helper becomes a luxury meal, it does indeed!
Thomas St. James
Am I More Vulnerable to Assault? Seeking
Discussion on Public Safety
My
wife and I have experienced our share of assault in recent years.
She was once mugged at a bus shelter. I was struck in the face by
a young man as I walked down the Nicollet Mall. Still another time,
we arrived home from a shopping trip to find a man standing outside
of our front door. He had followed us from the bus stop, and his
only question for me as I stepped forward to confront him was “Does
your dog bite?”
Given this history,
I’ve been struggling with the issue of
public safety for those of us with a disability. It isn’t that
I’m just concerned for my own safety and security when I’m
walking down a sidewalk between appointments or when I’m boarding,
riding or exiting public transportation, or even when I’m working
on a project in the yard outside my home.
Of course I’m more concerned about the safety of my spouse,
friends and co-workers. To have said that, I’m not even worried
how I would react in a situation if I were assaulted or the target
of a robbery attempt again. I don’t deliberately put myself
in unsafe situations. I will not, however, be a prisoner inside my
home either. Likewise, I’m not going to do anything crazy like
fight off an attacker unless I’m certain I will not come out
worse after such an unwanted situation.
But I’m more concerned
with the attitude of the person who might carry out such an attack.
Would I have been identified because of my disability or because
of my perceived vulnerability?
Our neighborhood has experienced a rise in assaults recently. I
wonder if other people with disabilities struggle with the same fear
as I have. And if you do, what are you doing about it?
Let me know by submitting a letter to the editor in the next issue
of Access Press, or by e-mailing me.
Thanks,
Clarence Schadegg, clarence.schadegg@comcast.net
