Access Press - February 10, 2008
Bringing News and Information to People with Disabilities Since 1990
This version of Access Press does not include graphics, photos, advertisements, Directory of Organizations, Friends of Access Press listing, hyperlinks or email links. It is laid out in the order that content appears in the print version on pages 1 through 16.
Monthly Quote:
"It does make a difference what you call things. " --Kate Douglas Wiggin
Page 1, Article 1:
Mellenthin to Head Arc of Minnesota
New executive director begins work this
month
Pat Mellenthin of Marshall, Minnesota has been selected as the new executive director of The Arc of Minnesota. Mellenthin, who officially began her work with the agency last week, comes to the statewide group from The Arc of Minnesota Southwest, where she has served since 2002 as both development director and later executive director. There she helped bring about the successful merger of several local chapters into The Arc of MN Southwest, expanded the chapter’s programming, and increased the chapter’s fundraising base. She also worked with The Arc of Minnesota as manager of its statewide Civic Engagement Program, helping local affiliated chapters of The Arc develop their skills and knowledge in advocating for public policies that benefit persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
“I am excited to start this position at The Arc of Minnesota,” Mellenthin said. “I strongly believe in its mission, and I have been pleased to have been part of the work of The Arc at the local and state level over the past five years. I look forward to working with local chapters and Arc members as we work for a brighter, more inclusive future for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.”
Mellenthin assumes the executive director position from Steve Larson, who has served in that capacity since October 2002. Larson informed The Arc of Minnesota Board last October that he would like to focus his energies with the agency on public policies affecting persons with developmental disabilities and their families. He will now become the agency’s director of public policy.
The Arc of Minnesota is a statewide, nonprofit organization that supports and advocates for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities and their families as they choose how they live, learn, work, and play in their communities. The Arc of Minnesota has 5,000 members and supporters and 13 affiliated chapters across Minnesota.
Page 1, Article 2:
Plenty of Work to Do
MN-CCD coalition maps the road ahead
of the 2008 legislative session
Fifty-four million Americans – roughly 1 in 6 – personally experience some form of disability. Yet, seventeen years after Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities still do not have an equal opportunity to fulfill the key tenet that America was built upon—independence.
Real economic barriers still exist.
In 2006, people with disabilities were almost three times more likely to
live below the poverty line than those without disabilities. The average
annual household income for individuals without disabilities was $65,400
in 2006, while the average for people with disabilities was $36,300. In addition,
the employment rate for people with disabilities in 2006 was at least forty
percent lower than the employment rate of working-age individuals without
disabilities. These dismal statistics offer evidence of severe shortcomings
in efforts to break down the barriers that exclude people with disabilities
and deprive them of opportunities.
With that in mind, there is plenty of work to do as the 2008 legislative
session begins this week. One of the key groups leading the drive for change
is the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MN-CCD), a unique
coalition of more than 100 organizations founded in the mid-90s. It includes
providers, advocates and support organizations all dedicated to improving
the lives of people with disabilities. Co-chaired by Joel Ulland from the
Multiple Sclerosis Society, Minnesota Chapter and Steve Larson from Arc Minnesota,
MN-CCD supports policies that provide the most cost-effective delivery of
services and helps individuals with disabilities maintain their health and
gain independence in their daily living. Many of CCD’s accomplishments
have come through collaborating, advocating, educating, influencing change
and creating awareness for understanding. Since its founding, this ‘together
we’re stronger’ approach has been vital to rolling back barriers
in Minnesota.
So, what is in store for us all in 2008? The November 2007 state economic forecast predicted a general fund deficit of $373 million. This deficit comes at a time when the legislature is tackling important issues such as transportation and balancing predictions of very tight funding for disability services and needs. Despite these barriers, the disability community has three high profile legislative priorities: universal health care coverage, transportation, and a caregiver tax credit.
Health Care
Health care is high on the radar screen of everyone in 2008. Last spring, the legislature convened the Health Care Access Commission, a group of legislators as well as private sector experts in health care. Their charge was to make recommendations on how to achieve universal health coverage in Minnesota. The commission had subgroups such as the Bridging the Continuum group which focused on many issues specific to disability, and investigated ways to bridge all sectors of health to create a seamless health delivery system. The group also recommended ideas such as a medical home, which focuses on patient-centered, physician-guided, cost-efficient lifelong care. It is yet unclear if the commission’s findings will be adopted, but dialogue is taking place, and the urgency for reform is palpable. The need for change has never been greater.
Transportation
In the wake of the I-35W bridge, much of the ‘08 legislative session will likely be devoted to transportation. For people with disabilities, access to transit affects employment, education and even health care. Therefore, the MN-CCD is again pursuing an aggressive transportation agenda. Change is long overdue: there are currently seven counties without any public transit, and District Three, covering central Minnesota, will meet only 19.4 percent of ridership needs by 2010 if current levels are maintained.
Last year the MN-CCD launched its ‘14 by 2010’ bill which calls for all 87 counties in Minnesota having a minimum of 14 hours of transportation service per day by the year 2010. Unfortunately, the parties could not pass a transportation bill and the MN-CCD bill died. This year the MN-CCD will take a different approach to improve transportation—using the existing 2001 Department of Transportation Greater Minnesota Public Transportation plan as their vehicle. The DOT plan calls for 80 percent by 2010—so we have plenty of work ahead. Essentially, the MN-CCD bill will ask the legislature to fund its own transportation plan.
Caregiver Tax Credit
The final big initiative the MN-CCD is seeking is a caregiver tax credit. The simple fact is that the most cost-effective and many times most desirable way to provide needed care to older Minnesotans and those with disabilities is through informal caregivers—primarily family members. Eighty to ninety-five percent of all long-term care services are provided by informal caregivers, saving the nation an estimated $196 billion; a figure that dwarfs national expenditure for home health care ($32 billion) and nursing home care ($83 billion). When caregivers are unable to provide the care needed because the other components of life’s resources are no longer accessible, many are forced to make the decision to move a family member or friend to a nursing home. The caregiver tax credit seeks a $100 maximum monthly tax credit for those requiring a level of formal or informal care that meets state PCA standards.
Take Action
This should be an interesting year in Minnesota politics. Of course, it is also a presidential election year with the certainty of a new president, and many possible changes in Congress and the Minnesota House of Representatives. Therefore, now is the time to take action. The MN-CCD needs your support for our initiatives to succeed. The adage that “decisions are made by those who show up” is genuine. Attending advocacy days, visiting legislators, making calls, writing letters and testifying at legislative hearings all affect a bill’s success. So, please contact organizations you are linked with and speak to their advocates. We also encourage you to visit the MN-CCD Web site for a list of events you can attend and support, as well as contact details for disability organizations around the state. We need your help to continue breaking down barriers and to keep showing that together we’re stronger.
Check out the Minnesota-Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities at www.mncdd.org
Page 2, Article 1: Editor's Column
by Tim Benjamin
By the time you read this, we will know the results of the Minnesota state caucuses. I hope you all attended and enjoyed the grassroots style of politics that the caucus offers us, and, that your candidate won. Most of all, I hope that the candidate who did win our delegates and our votes will follow through on all their campaign pledges. Let’s hold them to their words. If after the election, the candidates do not follow through on their word, let’s write them and remind them of what they promised all of us.
In the Saturday, February 2, 2008, edition of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, there was an article discussing what’s going on at the capital concerning health care issues, and describing the work of a group that Christian Knights talks about in his front page article in this issue, “Plenty of Work to Do.” Representative Huntley (DFL from Duluth), co-chair of the legislative commission on health care access, seems to think that Minnesota is about to make health care history. Rep. Huntley said, “I think we’re making dramatic steps towards changing...our sick care system into a health care system.” Governor Pawlenty has appointed another group to make recommendations on health care reform, and it sounds like both groups are on the same track. Senator Berglund (DFL from Minneapolis), said there is momentum on health care reform right now that will not last forever. She is suggesting, I believe, that it’s not going to be an easy task, but the time is right for real reform. On the other hand, Senator John Marty (DFL from Roseville), has said the recommendations to the governor from his commission didn’t go far enough. So it is possible that legislators are going to butt heads—and we all know what that means: little or nothing will happen. So, If Sen. Berglund is right, maybe there will be some real reform. I hope she’s right, and she is right far more often than many.
It’s awfully worrisome when the first thing you hear on a Monday morning is that President Bush’s budget has been released and that he’s cut Medicare and Medicaid by $200 billion. Senator Berglund talks about momentum; this news sure seems to take the momentum out of any kind of health care reform. It’s hard to imagine any way to make President Bush’s ’09 budget work other than by slashing programs. It is, by the way, the largest federal budget ever. I think it’s time for a new president who is truly dedicated to an agenda of fiscal responsibility—and not at the cost of the middle class or working poor. Tax credits for the services that the middle class and working poor use certainly would be a good start. Also, putting money into the pockets of the middle class and working poor, with jobs, is another good way to get the economy back on the right track. That is why the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act (H.R. 1279) is so important. I employ these professionals, and there are not many of them that I know who own stocks or have much in savings accounts. These, too, are some of the people that need public transportation, and ultimately support public transportation with their purchasing power. These are also often, like many of us, people who cannot afford preventive health care, and end up in emergency rooms costing two or three times what preventive care would have cost.
Finally, let’s work for a president and senator who will stop the war. It hasn’t stopped terrorism, and it’s now killed more Americans than 9/11 did. It’s also added more than 150,000 people with disabilities to the population. If the amputations, brain injuries, psychological trauma, blindness, and spinal cord injuries had been caused by Osama bin Laden, we’d be traumatized as a society. Instead, we’re leaving thousands of men and women soldiers to be traumatized by a unwanted—and obscenely expensive—war. Let’s give peace a chance.
Page 2, Article 2: Social Security Facts for 2008
In 2008, about 50 million Americans will receive Social Security benefits—that’s roughly twice the number of people who live in the cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego and Dallas combined.
The nation’s first baby-boomer begins collecting Social Security retirement benefits in February 2008 … and over the next 20 years another 78 million baby boomers will be eligible to apply for benefits, too. That’s an average of more than 10,000 people applying for benefits every day!
About 70 percent of private sector workers have no long-term disability insurance—but nearly all workers and their families have Social Security protection in the event of a long-term disability.
The average monthly Social Security survivors insurance benefit for a widow or widower with two dependent children is about $2,243 per month—which for most workers is more than the value of their private life insurance.
If you find these facts interesting and would like to know more about any aspect of the Social Security programs, you can visit our Web site at www.socialsecurity.gov
Page 2, Article 2: Stamps Buy State Hospital Bus
In September 1964, the bus used by Cambridge State School and Hospital to transport residents broke down after 900,000 miles. The bus was unsafe to take residents to Twins games, Como Park, or the circus and was too costly to repair. The legislature had not appropriated money to buy or lease a replacement.
At that time, many stores offered trading stamps to customers with each purchase, so many stamps (points) for each dollar spent. Many families collected them and used them to buy household goods and similar items.
The institution’s volunteer services coordinator, Norm Synstelien, asked parents and members of the Association for Retarded Citizens and other civic groups to donate Gold Bond trading stamps to get a bus. They needed 1,785,000 points or 2,550 filled books. It took a while, but by July 1966 Cambridge had its bus.
Page 2, Article 4: Still Living in
Institutions
Which states still have institutions
housing people with developmental
disabilities?
States without institutions: Alaska, New Hampshire, District of Columbia, New Mexico, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Indiana, Vermont, Maine, West Virginia.
Smallest number of people in state institutions: Minnesota 9, Idaho 90, Oregon 40, Delaware 99, Montana 77, Colorado 116, Nevada 79, Michigan 127, Wyoming 88, Arizona 134
Largest number of people in state institutions: Texas 4,943, North Carolina 1,605, New Jersey 3,064, Virginia 1,452, California 3,025, Louisiana 1,419, Illinois 2,709, Pennsylvania 1,416, Ohio 1,606, Mississippi 1,377, New York 1,605
Source: Braddock, D, ed. State of the States in Developmental Disabilities (2008, in press) as cited in Self Advocacy Nation, January 2008.
Page 3, Article 1: Federal Legislation Aims to Stem DSP Workforce Crisis
Recruiting and retaining a stable direct support workforce is important to the lives of people with disabilities and their families. How else can providers offer consistent, quality supports based upon long-term and well-established relationships? Unfortunately, the direct support professional (DSP) workforce is in crisis. Low wages coupled with physically and emotionally demanding work has resulted in high turnover and heavy vacancies.
To alleviate this crisis, the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) created a National Advocacy Campaign and initiated legislation sponsored by Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) and Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE). Together they introduced the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act (H.R. 1279), which recognizes the urgent national workforce crisis facing our nation. The legislation comes at a critical juncture. It would take the first important step toward stabilizing the direct support professional workforce—a step needed to ensure that people with disabilities will receive the quality supports and services they need from community-based service providers and that state and federal funding require.
This legislation would make a much needed national investment and create an incentive — all through a joint federal-state-private partnership — to address one of our most pressing challenges in the 21st century. The bill would empower our nation’s governors with additional resources to help ensure quality supports and services that underpin a productive and meaningful life in the community of choice for people with disabilities. It does so by establishing a 5-year program to provide participating states with additional Medicaid funds in order to increase wages for direct support professionals.
The wages for DSPs working in the community are paid almost entirely from a federal and state Medicaid funding. Historically, these governmental funding streams have not kept pace with general market demands, nor have they kept pace with compensation for state employees who are performing the same job functions in state-operated programs and institutions.
The economic challenges faced by DSPs
have led to high turnover and ongoing vacancies among direct support staff.
Annual DSP turnover rates range from 40% to over 75%. At the same time, there
is an increasing demand for DSPs for the following reasons:
• The growing trend for supporting people with disabilities in smaller residential
settings or in their own homes.
• Family caregivers are aging and individuals with disabilities are living longer, therefore increasing the demands for more DSPs.
• In its Olmstead decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the right of individuals with disabilities to receive community-based services as an alternative to institutional care. The demand for community supports and services is growing rapidly as states comply with Olmstead and continue to move more individuals from institutions into the community.
Additionally, high turnover and lengthy vacancies are requiring support and service providers to spend disproportionate amounts of time and money on recruitment, orientation and training, thereby reducing resources for actual service and support. System-wide, organizational resources are being sapped by staffing crises to the detriment of supports and services, advancing inclusion and personal safety.
Your help is needed
With a total of 113 co-sponsors, H.R. 1279 is well on the road, but hasn’t arrived at its final destination. Congress is now in session for the second half of the 110th Congress and the time is right to make a renewed push to get your representative in Congress to support H.R. 1279. You can make a difference by taking action through the American Network of Community Options and Resources’ automatic online Action Center. Send a letter to your representative by visiting www.capwiz.com/
For more info about ANCOR’s National Advocacy Campaign, visit www.youneedtoknowme.org
Page 3, Article 2: In Front of and Behind the
Cameras
[With] tv to offer 24-hour programming 'of, by and for
people with disabilities'
by Nancy Sopkowiak
Wouldn't it be great if our disability community had a 24 hour TV channel by and for people with disabilities? Good news. In the near future, we will. It will be called [with]tv.
Howard Renensland conceived the idea for [with]tv in response to his daughter Victoria's experiences. Victoria was born with developmental disabilities, and Renensland has always advocated for her inclusion in the world. As a young adult, Victoria has run into many obstacles to employment. She tried a bookstore position, but she didn't feel challenged. Also, the managers would only assign her to work eight hours each week and paid her $8 per hour.
Renensland wanted his daughter to have rewarding, challenging work in a supportive, inclusive environment. He decided to start a company where Victoria and other folks with disabilities could experience an empowering workplace. He wanted to start a TV channel because of the media's power to affect public perceptions. Renensland plans to show programming that portrays those with disabilities in a positive light.
Renensland, who incorporated [with]tv in 2006, says the company is "devoted to providing television and internet programming of, by, and for people with disabilities." Although not yet on the air, the company has taped some pilot shows. Their programming will include sports, news, drama, comedy, reality, movies, concerts, variety and shopping. One news show will be called "A Different Perspective."
All the programs and even commercials will be accessible for those with hearing or vision difficulties. The channel will have captioning, narration, and be screen-reader accessible. Renensland plans to start broadcasting on the Internet, and then expand to television. Eventually [with]tv will have programs running 24 hours each day.
As a part of the new broadcast endeavor, Renensland founded the nonprofit company People with Disabilities Broadcasting Corporation. PBDC will train those with disabilities to work at [with]tv in entertainment careers, as writers, as well as make-up, hair, camera and script consultants.
PBDC and [with]tv aren't set up to train or hire yet, but they are accepting resumes. Also, volunteers are welcome and appreciated.
Victoria Renensland is excited about the [with]tv station. "I dream about having my own TV show and calling it Victoria 's TV Show."
If you want to check out the soon-to-be TV channel plans, go to www.with-tv.com. They request that you sign their guest book.
Page 3, Article 3: ‘Wrecking Ball’ Aimed at Medicare
Commentary
“President Bush’s proposed cuts to Medicare would hurt older and disabled Americans and take a wrecking ball to many essential hospitals across the country. It is indefensible for the President to propose hurting America’s grandparents while maintaining his rabid defense of Medicare overpayments to for-profit health insurance companies,” writes Robert M. Hayes, President of the Medicare Rights Center (MRC) in a press release issued this week.
MRC is the largest independent source of health care information and assistance in the United States for people with Medicare. Founded in 1989, MRC helps older adults and people with disabilities get good, affordable health care.
Source: MRC
Page 3, Article 3: Bagdad Atrocities on People with Disabilities Condemned
The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) and the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) condemned the use of individuals with Down syndrome by terrorists following dual bombings in Baghdad Friday. According to news reports, terrorists used remote-controlled explosives attached to two women with Down syndrome to kill at least 73 people.
Responding to news of the attack, NDSC Executive Director David Tolleson said, “this tragedy is compounded by the terrorist’s vicious exploitation of individuals with Down syndrome.” NDSS President Jon Colman agreed, noting that “this was not a suicide attack, these women were murdered, as surely as the other victims.”
This is not the first time individuals with Down syndrome have been used by terrorists in such deadly attacks in Iraq. On January 31, 2005, an explosive device tied to a boy with Down syndrome was exploded in Baghdad, in an act condemned at the time by NDSC and NDSS and others around the world.
Both the National Down Syndrome Society and the National Down Syndrome Congress urge the Iraqi government to use every available method to end the abuse of individuals with Down syndrome and to use this tragedy as a catalyst to enact and uphold policies and laws that will protect the basic human and civil rights of all individuals with disabilities.
National Down Syndrome Congress
Page 4, Article 1: More is Not Enough
Commentary by Kevin Bjorklund
Thank God it's over. But what just happened? Maybe now's the best time to ponder the holiday madness, so we're guarded and ready when it resumes (maybe July 5th this year.)
I recall driving home from work on the Monday before Thanksgiving, and as I flipped over to one of the local stations, soon realized that of course they were already into the 24/7 playing of Christmas tunes. There used to be something special about hearing my favorite holiday music on Christmas Eve; that now seems to have lost some of its magic due to the constant over playing during the weeks before.
This was an early reminder of what was coming-and of what the holidays seemed to have become: the "more is not enough" way of doing. Blaring holiday music aside, we are constantly bombarded by retailers marketing their wares-from clothes to food; movies to music. In addition, those of us employed by companies that sell a product know the pressure placed on us as the end of the year approaches. And all of this craziness generated in the spirit of the bottom line. With all of the hype and fast-paced energy swirling around, how could I not get sucked up into it all? What is this holiday spirit stuff I keep hearing about that is so cleverly attached to some marketing campaign that ultimately motivates me to lower my bank account rather than raise my awareness of the true meaning of the holidays?
And so it went. I hustled to work; I rushed home; I pulled myself up to hustle over to the mall to find gifts for all who were on my list. I then rushed from one to another of many holiday gatherings, sharing as much time as I could before moving on to the next. Somehow along the way, if I could have just paused for a moment or two to reflect on the meaning of it all--to just breathe. To try to remember the real reason for the season and not just race through it all because this is what I am suppose to do-like checking things off a list and finally exclaiming "It's over, I've made it through another one!"
As I reflect back on the early years of my childhood, I can remember vividly those feelings that surround the holiday season. In my family, we celebrated Christmas. The innocent excitement was part of the enormous anticipation of the approaching Christmas holiday. How far away it always seemed; how slow the days would go by while watching the stack of presents grow bigger and bigger under the tree, counting the ones that were just for me, while imaging all the incredible things that must be under those beautiful paper covers. Knowing that there were still days of wait and wonder until I could finally tear through the wrappings to the joy contained inside. And as the years went by, how I slowly shifted from that earlier feeling of the excitement and joy of receiving, to the joy and love of giving and the rewards I received as I watched the eyes light up to those who I give. And as I stared into the wide eyes of those I love, how it seemed to magically transport me into this place of presence-allowing me to be filled with feelings of joy and love-that illusive spirit of the holidays.
How can we reflect on this past holiday and use it as a reminder of what's important each day of the year? How do we stay on course through the busyness that has become our lives? Could it be as simple as just taking a few moments each day to simply be-to just breathe with our eyes closed and allow ourselves to slip into The Moment. And during those momentary lapses into presence, inside that long breath, maybe if we're lucky we might be reminded of the meaning of it all. It contains the space that allows us to appreciate all that we have and all that we are. In that space we are reminded of the blessings of our family, our friends and co-workers; our health-all those gifts we receive on a daily basis, yet seem to take for granted as they don't come wrapped in beautiful bows or fancy paper. If we can only reach deep inside and allow that spirit that is part of each and every one of us to move forward and permeate our existence each and every day of every season. That to me is the true gift of this past holiday season-our reminders of what we all are and all have the capacity to be-giving, loving human beings.
Page 4, Article 2: Virginia
Joins Respectful Language Movement
How
support grew to ban ‘retarded’ from
state books
Erin Thompson lives with Down syndrome, but she refuses to use the “R” word. She and others want the state of Virginia to follow suit.
Legislation is moving through the General Assembly to remove the phrase “mentally retarded” from thousands of pages of state code.
The new phrase would be “persons with intellectual disabilities.”
Last week, the Senate Education and Health Committee unanimously endorsed the measure after hearing from Thompson, who is 21, and 31-year-old Jill Egle’ of the Arc of Northern Virginia, an advocacy group. A similar bill has already cleared a House panel. A rally at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church — near the General Assembly — on Monday attracted about 500 people and was intended to focus attention on a broad range of mental health issues.
The rally, organized by the Richmond-based Coalition for Virginians with Mental Disabilities, is an annual event, but it has taken on added significance this year. Mental health reform has moved to the top of the legislative agenda after last year’s mass shooting at Virginia Tech by a student with a history of mental illness.
”We’re just really trying to bring awareness,” said Lauren Cunningham, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University who works with the Arc of Virginia. “There are hundreds, thousands of people who are affected by this issue, and something needs to change.”
As for the language bill, it may just involve a phrase, but the initial positive reception is welcome news to activists such as Pam McGregor, executive director of the Arc of Greater Williamsburg, which works with 140-plus clients. The Arc is a nationwide nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of life for children and adults with mental disabilities.
“Society is just not compassionate at times,” McGregor said. “Hopefully, this will rectify that.”
For Susan Ackerman of York County, a change in the language would be a good thing. She’s spent the last 30 years hearing the teasing and enduring the stares that come from having Down syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause mental difficulties.
Ackerman has never let it slow her down.
A 1997 graduate of York High School, Ackerman has for the past five years worked at the Williamsburg-based Colonial Services Board, which helps people with mental illness, mental difficulties and substance abuse. She takes the bus five days a week to her job, where she performs duties such as preparing mailers and doing laundry for the Williamsburg Winery and the Coast Guard.
Ackerman, a past Special Olympics gold medalist who excels at swimming, doesn’t consider herself disabled.
”Having disabilities, that doesn’t count,” she said. “It’s the abilities that count. I see the good side of people.”
The phrase “mentally retarded” can be hurtful not only to the disabled, but also to parents of disabled children who live with the daily challenge of raising them, McGregor said.
“Every parent has the same dreams and expectations for that baby,” she said. “Any time society can become gentler, more compassionate, it speaks volumes for that society.”
Changing the language would cost taxpayers about $75,000 for new letterhead, business cards, signs, plaques, licenses and other documents. Supporters say the investment would be well worth it.
“Some words hurt,” said Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, who has sponsored one bill. “Some words sting and some words stigmatize. Retardation is one of those words.”
Ackerman said she sees herself as so much more than a word.
“I don’t let it get me down, because I’m a strong person,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you have. You can’t help it. It’s just the way you are.”
Howell said some professional groups that deal with this issue have already undergone a name change, such as the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Virginia is one of only seven states that has not made the switch, according to testimony at the Senate meeting.
There are a few hurdles to overcome.
Because it affects state spending, budget committees will have to approve it. The Senate version of the bill is headed to the Courts of Justice Committee because of concerns over capital punishment. Virginia does not execute people if they are deemed mentally retarded, and lawmakers want to examine that portion of the state code to make sure the switch does not result in any confusion.
The measure also received an endorsement from the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards.
“This is a consumer movement to change it,” said Mary Ann Bergeron, executive director. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
The power of words was evident after the Senate hearing. Egle’ has been diagnosed as mentally retarded, but like Thompson and Ackerman, she rejects the label. As she spoke with reporters about the importance of changing people’s attitudes, she broke down in tears.
Moments later, she regained her composure.
“I’m just feeling proud for myself,” she said.
Reprinted with permission from dailypress.com, Newport News, Virginia
Page 4, Article 2: Blaine Student Wins Human Rights Art Contest
by Rick Cardenas
A student from Blaine was honored recently as the winner of the Human Rights Day poster contest in the Grades 9-12 category. The winner, Chandra, was recognized at a ceremony last month hosted by the Minnesota’s Commissioner of Human Rights, Velma Korbel. Chandra’s poster, entitled “Humanitarianism,” is now included in the 2008 human rights calendar, put out each year by the Minnesota Human rights collaborative.
Chandra is a senior at Blaine High School and is very excited about having her human rights poster published in the Human Rights Calendar. Her friend and art classmate also decided to enter the contest when they heard about it. To their surprise they both won! “I’ve never won anything with my art,” said Chandra. “In fact this is the first time I’ve ever entered an art contest.”
Her mother Melissa was not as surprised that Chandra won and stated “I encouraged Chan-dra to enter the contest and to do more with her art. I think she’s very good and I am excited and proud for her.”
Her goals in the near future are to go to the University of Minnesota and get a degree in psychology as well as art, which she eventually hopes will lead to becoming an art psychologist. The Human Rights Collaborative includes Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions, Advocating Change Together, University of Minnesota Human Rights Center, Tolerance Minnesota, and Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Participants were challenged to present in art form what they think the Human Rights Day theme quote from Marie Curie means in our society today: “You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”
Page 5, Article 1: Living
with Pain
Grad
of Courage Center program uses variety of coping skills
by Nancy Sopkowiak
Access Press first introduced Julian Coffman back in October 2006 [Painfully Closed] as he waited to attend the Courage Center’s pain clinic. Since then, he has graduated from the pain clinic and finds himself coping with his pain differently.
Imagine experiencing horrible pain every day for years. Not fun. That’s what Julian Coffman faces head on—his pain interferes with sleeping, eating, daily activities and even holding a pencil. Coffman suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSDS), an extremely painful neurological condition.
To handle a really bad day, Coffman, a recent grad of the Courage Center pain clinic program, consults his pain clinic notebook and reviews the coping strategies. “I find myself learning about breathing techniques and meditation,” relates Coffman.
Coffman attends a class called Exploring Elements of Art at Courage Center. The class helps him express emotions about his pain. Coffman’s latest drawing illustrates his topsy turvey last four years. Drawing takes him longer now because of his pain. Before his injury a picture might take him ten minutes, and now he needs six hours. Each pencil stroke feels like sticking his hand in a bucket full of fire. He’s learning to “concentrate on what I’m doing and not the pain.”
Coffman enjoys attending the Courage support group. He finds the group inviting: “They are very nice people.” He appreciates the open discussions about how to cope with daily disability challenges. He also swims in the Courage therapeutic pool five to six days each week, which he finds beneficial and enjoyable.
When asked what inspires him, Coffman describes an article he read recently from the RSDS Association Web site (see below). The article tells the story of a 13-year-old girl with RSDS who experienced a new treatment in Germany: the doctors put her in a medically induced coma for seven days. When she awoke her pain was gone. Coffman wants some of that action, so he plans to ask his doctor how to get this experimental treatment. He hopes to wake up with no pain and a new beard.
Coffman knows firsthand that reducing pain is possible: “Try teaching yourself to go on 30 second vacations from your pain—crossword puzzles, watching an old movie, gardening, conversation with a friend. Then try expanding to two minutes, then ten times a day for two minutes.”
FFI: RSDS article: www.rsds.org/
Page 5, Article 2: If I could . . .
On Mental Illness
There are angels everywhere.
I was sitting in a circle with about twenty other people at the Day Treatment Center at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, when Jane, our always-centered, always-compassionate group leader challenged us to throw caution to the wind, and try a new exercise in giving. Jane asked us to talk for five minutes with the people on either side of us, sharing with them some of ourselves. As much or as little, as intimate or as guarded as we felt comfortable with, but Jane, optimistic psychic explorer as she was, always hoped and believed in trying to take two steps forward.
The guy on my left was David, a “tin bender” or sheet metal worker to the uninitiated. He was, like me, a motor head loving bikes and cars, who was in love with the jet black Harley I rode to treatment every morning. I think in his mind, having a Harley like that would cure all ills; it was or should be that simple. I told him a thousand times that life with a custom Harley is still just life. He was also dealing with a failing marriage due to his chronic depression and substance abuse, both of which he still refused to acknowledge.
We talked Harley’s and Hemi’s
and when I asked about how his family meeting with his wife went, he
told me that the therapist and his wife were ganging up on him, and making
him sick. I told Dave that I had stopped eating about a week before, and
that it seemed I had no appetite for anything anymore, my Harley included.
He unselfishly offered to take it off my hands.
The woman on my right was June. Very quiet, very shy, 40 something,
faded sweaters. Before this exercise I’d only heard her quiet voice once
or twice. We spoke for a few moments and she never made eye contact with
me. I tried to be open and vulnerable for the both of us, “open and
vulnerable” from a guy’s vocabulary, telling her that Oh,
yeah my life was messed up, and I knew exactly why that was. She asked
why and I told her that my life was screwed up because THIS person had
done THIS to me and THAT person had done THAT to me, and then THIS had
happened and then THAT had happened, and I told her that Hell, I never
had a chance, that I had been stopped before I had even got going.
I asked her what was wrong with her, and she said, ‘I hurt.” I
asked her to elaborate of what, why or who had hurt her and she said that
she just “hurt.”
Jane got control of the group again
and chose one of the members and said: “OK, now turn to the person
on your left and using a little of what you learned from them and from
yourself, I want you to “give” them an imaginary present,
something special that you think they would like or need. Something
to help them on their journey.”
At the start it was kind of embarrassing and slow to get going
so most of the “gifts” were silly things, “Here’s the number
to your secret Swiss bank account!” “I give you the power to
shake out exactly TWO aspirins out of the bottle each time!” And people
would laugh and joke. But the mood started to change and the “gifts” became
more appropriate, intimate, more thought out. For a depressed woman there
was a magic Pegasus who would fly her far, far away to a place where she’d
be happy. A refrigerator that would never be empty for the gal that was
on assistance with four kids. A time machine for the man who had lost
his wife in a traffic accident so he could go back and tell her how much
he loved her, could tell her goodbye.
The circle came around to June, and I didn’t know what to expect. I
don’t think I understood then the difference between still and
calm and just plain quiet, so I expected maybe three words from her.
She looked me in the eyes and held me spellbound as she gave me her gift:
“If I could I’d give you a key that could open every lock in the world, every shut place, every closed heart.”
“If I could I’d give you a book that had every answer to every question, big and small, a book that could give all knowledge, and explain all things.”
“If I could I’d give you a map that could find every hidden place, and would make it so you’d never be lost even in the darkest places, a map that could take you to all the places you’d ever dreamed about going. A map that could help turn your wanderings into a journey.”
“If I could, I’d give you a shield that was impregnable, a protection that would hold all attackers at bay, a power that would allow you to remain unharmed while whole armies attacked you.”
“If I could I’d give you a beautiful little woodland cottage next to a stream. A place for solitude when you need time and space for thought and creativity, wonderful rooms filled with art and magical treasures from your adventures, places for a child’s crayon drawing in a place of honor next to a Van Gogh. A place where your garden flourished, your kittens frolicked and your many, many friends and family would gather around the perfect fireplace feeling this was their home as well. A place where you and they would never, ever be lonely again.”
You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Then she said with her voice breaking: “I can’t give you those things, Pete, because you already have them. They’re in your heart, right where they’ve always been and always will be.” And she softly put the palm of her hand against my chest and I could feel in that moment that she was right.
Pete Feigal can be contacted at PFeigal@aol.com Now that Pete’s eyesight is failing, he has discovered new careers as a national speaker and writer. Pete’s art is actually selling better now than ever. He says jokingly, when he dies, like all artists his art will become even more popular. “That’s when I’ll REALLY clean up!”Pete’s amazing aviation and motorcycle fine art prints and t-shirts can now be seen on Pete’s fledgling Web site at www.art-that-moves.com
Page 6: Upcoming Events
Disability Viewpoints
February 11
This month’s show features assistive technology services and equipment. DV is an award-winning cable television show that airs on CTV 15 in the northeast metro area. All nonprofit disability-related organizations are provided the opportunity to promote their services/events. A studio audience is encouraged.
Details: Mon. at 7:30 – 8:00 p.m. CTV Studio, 950 Woodhill Dr, Roseville, MN 55113.
FFI: Jo Ann Erbes, 651-646-7588, or www.ctv15.org for schedules/topics.
ADAPT Twin Cities Meeting
February 13
Be a part of the newest chapter of ADAPT, the 25-year-old disability rights activism group. Come learn more about ADAPT and why we need a chapter here. Talk about the changes YOU want to see. Be a part of making those changes happen!
Details: 6 – 7:30 p.m. Griggs-Midway Building, Room S-127, 1821 University Aveenue West, St Paul.
FFI: Galen Smith, 651-792-6395 or adapttc@gmail.com
Art Workshop for Youth
February 24
Upstream Arts is leading an art workshops for youth with disabilities with Edina Parks and Recreation. Use your imagination, express yourself and have fun interacting with your peers in this last of a three-part program. Participants use the arts to build their social and communication skills.
Details: February 24, 2008, 2 - 4 p.m., ages 16-22.
FFI: Upstream Arts, 612-331-4584, www.upstreamarts.org
Game Day
February 25
Be social, have fun, meet new people. Host MCIL provides games such as Cribbage, Trivial Pursuit, Uno, social skills games and more. Bring your favorites!
Details: 1 to 3 p.m. at MCIL,1600 University Ave W, Suite 16, St. Paul.
FFI: Julie at 651.603.2002 or juliew@mcil-mn.org
Bowl-a-thon to Help Fight Crohn’s Disease
March 2
The Strike Out Crohn’s and Colitis Bowl-a-thon is just one of our great chapter’s signature events that raises money to find a cure. Help us raise vital funds and be part of a winning solution. Bowl individually, as a family, or form a team—or volunteer.
Details: Flaherty’s Arden Bowl, St. Paul. 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
FFI: www.ccfa.org/chapters/minnesota or minneosta@ccfa.org
Abilitybots Robotic Mini Day-Camp
March 8
Robotics and Bionics are fun for everyone. Boys and girls 8 to 12, with and without disabilities, will build circuits, build a robotic bug to bring home, learn to program the Mind Storms Lego robot, and improve understanding of terminology through Geek Speak.
Details: Free. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Courage Center, Ed. Center 2, 3915 Golden Valley Rd, Golden Valley. Lunch provided; accommodations for dietary needs.
FFI: Jen Mundl, 763-520-0567 or jenim@courage.org
Disability Day at the Capitol
March 12
This is a gathering of people with disabilities, their families, advocates and allies in order to learn more about policies and legislation affecting them in 2008 and to meet with their state legislators. Presentations are in the morning, legislative visits are in the afternoon.
Details: The MN History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fee for lunch
FFI: Mike Gude 651-523-0823 or 1-800-582-5256, ext. 113 e-mail: mikeg@arcmn.org Web: www.thearcofminnesota.org
Digital Scrap Booking
April 24
This class will give you the basics of digital scrap booking. We will show you how to upload your pictures and format them into personalized scrap book pages that can be printed and bound. We will introduce you to different software and internet sites you can utilize.
Details: 1600 University Ave W, #16, St. Paul. April 24th at 10 am to 12 pm; May 29th at 10 am to 12 pm.
FFI and RSVP to Corbett Laubignat, 651-603-2028 or corbettl@mcil-mn.org
Earth, Wind and Fire Benefit
April 26
The legendary R&B group Earth, Wind and Fire brings its energetic music to PACER Center’s 26th Annual Benefit at the Mpls Convention Center. The annual benefit also includes silent and live auctions, and a pre-benefit gourmet dinner, available by separate ticket.
Reserve: www.pacer.org or call 952-838-9000
ADAPT’s 25-year Celebration
April 27 - May 1
ADAPT, the national activist organization that recently opened its MN chapter, invites you to celebrate 25 years of activism/progress with them in our nation’s capital. The five day celebration kicks off with a Fun Run for Disability Rights, includes a variety of workshops/presentations throughout the week, and culminates with an exhibition/dinner.
Details: Washington, D.C.
FFI: Bob Kafka, 512-442-0252, bob.adapt@sbcglobal.net or www.adapt25.org
National ADAPT Youth Summit
June 20 - 23
The ADAPT Youth Summit is now accepting applications for the 2008 summer gathering in Chicago. If you or someone you know is between the ages of 18-30, has a disability, is looking for direct-action training and/or wants to be in an ADAPT chapter, this is the place to be. Come learn about direct action, and be challenged on your assump-tions about power and who has it.
Details: Applications due by March 16th.
FFI: Rahnee Patrick, 312-320-5111, rahneek@hotmail.com, www.jozsoft.com/outside.pdf or www.jozsoft.com/inside.pdf
Anxiety Support Group
Ongoing
The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Minnesota (NAMI-MN) sponsors Open Door Anxiety and Panic support groups for persons with anxiety disorders. The groups help individuals develop better coping skills and find strength through sharing their experiences.
Details: Free, two groups that meet twice monthly at 6:30 p.m.: second and fourth Mondays at Lenox Community Center, 6715 Minnetonka Blvd, Fire Place Room 2 (lower level), St. Louis Park; and first and third Thursdays, Gloria Del Church, 700 Snelling Ave. S., St Paul.
FFI: Judy at 612-377-2467 or www.namimn.org
Open House for Elevator Town Homes
Saturdays/Sundays, ongoing
Come visit a unique housing offering. Open houses are scheduled to showcase 3500 square foot town homes with elevators selling from $355,000 to $500,000 and renting at $1,650+ per month from JJohnson Builders, Inc. So large two families could live in one unit; this is a unique offering. 5733 Brent Ave., Inver Grove Heights, MN, 55076; I-494 to Hwy. 52 S., exit upper 55th E. 10 minutes to downtown St. Paul, 15 minutes to Crocus Hill or Highland Park. 5733 Brent Ave., Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076.
FFI: Georgia Platte, 651-645-5242, georgiamp@comcast.net or www.jjohnsonbuilders.com
Art and Healing: Mind Fields Exhibit
Ongoing
Explore the many dimensions of the invisible and make psychological realities tangible. This is a unique opportunity to see the mind from the inside out. This new exhibit from Intermedia Arts takes a frank and creative look at neurological and mental health—inviting local artists and health care practitioners to address the ways in which artistic expression can be used as a tool for healing.
Details: Mon—Sat, 12-5 p.m. 2822 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls.
FFI: www.intermediaarts.org or 612-871-4444
Support Group for Families
Ongoing
NAMI-MN is sponsoring free support groups for families who have a relative with a mental illness. Led by trained facilitators who also have a family member with mental illness, the support group helps families develop better coping skills and find strength through sharing their experiences.
Details: St. Paul at 6:30 p.m., 2nd and 4th Wed. each month.
FFI: Anne Mae at 651-730-8434
Page 7: At a Glance
New Text-to-speech Cell Phone Technology Announced
Kurzweil Technologies, a joint venture with the National Federation of the Blind, has announced a new text-to-speech cell phone that allow the user to read mail, receipts, handouts and many other documents wherever they happen to be.
The Mobile Reader Product Line from knfbReading Technologies, Inc, is a major advancement in portability and functionality of print access for the blind, the vision impaired and those with reading difficulties. It is being billed as the smallest text-to-speech reading device available on the market.
This is a truly pocket-sized solution to reading on the go, enabling users to take pictures of and read most printed materials at the push of a button. Vision-impaired users hear the contents of the document read in clear synthetic speech, while users who can see the screen and those with learning disabilities can enlarge, read, track, and highlight printed materials using the phone’s large and easy-to-read display. The combination of text-to-speech and tracking features makes interpreting text much easier for individuals with learning disabilities.
Source: www.knfbreader.com, www.gizmag.com/k-nfb-cell-phone-solutions-for-the-blind/8722
Soundless Super Bowl Commercial Breaks Barriers
The idea for this Super Bowl commercial
was a little different: no celebrity, no hip tune — no sound at all.
And it was to feature two people “speaking” to each other using
American Sign Language (ASL) while drinking Pepsi and eating Fritos.
This idea came from Clay Broussard, a PepsiCo employee without disabilities
who is a member of ENABLE, the company’s employee-resource group for
people with disabilities. Because the general market rarely showcases advertising
for people with disabilities, the idea may sound like more of a public-service
announcement than a commercial for the Super Bowl. But “Bob’s House”— while
silent— is a commercial sure to be the talk of the nation.
Broussard remembered a common problem
people who are deaf face when searching for an address and people
in the neighborhood don’t speak ASL. He came up with the idea for “Bob’s
House” and then ran it by other ENABLE members. They loved the idea so
much they decided to make the demo tape themselves.
In the spot, two men who are deaf drive through a suburban neighborhood where
it’s dark and tough to see the home addresses. Compounding their trouble
is that neither can remember which house is Bob’s. As they quarrel in
ASL, the driver gets the bright idea to honk the car horn. After he honks a
few times, lights in the homes turn on and Bob’s neighbors stick out
their heads. Once the pair sees the house that remains dark, they know it’s “Bob’s
House.”
Source: www.diversityinc.com
Down Syndrome Organization has Concerns
About New Prenatal Testing Policy
A new policy with biased connotations towards babies with Down syndrome is being criticized. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently expanded on its position regarding invasive prenatal diagnostic testing for Down syndrome. The main recommendation (Practice Bulletin 88) is “invasive diagnostic testing should be available to all women … Maternal age of 35 years alone should no longer be used as a threshold to determine who is offered screening versus who is offered invasive testing.” Although the guideline states “prenatal diagnosis is not solely performed for assistance in the decision of pregnancy termination,” the implication is that a baby with Down syndrome is a bad outcome that should be avoided.
The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) believes that individuals with Down syndrome have innate worth and should be treated with dignity and respect. The NDSC calls upon ACOG to require that all patients be given information that accurately reflects the realities of a life with Down syndrome.
“Our goal is not to limit a woman’s access to prenatal screening,” says a NDSC press release, “nor to limit her reproductive choices. Rather, it is to ensure the screening and diagnostic process is done in the context of an informed personal conversation with the woman’s doctor, during which balanced information is given about the reality of Down syndrome today. In this way, we hope decisions can be made based on knowledge and not fear.”
Source: National Down Syndrome Congress
Mental Health Help for Returning Vets
The Minnesota National Guard has been selected to be a part of a TriWest Healthcare Alliance pilot program that will provide on-site mental health consultation, education and referral at no cost to soldiers. Licensed mental health professionals will be stationed in 22 Minnesota Army National Guard armories around the state to further support the 2,600 men and women who have recently returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment. In addition, LinkVet, a veterans helpline for Minnesota veterans and their family members, was recently launched. The toll-free line provides information referrals, immediate crisis intervention and psychological counseling 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-LINKVET.
Source: NAMI MN
Sanford Everyday Hero Winner
Mathew Sanford, an adaptive yoga instructor recently featured in Access Press, is now a finalist in the 6th Annual Volvo for Life Awards, a grassroots campaign that recognizes and rewards everyday heroes across America. Because of receiving enough votes, Sanford’s nonprofit Mind Body Solutions will now receive $25,000, and he still has a one-in-three chance of winning another $75,000. A panel of judges will decide the final winners.
Matt’s powerful message about the mind-body connection, the work of his non-profit, and his memoir Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence has inspired and enhanced the lives of thousands. Mind Body Solutions has just completed a 2-year strategic plan and this generous donation will further their work transforming trauma and loss into hope and potential.
Source: www.mindbodysolutions.org
Page 8, Article 1: Lucas v. Kmart
Colorado native Carrie Ann Lucas challenged a retail giant in a ground-breaking disabilities access case and won.
From her vantage point as lawyer, activist, advocate, parent of three and wheelchair occupant, Carrie Ann Lucas knows that progress in disability rights is measured painstakingly: For every faltering step forward, there’s a setback. For every great leap, another chasm materializes.
The equation may be cursed by minuses, but as Lucas sees it, the positives are beginning to add up.
She herself can take some of the credit. In summer 2006, a disability-access suit that she had launched against Kmart in 1999 was settled for $13 million, plus $3.25 million in attorneys’ fees. That makes it the largest settlement ever in a disability-access case, a sit-up-and-take-notice precedent for the nation’s retailers.
As the lead plaintiff in the class action suit, Lucas considers the victory-and the years of toil that produced it-another chapter in a story of personal indignation against injustice. “I was always a rabble rouser,” she explains. “I remember being in third or fourth grade and they had a limit that kids could only have five books from the library. I got them to change that policy.”
It’s a hot afternoon in late July, a special day for Lucas. “It’s the 17th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” she points out. She’s in her office at the Denver-based Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, where she is director of the Center for Rights of Parents with Disabilities. In this position, Lucas helps parents with disabilities resolve child custody issues, tackle housing discrimination and gain access to social services. “We’re really the only place in the country with a program that specializes in parents with disabilities,” she says. The 36-year-old Lucas channels the bulk of her energy and passion into the center, after all, she can identify with her clients. She’s both a parent and a citizen with disabilities. She’s fought the battles her clients face-with her disability, with the system, with public perception.
Because she has central core myopathy, a muscle wasting disease, Lucas uses a wheelchair. In addition, her vision and hearing are severely impaired, and she breathes with the assistance of a ventilator. Over the years, she has developed a serious allergy to many antibiotics, meaning that a simple infection can bring on a host of complications. “I hit some bizarre genetic jackpot,” she says, summing up the source of her challenges.
None of this keeps her from dashing around the office at mach speed, piloting her wheelchair with NASCAR flair. In, out, back, forth, zip, zoom. Nor does it keep her from taking her three adopted daughters-17-year-old Heather, 12-year-old Asiza and 8-year-old Adrianne, each one of them a child with disabilities-on weekend camping trips. And it certainly doesn’t keep her from crossing the state for court dates on behalf of clients.
“I drove to Pueblo to go to a hearing last week,” she says matter-of-factly, no hint of exasperation in her voice, “only to discover the elevator was broken and there was no sign-language interpreter. So I drove four hours for nothing.”
Not quite for nothing. Lucas knows from experience that justice is full of stays and delays-some of them judge ordered, others, like the elevator failure, the result of benign negligence or bureaucratic bungling. In the face of lady justice’s slow and deliberate habits, patience is too often required.
But Lucas isn’t a patient person. Or so she says. She does, however, possess something just as effective: persistence.
Just ask the home of the blue light special. Just follow the miles-long document trail in Lucas v. Kmart.
The suit grew out of Lucas’ longtime patronage of Denver-area Kmart stores. Visit after visit, she found herself increasingly frustrated by the stores’ careless disregard for accommodation issues: a shortage of accessible parking spaces; dressing rooms rendered inaccessible by piles of merchandise; aisles consistently blocked by crates and boxes. Perhaps most frustrating, she recalls, “I would go to check out and the accessibility lane would be closed. And I couldn’t check out because all of the other aisles were inaccessible. So I would put things down and leave.”
Just as often, she took the time to complain. “I would ask for the manager on duty, and I would be assured that the problem would be fixed by the time I came back again,” she says. “But they were just telling me they would fix it to get me to go away.”
Eventually, Lucas filed a claim with the Department of Justice, hoping to mediate a resolution to the ongoing problem. “I had done mediation with some smaller outfits, where they didn’t have a ramp, and had been successful,” she says. Surely, she thought, a complaint filed with a federal agency would capture Kmart’s attention. “But Kmart refused to mediate because they said they had already fixed everything.”
That’s when she took the case to Denver-based Fox and Robertson, a law firm specializing in civil rights cases and headed by the husband-and-wife team of Tim Fox and Amy Robert-son. At the same time, she approached the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition’s Kevin Williams, who teamed with Fox and Roberson as co-counsel.
At first perusal, Robertson thought the case was simple and routine: One plaintiff of sound mind and good will takes on a respectable retailer to address obvious-and seemingly indisputable-violations of federal requirements, specifically those outlined in Title III of the ADA, which pertains to private entities open to the public.
The case quickly became downright complex and trailblazing. “We initially filed with just Carrie,” Robertson says, “and then we started to hear from people in other parts of the country. Once we had these anecdotes, we sent out queries: Had anyone else had similar issues?”
The stories began to pile up, tales of frustration from throughout Colorado and across the nation. One Virginia man told of the humiliation he experienced when his wheelchair knocked over a tower of snack foods. A California woman described how her wheelchair got stuck in one narrow aisle, forcing her to yell for help. Still another California customer told how she could never access the clothing aisles and had to shout out requests for styles, sizes and colors to a sales associate.
With similar stories from 27 states, Lucas and her attorneys decided to file for class action status, if only to ensure that Kmart couldn’t dismiss the grievances as isolated problems indicative of nothing more than an individual store’s negligence.
“Especially in cases like this, [a class action suit] was very desirable because then you can get access to policies and practices chain-wide,” Robertson says. “The biggest effect of the class was to get at the whole chain.”
That was Lucas’ goal as well. She didn’t want to see all the Denver stores brought into compliance with the ADA, only to venture into a Grand Junction outlet and encounter the same old problems. “If we’re going to go to all of the trouble of filing a lawsuit, we’re going to fix the problem,” she remembers thinking.
The case proceeded, with contentious hearings and motions and petitions and even attempts to undermine the plaintiffs’ credibility. “Carrie was just the most fantastic client,” Robertson says, noting that Lucas’ photographic recall of every Kmart visit just made her case stronger. “They took her deposition for three days, about shopping at Kmart. Pllllease.”
In fact, Kmart’s aggressive defense struck Lucas and her attorneys as surprisingly strident. “We were very, very puzzled at how hard they fought ... they just fought tooth and nail,” Robertson says. “They had the opportunity to go to Carrie and say, let’s resolve this. But initially, the attitude was, just go away.”
And then, in January 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which meant that all litigation was subject to a stay. Since the Lucas suit sought only injunctive relief-in other words, it asked the court to order Kmart to comply with the law-Robertson tried to pursue the case, thinking that Kmart could still bring its stores into compliance with ADA standards. After all, relief meant nothing more elaborate than reconfiguring parking spaces, providing suitable fitting rooms and restrooms, adjusting aisles, removing boxes and keeping the accessible checkout lane open.
Robertson’s efforts proved futile, and Lucas v. Kmart was put on a back shelf.
For Lucas, the bankruptcy filing represented a dispiriting development, not just because the case might fail to make a tangible difference in the disabled population’s shopping experiences. By this time, Fox and Robertson had spent three years pursuing the costly case. “I knew how much this little firm had in it,” Lucas says. With Kmart’s future in question, she was afraid that Fox and Robertson might lose everything.
When Kmart—which could not be reached for comment for this article—emerged from bankruptcy in 2003, its new management and legal team took a fresh look at the ADA case. Suddenly, Lucas recalls, “they were ready to roll up their sleeves and go to work.”
There was plenty of work to do. The two sides had to reach agreement on just what an accessible and ADA-compliant Kmart would look like. To that end, the plaintiffs and defendants worked together to revise store policies, improve employee training and refine store layout. Lucas herself went on-site at Denver-area Kmart stores, wheeling through the clothing sections to show store designers just how a shopper with disabilities negotiates aisles and fitting rooms.
Just as important, Kmart agreed to implement an innovative online feedback mechanism, allowing customers with disabilities to report on their shopping experiences. This way, Kmart is able to address emerging access and accommodation issues immediately and across the chain.
With that work underway, the two parties also had to arrive at a settlement. Although Title III of the ADA makes no provision for damages, several of the plaintiffs came from states that do. Colorado allows for nominal damages, while California calls for up to $4,000 per incident. By the time the lawyers were negotiating the settlement, Robertson says, Kmart wanted to expand the class action pool to ensure that no additional suits would follow and that it would be responsible for a one-time payment. Ultimately, the corporation agreed to pay $8 million in cash and $5 million in gift cards, with $10,000 going to each of the three main plaintiffs, Lucas included.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Kmart’s managers and attorneys post-bankruptcy,” Rob-ertson says. “They didn’t cave, but it was clear that their goal was to make things right.”
Looking back, Robertson sees the Lucas case as a textbook example of how to effect change in a national chain. “In many ways, we were plowing new ground. There had never been a contested class action [of a Title III ADA case] of this size,” she says, noting that the years-long struggle was always civil, even in the midst of “scorched-earth” litigation.
Lucas, who earned her law degree at the University of Denver while the case played out, takes pride in the way it was pursued, in its unrelenting focus on improving life for Kmart’s disabled customer base. She points to a courtroom statement by Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Kane, delivered during the case’s final fairness hearing and posted on the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition’s Web site: “It is very difficult to find justice, but you develop a gestalt when justice has been achieved, and I think that happened in this case. ... I would say any lawyer ... should examine this file to see how a class action should be handled. The rights and obligations of all the parties have been represented, and this has not taken on the aspects of a barroom brawl.”
So just what has justice delivered-however languorously?
Laura Rovner, an assistant professor at the Sturm College of Law and an expert in disability rights, notes that Lucas v. Kmart sends a compelling message: Title III of the ADA has to be taken seriously. Failure to do so may prove costly.
“I think this was a huge wake up call,” Rovner says, noting that the settlement tells retailers-many of whom have felt sheltered by Title III’s failure to provide for damages-that attorneys can and will pursue these cases vigilantly. “There are not a ton of lawyers who take on these kinds of cases because there are no damages,” she explains. But Lucas v. Kmart shows an alternate path that relies on class action status and parallel legislation in the states to arrive at damages and achieve relief. “Seeing one [case] go the distance and get the kind of comprehensive relief that was awarded in this case may get retailers to act proactively,” Rovner says.
Lucas believes that’s already happening. “At the macro level,” she says, “we’ve already seen [retailers] say, let’s not spend money fighting this, let’s just make the changes.”
At the micro level, where Lucas invests her emotional capital, the results are just as gratifying. “People with disabilities generally are not wealthy. Most of us are poor. We’re buying our kids’ school clothes at Kmart,” she explains. “People with disabilities often don’t have the option of traveling across town to a Kmart that might have a better set-up. They’re stuck with their Kmart. For these people, it makes a big difference in their day-to-day lives that they can go buy shampoo and toilet paper.”
And on the purely personal level, the settlement represents an enormous relief to Lucas and her family. No more hearings, no more depositions, no more taxations of her overtaxed patience. Perhaps best of all, the Lucas clan-Heather, Asiza, Adrianne and Carrie Ann-can now visit their neighborhood Kmart in search of bargains. Just like everyone else.
Copyright 2007 University of Denver Magazine. Reprinted with permission.
Page 8, Article 2: Unconditional Friendship
Being friends with Hope Hoffman has taught my daughter, Naomi, patience, inclusion and anonymity. Patience when all of their classmates run out of the room for recess and Naomi hangs back to help Hope with her boots or shoes. Inclusion to the point that Naomi automatically says, “let’s play ‘this’ game ‘this way’ so Hope can do it too!” Anonymity when Hope gives Naomi the nod and they both walk down to the nurse’s station together. Forever trusting, understanding, unconditional friends!
Naomi doesn’t think of Hope as having a disability. She thinks of Hope as her very best friend! A friend that she can do anything and go anywhere with. Hope thinks of Naomi as her closest friend. Someone she can say anything to, tease, play with and trust wholeheartedly. They play, debate, and relate like sisters. They share a few friends and have some separate friends too. They are great role models to their peers. They’ve even banded together to turn in bullies! Their relationship is more genuine than those of some adults I know.
As a parent I have tried to teach my children to focus on the opportunity instead of the deficits--to look for the successes and accomplishments in people. I can tell that Naomi wants to be part of Hope’s future successes. In turn, Hope gets equally excited when Naomi reaches another level in reading or wins a ball game. Their support of each other’s activities is also amazing. Naomi plays basketball and softball. Hope is learning piano, plays the drums, and plays chess. But these differing interests bring them closer together when they share the same hobbies like swimming, singing, art and drama. If they did everything together they would get bored with each other and possibly grow apart. There are times when each of them is jealous of what the other can do better, but they find a way to learn from each other instead of letting it bother them for long. “Friends help friends,” Naomi said the other day.
In a world where people pass judgment on a daily basis, their friendship perseveres through adversity and remains unconditional!
Page 9, Article 1: Operation Confidence Helps Job Seekers Look Good
Consuella Mackey had an epiphany nearly 30 years ago when she discovered first-hand the connection between good looks and social success. In fact, this link is so important in American society that it poses a career barrier for persons with disabilities—especially for those seeking work in the media, fashion, and beauty industries.
A New Orleans native living in Los Angeles and working as a hair stylist, Mackey knew that when her clients looked good, they felt confident. And confident people exuded a positive image that helped them succeed in their communities, relationships and jobs. But when a sports injury that left her temporarily unable to walk, she gained new insight into the lack of beauty and fashion resources available for persons with disabilities. Although her first frustrations centered on the basics of getting around a community and work place not made accessible, she eventually noticed the small things that kept her from feeling attractive. For example, she could find no company that designed clothes suitable for a person sitting in a wheelchair. She felt frumpy, not comfortable or confident, when her suit jacket—styled too long for wheelchair use—bunched up around her.
To fill the void, Mackey founded Operation Confidence, a nonprofit that encourages beauty and media companies to provide jobs, products and services for consumers with disabilities.
To show that people with disabilities could project positive and beautiful images, Operation Confidence (OC) began its work with fashion shows featuring “The Totally Confident Fashion Models.” OC went on to offer beauty make-overs through its Dress for Success program and organize job fairs and career preparation workshops. They pushed the fashion industry to design clothes for wheelchair users and pressured media companies and advertisers to hire persons with disabilities and show dignified role models and attractive images of persons with disabilities.
Today OC continues to branch out. It sponsors a number of wheelchair dance, sports and drill teams that have performed around the world. It also offers the inspirational and mentoring work of the Positive Redirection Team (PRT). PRT is a group of motivational speakers, dancers, actors, fashion models, and fitness instructions who all use wheelchairs, promote access to their fields for persons with disabilities, and mentor others with disabilities interested in these careers. Taking advantage of its location at the center of American film and TV production, OC has sponsored dances, fashion shows, comedy shows, jazz concerts, and been itself the recipient of a beauty make-over when the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition remodeled Mackey’s home and helped her move the OC offices from her home to a new building.
Minnesota Clothing Resources
Job Seekers with Disabilities
The workshop “Dressing for Success for Men and Women,”cosponsored by Hennepin S. WorkForce Center and the Hennepin S. Rehabilitation Services, helps job seekers with disabilities prepare for interviews and jobs. Instructors provide information on appropriate clothing, hairstyles, and accessories; give clothing care, groomingand shopping tips; and suggest places for tailoring or altering clothes to fit individual needs. Registration at 952-346-4028. Web: www.mnwfc.org/hennepinsouth
Women Job Seekers
The following Minnesota organizations assist women who are transitioning into the workforce by providing donated professional clothes suitable for interviews and office work environments. Although all agencies have served clients with disabilities, none offer assistance, tailoring, or make-overs designed to serve the particular needs of individuals with disabilities.
• The Episcopal Community Services Ready for Success program provides women transitioning into the workforce with “new or gently-used professional clothing, accessories, and new personal care items suitable for job interviews and the workplace.” Job seekers schedule two-hour individual appointments with volunteer “personal shoppers” who help them put together outfits and personal care kits suitable for a business environment. Mpls. office: 425 Oak Grove St; St. Paul office: 1831 Minnehaha Ave E. Contact them at: 612-871-4086 or 651-731-6400. Web: www.ecsmn.org/
• Dress for Success Northwest Minnesota, an
affiliate of Dress for Success Worldwide (based in New York City) assists
economically disadvantaged women to find jobs through career counseling and
interview coaching and by providing professional clothing. The only Minnesota
affiliate is at 421 - 5th Street in Hawley. Contact them at: 218-483-3145.
Web:
www.dressforsuccess.org/
• Martha’s Closet provides professional
clothing, and sometimes dressing advice, for low income women starting a
job search. They are located in Central Presbyterian Church, 500
Cedar St, St Paul. Contact them at: 651-224-4728 x 112. Web brochure: www.cpcstpaul.org/
• League of Catholic Women’s First Impression program provides two complete new or “gently used” professional outfits for women returning to work. Volunteers provide counseling on appropriate clothing for work environments and assist with matching accessories (provided). They are located at 207 S. 9th St, Minneapolis. Contact them at: 612-332-2649. Web: http://mplsleagcatholicwomen.org/
• Women Achieving New Directions, a program
of the Employment Action Center, provides a Career Clothes Closet for single
working mothers. Contact them at: (west metro)
612-752-8554 or e-mail aumoeka@resource-mn.org;
(east metro) 651-604-3516 or ecarnahan@resource-mn.org.
Web: www.eac-mn.org/womenprog.shtml
Male Job Seekers
Many charitable and career counseling agencies in Minnesota will assist male job seekers with clothing, but there are no programs available for men that provide the level of attention to professional dressing that is available for women.
Info about OC and its activities can be found on the web at www.operationconfidence.org or by calling 818-368-4407.
Minnesota beauty activist Tiffiny Carlson Self-described “wheelchair fashion guru” Tiffiny Carlson is a Minneapolis writer and beauty activist for women with disabilities. She founded BeautyAbilty in 1999. Visit her webpage, http://beautyability.com/2.0/about/
Page 9, Article 2: Minnesota’s Disability History Exhibit Tours Hungary
Last March, St. Paul-based Advocating Change Together (ACT) was approached by the Hungarian Eotvos Larand University asking for translation rights to make ACT’s Disability History Exhibit accessible to Hungarians. The answer was a quick YES!
The partnership between ACT and Hungary has resulted in an exhibit that will reach thousands of Hungarians as it tours the country’s major cites throughout 2008.
A press release by the Budapest History Museum states that “The Disability History Exhibit, a truly outstanding international undertaking in the field of disability studies, showcases collaboration on par with the Encyclopedia of Disability and similar projects.”
ACT Co-Director Rick Cardenas is pleased with the partnership and hopes that ACT will continue to make connections to spread the word about disability as a human right issue. “With the recent adoption of the UN Convention on the Right of People with Disabilities, folks in many places are just starting to think for the first time about these disability stories and issues,” says Cardenas, “The great thing about the ACT history exhibit is that it helps people see how far we’ve come, and how far we still need to go.”
By coincidence, BlueLaw International‘s Janet Lord, who has been collaborating with ACT in its work at the United Nations, happened to see the exhibit on a recent trip. “I was in Budapest attending a conference of the Hungarian Association for the Deaf. A couple of the organizers told me about a powerful exhibit they had just seen at the local history museum. I went to see it for myself and, surprise, it was from ACT. Oh my gosh, I thought, what a small world. I was really struck by how all of our separate empowerment efforts are really starting to build strong connections across the globe.”
The exhibit consists of twenty-seven panels of photos showing the milestones of the history of disability. Twenty-one of the panels were created by ACT. The remaining six—two focusing on Hungary, two on Europe as a whole, and two on the UN—were created by the Hungarian organizers.
The press release from the museum calls the exhibit “an effective tool of subverting set social attitudes and thinking regarding disability.”
Page 10, Article 1: Health Coverage Through SSI 1619(b)
FAQ@DLL
I receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Will I lose my Medical Assistance if I work?
As long as you receive at least $1 of SSI, you are eligible to receive Medical Assistance (MA). If you work enough that your SSI payment goes to zero, you will likely qualify for continued MA coverage through the work incentive, called SSI 1619(b). Like those on regular SSI, individuals receiving MA coverage through SSI 1619(b) can’t have more than $2,000 in savings or other assets.
Is there a limit on how much I can earn?
In 2008, people on SSI 1619(b) may earn up to $44,799 per year. Those with high health care expenses (for example, those who need a lot of personal care assistance) are allowed to earn more.
How do I apply for SSI 1619(b)?
First, talk to your county financial worker. When your SSI is reduced to $0 due to your earnings, the Social Security Administration (SSA) notifies the county that you still qualify for MA through SSI 1619(b). If your financial worker has not received this information, you may need to talk to your SSA representative at your local SSA office. Ask them to send a letter to your county financial worker, confirming that you qualify for continued MA through SSI 1619(b).
What else do I need to know?
Although you no longer receive an SSI payment and you receive your MA through the county, being on SSI 1619(b) means you are still connected to the SSA. It is critical that you continue to respond to all letters and requests for information you receive from SSA. If you don’t, you could lose your SSI 1619(b) status and lose your MA.
For more information, contact the Work Incentives Connection at 651-632-5113 or 1-800-976-6728, TTY: 651-632-5110 or MN Relay – 711. The Work Incentives Connection can clarify the effect work will have on your benefits, uncovering new choices and opportunities for you to be more in charge of your life. In addition to giving you detailed information about SSI 1619(b), they can tell you about other work incentives that may apply to your situation.
If you have additional questions about community resources, please call DLL at 1-866-333-2466. DLL provides free, disability-related information and assistance for Minnesotans. DLL does not endorse any particular Web site or provider. They assume no responsibility for transactions between the readers of this article and listed orgs.
Page 11: Remainder of Page 8, Article 1 - Lucas v. Kmart
Full text avaliable in article on page 8 in E-text
Page 12, Article 1: Being
Disabled in an Uninformed World
Five Web favorites from Access Press
staff
Web sightings
What are your favorite disability-related video clips? With this new feature, we will present a handful of recently-discovered informative or entertaining disability-related Web sites, video clips and news items. Each month, we will be asking a different Web-savvy member of the local disability community to contribute some of their favorite recent online finds.
For this inaugural installment, our marketing director, Lance Hegland, contributes videos and photographs that highlight what it means to be disabled in a world that isn’t always understanding or aware, and how to deal with uninformed people and unenlightened situations with both humor and grace (though not necessarily both!)
Flex your ‘access,’ click and enjoy!
p.s. Send us your five favorites and we’ll feature you next! access@accesspress.org
“I Define
Me”
www.youtube.com/
This video deals with the ongoing struggle to stay out of the box people keep putting you in. It reminds us how the personal is political, and vice versa.
“Disability
Awareness”
www.youtube.com/
“Disability
Awareness (take 2)”
www.youtube.com/
The above two clips attempt to publicize the very real presence of people with disabilities in everyday life; although not surprising to Access Press readers, many people may be enlightened by these short public service announcement
“Creature
Discomforts”
www.creaturediscomforts.org
This British public service announcement attempts to mix actual confessions from people with a disability with whimsical animations to both educate and entertain. It is effective as both a tool for dispelling myths and as a fun bit of identity subversion
Parking Signs (Rated R)
www.frostfirepulse.com/your-spine-or-mine
Though not for the faint of heart within the disability community, these biting parking signs are effective at expressing the justified frustration felt toward those who park in designated spots in an unauthorized manner. This is perhaps what some of us fantasize could be hung up for particularly ignorant drivers!.
Page 12, Article 2: Disability:
A Social Construct
Commentary
No one ever calls himself or herself racist, bigoted, small-minded or ignorant. Those are titles you give to others while looking into their narrow perspective and sighing at their lack of understanding and tolerance for other cultures. As a woman, a member of a minority culture and an outspoken person, I have smacked those titles on unwitting people before. It was not long until I found the opportunity to slap one of those labels on myself. Namely, “ableist.”
Until recently, I was an “ableist,” someone who used nondisabled people as a bar for what’s normal. I had been raised in a household where self-efficacy, hard work and independence were valued highly. Above all, my household perceived weakness as a fault. It followed that disability was wholly undesirable and intolerable.
In my cruder moments, I thought about how “disabled people” were a “burden” to the nondisabled and “how sad it was that they would not be able to live out lives as full as mine.” I assumed that persons with disabilities were sad souls who could never reach self-actualization, self-sufficiency or independence. These thoughts were never conscious thoughts, but subconscious beliefs that I quietly held for a long time.
The time came when I was made to confront my subconscious beliefs. I started work as a personal care assistant for a permanently seated guy named Lance. Lance has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is a genetic disease that causes motor nerves to die, leaving sensory nerves behind. Lance can feel you poke his leg, but he cannot move it away.
When I started this job, all I knew was that Lance was in a wheelchair and needed help with cooking, toileting and bathing. With what little I knew about him, I made the assumption that he was living with family, had never been married, and never had a job or any achievements under his belt. I even thought that he might be cognitively impaired.
I had not anticipated that Lance was a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics (summa cum laude from St. Thomas University). I was surprised to find that he had created a consulting business, had been married before and was living by himself in a posh, upscale apartment. I did not think that we would get in intense, deep and philosophical discussions about life, disabilities and love. Everything I ever believed to be true about people with disabilities proved to be completely and utterly wrong.
Through Lance, I realized that my misgiving toward people with disabilities was out of pure ignorance. I had believed that people with disabilities were pitiful because medicine could not fix their “broken” parts. I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
People with disabilities do not want cures, pity or special treatment. They want jobs, education, housing and the transportation to get to them. Disability is no problem to the disabled; how others perceive disabilities is the real problem. In short, people with disabilities want a world where ableism gives way to acceptance.
I use terms like “persons with disability” and “permanently seated” with love and profound respect. If politically correct terms like “handicapable” make you gag—as they should until you understand where they come from—try providing personal care to a person with disabilities. It is bound to change your perspective.
Originally published in the Minnesota Daily, Sept 12, 2007. Reprinted with permission. Quynh Nguyen welcomes comments at qnguyen@mndaily.com
Page 12, Article 3: Well, Park Square Theater; Seen Feb 2nd
Theater Review - From the front row
Editor’s note: Access Press is pleased to welcome author and playwright Raymond Luczak as our new theater reviewer. Mr. Luczak www.raymondluczak.com will be reviewing an ASL-interpreted play each month under the heading “From the front row.” Reviews will be posted first to access press.org, and printed the following month. Coming next: Peer Gynt (reviewed Feb 17th)
On the surface, Lisa M. Kron’s Well sounds fairly straightforward and humorous: A playwright incidentally named Lisa Kron tries to write a play about how she recovered from her allergies while her allergy-laden mother constantly interrupts from her La-Z-Boy with corrections. But the execution—and the journey that the audience takes—is much more complex and ultimately satisfying. Impeccably directed by Michael Bigelow Dixon, the cast is able to anchor a script that could’ve been confusing for those with little exposure to experimental and nontraditional theater. Throughout the show the focus explores the mother-daughter—and indirectly, playwright-muse—relationship between Lisa and her mother Ann. There are plenty of chuckles and some outright laughs sprinkled throughout. The set, designed by Kate Sutton-Johnson, is distinctive, conveying Ann’s world with its comfortable evocations of home and contrasting it with the abstract gray boxes and wide stripes on the floor for Lisa’s state of mind.
In a part that a younger Diane Keaton might have made predictable with her tics and mannerisms, Christina Baldwin imbues her character Lisa instead with a more realistic rendition of someone who thinks she knows what she wants, and yet her emotional intents are clear as day. She is totally likeable, but I think we eventually share her mother’s exasperation with Lisa’s need to “explain.” The whole show plays havoc with the very concept of “show and tell,” which is ironic, given how the other cast members—four performers who portray a wide variety of characters from Lisa’s childhood—do often show what Lisa tells, or tries to explain. Sometimes Lisa participates in their re-enactments; sometimes not.
I found two particular elements of great interest to the disability community.
While examining how her parents felt it important to push for racial integration with African-American neighbors and classmates, it is fascinating to see the characters grapple with what it means to be part of the community. Many people within the disability community do not feel accepted by those who are able-bodied or those who consider themselves “normal” (whatever that means), so in this context, it’s always illuminating to observe and learn from other minorities seeking acceptance, and yes, assimilation. For instance, when Lisa as a younger child tries to emulate her African-American friends and their mannerisms, it’s quite funny. How many of us in the disability community have tried to imitate others in hopes of being accepted, even though it’s already painfully clear that being disabled is so not cool?
Lisa also explores how other people she’d met while growing up interact with their doctors and how they view themselves through the restrictive lens of what is wrong with them, as opposed to what is good with them (sound familiar, anyone?). At the “allergy hospital,” Lisa meets Joy, a very depressed person obsessed with the state of her own physical health, who is played with great aplomb by Heidi Bakke. It is through their interactions that she begins to see how some people need to feel unwell, and how she had to stop seeing the world through her mother’s eyes. As Ann Kron, Barbara June Patterson gives her character a feisty demeanor. That a performer “past a certain age” is even up there points out the unfortunate dearth of complex and engaging parts for older performers who are so rarely seen aside from second-tier parts (grandmother and the like) in contemporary theater.
The ASL interpreters Susan Master