Ice Cream at Camp

I went to a camp through SMD two summers ago. The staff person who was heading up the programme likes to joke around with me. We did a scavenger hunt. As I was hunting for the clue, this particular staff member was walking right beside me saying, "You are way behind, way behind. Hurry!" He offered me a clue but the payback was we were having sundaes that night but our whole team would be fed our sundaes from behind, with both of us blindfolded. They decided that they would only make me do it! While this staff person was laughing his fool head off at me, I could barely swallow for the laughing I was doing. I was so naive! But boy it turned out that I had a great time and to this very day I still laugh my head off about it. And the funniest part was that the prize was a mini-flag. So I went through all that for an Icelandic flag. To this day I still laugh when it comes up. I had ice cream from my hair to my toes, minus where the garbage bag poncho was. The staff member said that the incident was the highlight of his career that far! Last summer I was looking behind my back whenever he was there in my sight, or not. But I was very happy and laughed. It was messy but boy was it worth it!

Thoughts on the Blog workshops

Very informative
Liked them being small and so hands on
I wonder about spreading things out example, getting together every 2 weeks

Gathering 1: tour blogs
What makes a good blog
Safety
Commenting on different Blogs
Time comment. How often you should post etc.

Think about what type of blog you want
Look at different blogs


Gathering 2: Start blog

Set- up blog
Begin posting

Gathering 3: blogging

Support, share ideas etc
Hyper links

Gathering 4: photos

Gathering 5: blog conference

Thoughts on Blogs and Bloging

I can see where if you took the time to search through Blogs that you could get right into it. Personally I did not take the time yet to look through other blogs and get hooked.

I certainly like the premise I'm leery about having to post regularly, but certainly see why. I just do not find it fun if every day or 2 you are racking your brain to come up with something to write about for public viewing on your topic.

People First

As I was reading other blogs I noticed that some about disability use the term "disabled people" as opposed to "people with disabilities." All of my life, it's been drilled into my head, from myself and others, that I am a person first! My disability does not define me. I am a person first. My disability is not who I am. I know people with disabilities who like the term "disabled person" but in my thinking there are many people who have trouble seeing me as a person first, and I don't want to encourage that. For us to educate the public about showing dignity to people with disabilities, disability organizations need to show leadership by being conscious about what kind of language they use and putting the person before the disability.

Art day today. someone With my type of C.P. and paint equauls big mess!

WWII and People with Disabilities

Last week I went to a film showing put on by the Allan Simpson Memorial Fund in cooperation with the Human Rights Museum Committee being created in Winnipeg. The film is called Liebe Perla. It's about how during the Nazi invasion, even before WWII was declared, the Nazis attacked anyone with a disability and used them for medical experiments.

In Hitler's mind, people with disabilities had no value in what he was trying to create as his perfect society. People with disabilities were considered "non-people," and they were used as medical rats. They were sterilized because he didn't want more "non-people" born, and this was done with no anesthetic. They were also put through medical experiments, some of which he knew would kill them. In the documentary, they interview some people who survived the awful experience of being tortured and watching other detainees go up in smoke in the gas chamber.

Simi Linton, the film's representative in the US, spoke at the showing. She talked about this part of WWII that you don't hear much about in the mainline information about the war. She was basically saying that if we don't talk about it, history could repeat itself.

I cannot believe that this part of history is in the background so often. The Committee of the Human Rights Museum is going to give this part of WWII a voice. I hope that people start looking at this part of WWII and realize that even in today's society disability issues are a long way from where they should be in the broader society. It was only in the late 1970s when sterilization of people with disabilities in Canada was not automatically done without the patient knowing or consenting.

Fighting for a voice

Employment and Income Assistance (E.I.A.) refused to fund my voice synthesizer saying it is not a necessity; it would be nice for me to have, but not an essential need which they would pay for. I could not believe they could say that to communicate freely is not an essential need. I wrote a letter, and I appealed the decision. I had to go in front of a panel of three people to state my case. In the meantime, my E.I.A. worker refused to talk to me on the phone because she could not understand me. My worker told me they would buy TTY. In my written letter to appeal and in the hearing, I pointed out that, yes, a TTY would be great but I also needed a communication device for talking face-to-face, not only on the phone.

At the hearing, the E.I.A. representative had nothing to present. I was questioned as to why I did not go to charitable organizations for the funding. I pointed out that if I did not get a voice synthesizer, I would require a 24-hour assistant to interpret for me. This would cost them way more and take away my independence that I cherish. I also made it clear that to me a voice synthesizer is an essential device because I need it for my safety to get my point across. For example, when I am in a wheelchair taxi and the driver does not tie me in safely and cannot or will not take the time to understand me. The appeal came back ruling that in my case, I was right, I did need a voice synthesizer. It was a necessity not only for my quality of life but also for my safety. I was so happy to know I deserve to be able to communicate without having somebody glued to me. I have a voice!

Intro?...

Dorsdirt...stay tuned to find out what it will be about