Inclusion Daily Express

Age limit for guide dogs?

2009-10-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

The BBC reported that the 16-year age limit for those using guide dogs has been lifted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8287631.stm

Should there be a minimum age for users of guide dogs or other service animals?

What do you think?

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express
www.InclusionDaily.com

Am I making too much of this?

2009-03-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

I can't be the only one who has noticed a striking similarity between the character "Phil" on the new Jack-In-The-Box commercials and Michael Schiavo.

For those who haven't seen the latest, acting company CEO Phil is telling Jack -- who is in a coma after getting hit by a bus -- "I know you can't hear me, but . . " and then tells Jack the changes he plans to make to the company, including changing the name to Phil-In-The-Box.

Of course, Jack can hear everything . . .

I'm assuming the producers didn't plan on making Phil look like Schiavo, but it did send shivers up my spine.

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM6d5WFEl6A

Here's Schiavo on Larry King:
http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2003/10/28/image580338x.jpg

You tell me. Am I making too much of this?

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review
International Disability Rights News Service
http://www.InclusionDaily.com
News@InclusionDaily.com

Should "Ashley X' Be At Center Of Community Living Debate?

2007-03-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 23, 2007

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON & ISTANBUL, TURKEY--As most of you know, I am a strong advocate for community living. I believe that
the only way people with disabilities have any chance of experiencing freedom and a decent quality of life is to live in their own homes, outside of institutions.

That's why I started Inclusion Daily Express in the first place.

Having said that, I've been a bit worried about our movement's use of 9-year-old "Ashley X" to further our cause.

During the first week of this year, an anonymous Seattle couple launched a website to promote the fact that they had doctors give their daughter massive doses of estrogen while surgeons removed her uterus and breast tissue -- to keep her from growing.

They said they did not want the girl, who has developmental disabilities, to go through the discomfort associated with puberty, and that they wanted to have her at home -- to carry and to cuddle -- for as long as possible.

Many US and UK disability rights advocates condemned the parents of "Ashley X", saying the procedure amounted to mutilation and violated her human rights.

I agree.

Some added that an increase in funding for community residential programs would keep other parents of children with disabilities from turning to the "Ashley Treatment".

This might indeed be true.

Frankly, however, I haven't been able to make that link between community supports and Ashley's parents. I don't think one has much to do with the other.

For one thing, I found nothing in statements by Ashley's parents to suggest that an increase in community supports would have kept them from surgically changing their daughter to fit what they wanted her to be, an eternal "Pillow Angel". To the contrary, they said that they had tried in-home services but were not happy with them. Not that their satisfaction with the services would have mattered; even if they had the best in-home supports for Ashley, they still would have chosen their radical procedure.

"We would never turn the care of Ashley over to strangers even if she had grown tall and heavy," they wrote.

For another thing, the parents have said over and over that they chose the 'attenuation treatment' because they did not want Ashley to go to an institution. So, as strange as this may sound, these parents consider themselves to be community advocates.

Yes, we do need to push, at every opportunity, for more and better in-home supports for people with disabilities of all ages.

But using this case to justify our position puts us on rather shaky ground.

One reason is that the same young girl can be -- and is being -- used to justify the opposite position.

On Friday, Turkey's Zaman newspaper reported that a Turkish family is considering the same treatment for a 13-year-old by who has cerebral palsy.

Füsun Evren said she was looking for a doctor to stunt the growth of her 42-pound son, Umut Mert, by having him castrated.

"I want him to stay as my little Mert," she said.

Sound familiar?

While one university professor pointed out that castration violates all religions, including Islam, the head of the Turkish Association for the
Disabled, Zülfikar Akar, said: "These situations happen because care centers don't offer long-term care for people with disabilities."

In other words, there needs to be more funding for institutions.

Related:
"Parents of disabled children support ‘Ashley’s treatment’" (Today's Zaman)
"Disability Advocates Respond To 'Ashley Treatment' Designed To Keep Girl Small" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review
International Disability Rights News Service
http://www.InclusionDaily.com
News@InclusionDaily.com

Dutch TV Producers Aren't Fooling Anyone, Are They?

2007-01-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

Inclusion Daily Express

Dutch broadcaster SBS 6 is creating quite a stir with the announced February 20 launch of "Love at Second Sight", which news sources are describing as a television dating show for "the visibly disfigured".

"Do you have a visible serious handicap and are you looking for a partner?" the producers reportedly ask on the program's website.

It remains to be seen how many people will answer the producers' call to appear on the so-called 'reality' program.

A recent poll would suggest that most prospective viewers -- 85 percent -- don't like the idea.

That's interesting, considering that the Netherlands was the birthplace of "Big Brother" and other famous 'reality' shows.

It's also interesting, coming from a country where much of the population seems to support euthanizing babies with disabilities, along with allowing doctors to assist adults with disabilities to commit suicide.

Reuters news service noted that SBS 6 says the program is designed to "remove prejudice about these people, to create more acceptance and respect, and, of course, to find the love of their lives" and would allow such people to "share experiences and feelings in a positive way with the rest of the Netherlands and to show that they are absolutely not pitiful."

I wonder how genuine those intentions are, considering that the producers originally wanted to call the program "Monster Love".

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review
International Disability Rights News Service
http://www.InclusionDaily.com
News@InclusionDaily.com

There But For The Grace Of God . . . Go So Many Of Us (Reprise from Dec. 20, 2005)

2006-12-31T18:23:00.000-08:00

Inclusion Daily Express

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON-- When I learned that the "suspected terrorist" killed by federal air marshals in Miami was actually an American with bipolar disorder, my first thought was that this could easily happen to a number of people I know, including myself, under the right set of circumstances.

But then I wondered if any of us have believed that this kind of thing would not happen at some point. Perhaps it was a matter of not "if", but "when".

Historically speaking, it's always been dangerous -- or fatal -- to act in "unusual" or "puzzling" ways. Every week, it seems, we see another example of someone's life being extinguished, either by law enforcement or caregivers, because they did not -- or could not -- follow someone else's instructions.

The difference now is that this is in the national spotlight, and homeland security appears to be a justification for "shoot first and ask questions later" on jetliners.

Air travel by itself makes many people anxious. The events of 9/11 made that worse, as we realized the actions of those flying with us can literally determine whether we live or die.

Passengers aboard Flight 924 said that, after Rigoberto Alpizar ran through the plane toward first class, his wife of 20 years, Anne Buechner, followed, yelling that he had a mental illness and had not taken his medication.

It did no good. Federal marshals have been trained to deal with people behaving like Alpizar as a threat.

Many experts and others claim that the officers would have been criticized worse had Alpizar been a true bomber, and had his wife been a co-conspirator attempting to identify and distract the air marshals.

After her husband's death, she said she blamed herself for allowing him on the aircraft in his agitated state.

Now, air travel with someone who seems anxious, or "out of control", will no doubt appear more dangerous, and in fact will likely be more dangerous because of the reaction of passengers, including federal air marshals.

Unfortunately, anyone acting "suspiciously" may be feared nearly as much as would-be hijackers.

This may be the best time to redouble our efforts to explain to others that the vast majority of people who experience mental illness or psychiatric crises are not a threat to anyone, but that they are more likely to be victimized by others.

May Peace be with you and yours this season.

-- Dave Reynolds, Editor
September 11, 2001 and Beyond: The Impact of the Terror Attacks on People With Disabilities

MH Tsar Proves Advocates' Point

2006-11-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Inclusion Daily Express

Okay, I swear I'm not making this up:

When told that a review of British health service data showed at least 300 sexual assaults have taken place against women in psychiatric wards over the past 3 years, mental health groups responded that the actual number is probably much higher. They said that victims of such crimes often decide not report them because they do not trust that their allegations will be taken serious.

As if to prove that very point, the government's national mental health tsar, Louis Appleby, responded that -- while he is determined to address the sexual safety of women in mental health wards -- "In my opinion, there is significant doubt in the majority of cases as to whether any incident occurred."

What? Did he or did he not just prove their point?

Hey, I'll give Appleby the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just tongue-tied after seeing the enormity of the problem that he didn't know what to say.

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express
www.InclusionDaily.com
News@InclusionDaily.com

Shame On Rush

2006-11-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Inclusion Daily Express

While Inclusion Daily Express does not usually cover politics or finding "cures" to disabilities, a story involving both of those has taken a very public detour right into our disability rights consciousness.

Last Monday, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh used the airwaves to condemn Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, for appearing on television commercials supporting candidates who favor stem cell research.

This is an important issue for the television and movie actor, who, like the late actor Christopher Reeve, lobbied for federal funding for such research that is believed to hold promise for treating or preventing conditions associated with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and others.

What deserves attention, here, is how Limbaugh, who opposes stem cell research, characterized Fox's appearance on the ads: "He was either acting or off his medication . . . He is using his illness as a tactic to secure the election of another Democratic senator."

Fox later said that the irony is that he was too medicated; that the medication he uses to treat Parkinson's can actually increase the shaking and swaying seen on the ads.

Another irony is that Fox also supports Republican Senator Arlen Specter, from Pennsylvania, and other Republicans that support stem cell research.

Still a third irony is that Limbaugh is accusing Fox of using his disability for personal gain. This from a man who made a big deal out of receiving a cochlear implant in 2003 after losing his hearing as a result of Auto-Immune Inner Ear Disease, and publicly stated three years ago that he was seeking treatment for addiction to pain killing medication that was initially prescribed to treat his pain after spinal surgery.

While I won't climb onto the "research for a cure" bandwagon, I respect Fox's right to have his cause. I also respect how Fox, whose autobiography is titled "Lucky Man", has refused to portray himself and others with Parkinson's disease as "victims".

Shame on you, Rush.

If you truly abhor the exploitation of disabilities, why not go and pick on someone else, like, say, Jerry Lewis?

Related:
Limbaugh, Not Fox, Has His Priorities Wrong by Lennard Davis (National Public Radio)

Dave Reynolds, Editor
News@InclusionDaily.com

'Assisted Suicide', By Any Other Name . . .

2006-11-03T01:56:00.000-08:00

Inclusion Daily Express

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it most likely is a duck.

Likewise, if it looks like assisted suicide and sounds like assisted suicide, it most likely is assisted suicide.

Unless if you are trying to change public opinion about assisted suicide, or are worried about lawsuits from assisted suicide campaigners.

According to a brief story published in the news section of the American Medical Association's website, the Oregon Department of Human Services has bowed to pressure from the group Compassion & Choices -- formerly the Hemlock Society -- and decided to drop the term "physician-assisted suicide" when describing people who use the state's Death with Dignity Act. Instead, DHS will refer to people who use the law to die as, well, "persons who use the Oregon Death With Dignity Act."

Officials said the language would help the agency stay neutral about the issue.

The announcement came after Compassion & Choices brought their lawyers in to meet with agency officials to argue that the word "suicide" violates the state's law.

Apparently, the law states "actions taken in accordance with [the statute] shall not, for any purpose, constitute suicide, assisted suicide, mercy killing or homicide, under the law."

More importantly for assisted suicide crusaders, however, is the fact that polls show people are more likely to approve legalizing the practice when the word "suicide" is not used in describing it. The group no doubt hopes the move to less provocative language will help them in their efforts to legalize assisted suicide in other states.

Since Oregon's law was passed in 1997, assisted suicide supporters have been unsuccessful in multiple campaigns to legalize the practice in other states, including California and Hawaii.

Many disability rights advocacy groups, led by Not Dead Yet, have long opposed efforts to make assisted suicide legal. They have argued, among other things, that such laws would increase the vulnerability of people with disabilities, who are already marginalized by society and many medical professionals, particularly at a time when health care costs are so high.

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express
News@InclusionDaily.com
www.InclusionDaily.com

"CVTC Mission Impossible?"

2006-10-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

When I read about Virginia officials' plan for Central Virginia Training Center, I couldn't help but be reminded of the original "Mission Impossible" TV series from the early 1970s.

I'm thinking about one of those episodes where the good spies capture and sedate a fellow that they know has hidden inside his safe a secret formula that will destroy the world. The guy wakes up in his "office", which is really a fake look-alike copy of his real office, complete with a look-alike desk and look-alike safe. As he goes to the safe to retrieve the formula, hidden cameras watch closely to retrieve the combination. The good guys get the combination and the formula and save the world -- all by tricking the man into believing it was indeed his office.

The Lynchburg News & Advance recently wrote about plans to replace CVTC -- which houses 500 people -- with a massive complex of "small homelike settings" to house about 300 people. Each unit would have a kitchen -- not because the "mentally retarded residents" would ever be able to use a kitchen, or "even sit at a table". Heavens no. It's because "the sounds of preparing a meal and the aroma of cooking would create a more homelike environment".

Each 4,000 sq ft "home" would house up to 20 people, and would be connected to four other "homes" by "artfully designed connectors" to "create a sense that each unit is a separate home space for the residents".

Each unit would also include "staff support areas, as well as laundry room, electrical-mechanical, staff lounges, staff toilet -- 'Things the residents don't use. So when the resident is in his home, he doesn't know all this other stuff is there," explained one official.

How sneaky is that?

Also, out in the back of the main complex, would be "homes" for those with "behavioral" issues.

Who are they kidding? I mean, how stupid do they think the residents are?

Hey, you can dress it up to impress visitors and lawmakers all you want, but creating true community has nothing to do with how things look, smell, or sound. It has to do with meaningful participation, interaction, equality and freedom.

An institution by any design is still an institution.

Frankly, I find it impossible to believe the people housed there will be fooled.

Dave Reynolds, Editor

Read:
"Virginia Plan: Replace Massive Institution With Massive Complex Of Huge 'Homes'"
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/archives/06/10/11/101106vacvtc.htm

Has Jack Kevorkian "seen the light"?

2006-06-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

Jack Kevorkian, according to his attorney, now has regrets over helping at least 130 people to kill themselves.

He doesn't regret advancing his cause. He just regrets breaking laws to do it -- including the Michigan law under which he was convicted of second-degree murder.

Well, one could say, "It's about freakin' time." I mean, you'd think that after seven years in a prison cell, any fella would realize that going on "60 Minutes" to showcase your crime was bit of a tactical error.

But wait.

Before you think Jack's "seen the light" or "drank the Kool-aid", don't you find the timing of his little epiphany a bit handy?

I mean, the argument that his health has deteriorated to the point that he will die in the next 12 months -- if he stays in prison -- gets a little threadbare after its used four years in a row.

No, about the next best argument a prisoner can use before a parole board is that he understands the crime and has regrets about it.

My guess, and this is only a guess based on witnessing how zealous Jack has been for several decades, is that he regrets that his blunder caused a backlash that has been responsible for keeping assisted suicide from being legalized in all but one state.

Stay tuned.

Dave Reynolds, Editor

Please fight temptation to exploit child murder

2006-05-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

In March 2001, Rachel Capra Craig admitted using a "cocktail" of drugs to kill her 14-year-old daughter, Chelsea, who had Rett syndrome, a condition that has some of the same characteristics as autism.

Sixteen months later, Mrs. Craig committed suicide during her second unsupervised release from a Montreal psychiatric institution.

In August 2003, Villanova University professor Mine An Ener confessed to using a kitchen knife to slice the throat of her 6-month-old daughter, Raya, who had Down syndrome.

Less than a month later, Ener's lifeless body was found on a day-room mattress in a county jail. She had wrapped a plastic trash bag around her own head.

On April 12, 2006, security cameras on the Hull Bridge in England captured images of Alison Davies and her 12-year-old son, Ryan, who had autism, jumping over the rails to their deaths.

And the day before Mother's Day this year, Dr. Karen McCarron admittedly used a plastic trash bag to suffocate her 3-year-old daughter, Katie, who had autism.

Now McCarron is on suicide watch in a county jail, while her attorney argues for a reduction in bail.

Do you sense a pattern, here?

Here's another pattern I hope we can avoid:

In every one of these cases, neighbors and family members described the murderer as a lovely, devoted mother. In each case the murderer was portrayed as a desperate victim of her child's disability and a victim of a social service system that failed to provide enough of the right supports.

After each death, parent groups advocating for more government support have said that more funding would help keep such tragedies from happening.

While I understand the genuine need for more family supports, I wish that those who advocate for such supports would avoid exploiting these extreme cases for their causes. Doing so reinforces the idea that these children are horrible burdens to their parents and to society.

In no way can anyone justify murdering a child, nor sympathize with the killer.

Never forget, each of these women had infinite alternatives to murder.

Dave Reynolds, Editor

Related:
"Chelsea Capra Craig"

"Mine An EnerMom Kills Infant Daughter With Down Syndrome, Then Kills Self"

Body Of Mom Found In River; Advocates Call For Autism Review

Doctor Says She Killed Daughter To "End Their Pain"

Doesn't Jack believe in his own medicine?

2006-05-22T23:37:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

For the fourth year in a row, Jack Kevorkian's attorney has pleaded with Michigan's governor to release him early, saying that it is cruel to keep "Dr. Death" in prison because of his poor health.

Each time, the attorney has argued that Kevorkian will probably not last much longer behind bars.

Each year, Kevorkian has lived another 12 months to "suffer" from the plight that he created for himself (don't forget, he's the one who pushed CBS and "60 Minutes" for the chance to announce his crime -- complete with video -- in front of millions of viewers on national television).

If Jack is a victim, he's simply a victim of his own zealousness or whatever it was that drove him past the edge of human decency, not to mention, the law.

I wonder why this "suffering Jack" isn't talking about ending his own torment through the same means he used to help at least 130 others to end their lives.

Do you suppose he's found the light, that living with a medical condition or disability is, after all, better than not living at all?

Nah.

He just doesn't want to have to pay for his crime.

Dave Reynolds

Would the real AODP please stand up?

2006-05-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

In its public response to an EEOC lawsuit claiming it discriminated against a man because of his blindness, UPS cited its "long-standing partnerships with many groups that support opportunities foe (?) the disabled, such as the American Foundation for the Blind, the National Organization on Disability and the American Organization of Disabled Persons."

The "American Organization of Disabled Persons"?

I've never heard of them.

So, I typed "American Organization of Disabled Persons" into Google, MSN, and Yahoo! search engines and found no results -- except for links to UPS' own response. Nothing disability-related popped up when I searched for "AODP".

What does it tell us about a business or individual that professes to have "long-standing partnerships" with disability groups, but cannot accurately name them?

Now, I could be wrong. So, if you know about AODP, please let me know. -- Dave Reynolds

Bravo, Illinois advocates!

2006-05-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

Kudos to Equip for Equality, UCP of Illinois, and other community advocates in Illinois!

Your persistence and clarity in pushing the message that reopening Lincoln Developmental Center would be discriminatory, illegal, and downright wrong has apparently paid off: Gov. Blagojevich has said publicly that he has been hearing from opponents of the plan and he now realizes that it might have been a mistake for him to promise to do so during his election campaign.

My People First friends say we have three jobs to do: Educate. Educate. Educate.

Congratulations on your educational and advocacy efforts!

Of course, as we knew all along, opening LDC was merely about jobs and votes with little consideration given to the people with developmental disabilities who would be housed there.

It looks like you still have a tough row to hoe and more educating to do, however, since a major candidate running against Blagojevich is now making the same promise he made three years ago.

Oy, vey. When will they ever learn?

http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/il/ldc.htm

Dave Reynolds, Editor

J-Mac scores movie deal

2006-04-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

April 25, 2006

Basketball enthusiast Jason McElwain, 17, is getting a lot of attention -- from President Bush to Magic Johnson to Oprah Winfrey -- and now a movie deal. It makes a heart-warming story that the high school basketball team manager with autism broke school records by sinking six 3-pointers in the final few minutes of the final game of the regular season -- after being kept out for the entire season.

I think it's great that he is being seen as a valuable member of his team and school.

But, while he's being praised for his "superstar" performance, I worry for him. I worry that he is being exploited by everyone from Bush to Magic to Oprah and Columbia Pictures. I worry about the way the media is portraying him to get their latest "feel good" story instead of showing him as the rather ordinary teenager I assume he is.

I worry that people will get the wrong impression about people who have autism and other similar disabilities -- that they are, or should be, superhuman or savants.

Being drowned out by all the hoopla are a few unspoken questions: Why wasn't Jason allowed to be on the team from the beginning of the season? Why did his coach wait until his team was far ahead to allow J-Mac on the court?

It will be interesting to see if the movie includes answers to those questions, and also addresses the fact that the opposing team was asked to go easy on him -- something the "feel good" reporters have omitted.

Dave Reynolds, Editor

He doesn't define himself by his disability. Why should writers?

2006-04-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express
April 24, 2006

I found an interesting story related to the Clark v. Arizona case. The Arizona Republic did a cover story last week on Randall Howe, the state's attorney who argued the case before the U.S Supreme Court.

It turns out Howe has cerebral palsy. The article makes a big point of this fact, while explaining over and over that Howe does not define himself by his disability -- even noting at one point that "he won't let you do it either".

Yet, that's exactly what the article appears to be doing.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0416randyhowe0416.html

What do you think?

Dave Reynolds, Editor

Killpack gets 5 years for daughter's water overdose

2006-04-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express
Re: "Killpack To Spend Five Years Behind Bars For Daughter's Water Overdose"
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/ut/killpack.htm

Editor's comment: I have always had a hard time understanding how uncomfortable, painful, aversive "therapies" -- such as the "rebirthing" that killed Candace Newmaker, and the "over-correction" in which Jennete Killpack forced her daughter to drink a lethal amount of water -- are supposed to make a child "bond" with a parent who is initiating the aversion.

How have some people been able to convince themselves that this is "therapeutic"?

Dave Reynolds, Editor

Don't accept DCs offers to be "community resource"

2006-04-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

Editor's Comment: As Agnews Developmental Center inches toward closure, the executive director has announced that the facility would now be offering medical and dental services to people with developmental disabilities in the community.

I've seen situations (particularly in Wash. State) where institutions offer to provide services to folks outside the facility as a tactic to become a valued "community resource", so they can therefore can go to lawmakers and say they are "indespensible" to the community.

The best way I've found to counteract this is to refrain from using them and instead work on developing those resources in the community, even if that means training doctors and dentists in the community.

Dave Reynolds, Editor

Welcome to the Inclusion Daily Express Weblog!

2006-04-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Inclusion Daily Express

Welcome!

This is the official weblog, or "blog", for Inclusion Daily Express, the international disability rights news service.

From time to time, we'll step out of the "hard news" to add some comments about news stories or some quick personal notes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dave Reynolds, Editor
Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review
International Disability Rights News Service
http://www.InclusionDaily.com
News@InclusionDaily.com