“Rizzoli & Isles”: Sending wrong message about disabled vets

I tried watching "Rizzoli & Isles" off and on from the beginning but couldn’t help feeling the show was ripping off too much from the far superior "Bones," one of our absolute favorite crime series. But finally, the last part of the episode entitled "Welcome to the Dollhouse" made me start asking myself why I bothered to watch "R&I" in the first place.

What bothered me was the final scene in which Jane (Rizzoli, played by Angie Harmon) learns that Casey (Sgt. Major Jones played by Chris Vance) was severely injured in the war. He tells her he doesn’t want to be in her life until he’s a ‘whole’ man again. Then he hobbles away on crutches while Jane watches with a look of pitiful suffering.

Give me a break!

The message here is that disabled vets should be hidden away and not mix with ‘normal’ people. It’s an age-old prejudice. Society has always tried to make disabled people hide from the outside world. I know, because I’ve suffered from several hidden disabilities just about all my life, and the majority of people who learn about my illness treat me with the same type of discrimination.

Before people discover the truth of my illness, they enjoy my company. But when I have to explain that my condition prevents me from being able to perform or socialize to the extent they demand, they almost consistently turn their backs on me. Some people even try to punish me for the ‘crime’ of being disabled.

And the situation is no different for people with overt disabilities like that dramatized on "Rizzoli & Isles."

I confess, I tried watching the show for several more weeks, hoping they would change course on this misguided plot development. But I finally realized the producers of the series are demonstrating the same mean-spirited bigotry toward people like me, and most of the disabled veterans of Bush’s wars of choice, that has been practiced throughout history. That’s why I refuse to watch any more episodes of "Rizzoli & Isles."

I hope other people who understand the importance of this negative message regarding disabled people in general, and disabled veterans in particular, will consider not only tuning out the series, but contacting TNT, as I will with this message, to let them know how wrong-headed this message is.

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, April 13, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Arizola Rd.. & E. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, April 13, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Arizola Rd. & E. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!


This week:

Last week in this space, I committed myself to finish cutting fabric for a couple of garments I plan to sew. I’m delighted to report that I’ve finished cutting the first one and should be done with the second over the weekend. Then I can get to the far easier part of the job, actually sewing up all the pieces of my new robe and dress.

This Friday’s peace vigil is Tony Fasline’s final vigil for the 2011-2012 season here in nice warm Casa Grande, AZ. Next week, he’ll join the many ‘flocks’ of ‘snowbirds’ who fly back to their chilly northern homes for the warm months of the year. He plans to join his many friends who demonstrate for peace each week in and around the Youngstown area. In recent months they’ve also partnered with the local Occupy group, so Tony will be sending me reports of both those activities throughout the summer months.

Meanwhile, Tony promises to return to Arizona in the fall and continue standing vigil for peace at various street corners around Casa Grande from late 2012 into the spring of 2013. And I’ll share news about all these events on a regular basis. So, keep checking back, because we’re holding onto the dream of a world without poverty and war, where everyone enjoys the benefits of prosperity and peace throughout the planet.

Meanwhile, remember to check out all my videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

I hope to have more posted pretty soon. That’s another task on the dream list. Just got to keep on moving forward!

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, April 6, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Colorado St.. & W. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, April 6, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Colorado St. & W. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!



This week:

Last week, I made a pact with my (baby) sister, who lives up in the cold north (brr!), that we’ll both get back to our respective sewing projects. Lately we’d both put off this more enjoyable but productive task while we caught up with taxes and other accounts, so it will be easier to do our taxes next year. Meanwhile, I’m focusing my unconscious mind on where I want to take my writing from this point. I’ll be posting more of my own stuff here after I get a couple of patterns cut out so I can spend my late-night hours alternating between my sewing machine on one side of my workroom and my computer on the other side.
Otherwise, all I need is for my old Swiss-cheese brain cells to start focusing on ideas and facts. Simple as that. Wish me luck, everybody!

Meanwhile, remember to check out all my videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

I hope to have more posted pretty soon. That’s another task on the dream list. Just got to keep on moving forward!

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, March 30, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Trekell Rd.. & W. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, March 30, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Trekell Rd. & W. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!

This week:

Wow! Taxes done and filed, a string of doctors updated on our health, and 2012 Major League Baseball season now underway–sort of, since spring training is still in session even though two official games are already in the books. This week I’ve started on some projects I’ve wanted to work on for a while: especially tackling that mess in my office. I’d appreciate any positive thoughts about a beautifully organized work space being sent my way. Such a miracle might never take place, but one can always dream!

Meanwhile, remember to check out all my videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

I hope to have more posted pretty soon. That’s another task on the dream list. Just got to keep on moving forward!

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, March 16, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Pinal Ave.. & W. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, March 16, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Pinal Ave. & W. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!

This week:

I have only one goal this week: finish those income taxes! Everything else waits till that task is off my plate and my agenda! At that time, I plan to do more videos. Until then, if you haven’t seen the ones I’ve already finished and posted, be sure to check these out:

We still haven’t found a qualified tenant for our last vacant rental home. If you’re in the Arizona City/Casa Grande area and would like to live in a beautiful 2026 square foot manufactured with 4-bedrooms, a huge master retreat, 2 full bathrooms, huge kitchen and laundry room and comfortable living room, formal dining area, and family room, take the video tour and learn all the details here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

And don’t forget to check out my other videos in this YouTube account. My favorites are the latest ones that I’ve made right here at home:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

And of course, here’s my February 3rd video and interview during Tony’s weekly peace vigil:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, March 9, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Pinal Ave.. & W. McMurray Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, March 9, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Pinal Ave. & W. McMurray Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!



This week:

It’s been an interesting week--too interesting--but things seem to have stabilized and are looking even better than before. I now have a new working printer, and I survived more than four days without a TV in my favorite working room. Ah, the things we become addicted to in the electronically-infested 21st century.

So, now I hope to be able to catch up with more of my real work. It’s a very good feeling. Among other things, I hope to be able to do more videos soon.

The ad seeking a qualified tenant for our manufactured home just started running in our local paper today, so we’ll see if the right person responds. This time, we hope the video will help to get people’s attention. Meanwhile, if you’re in the Arizona City/Casa Grande area and would like to live in a beautiful 2026 square foot manufactured with 4-bedrooms, a huge master retreat, 2 full bathrooms, huge kitchen and laundry room and comfortable living room, formal dining area, and family room, take the video tour and learn all the details here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

And don’t forget to check out my other videos in this YouTube account. My favorites are the latest ones that I’ve made right here at home:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

And of course, here’s my February 3rd video and interview during Tony’s weekly peace vigil:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, March 2, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Pinal Ave.. & W. Cottonwood Ln.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, March 2, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Pinal Ave. & W. Cottonwood Ln. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!

This week:

I regret to say that despite my report last week that we’d rented our last vacant unit, it turns out the person is unable to follow through with the requirements of the lease. So, we still have a huge, beautiful four-bedroom, two-bath manufactured home available for lease in Arizona City, AZ. If you or someone you know would be interested in renting a house like that, just watch the video tour and check out all the details I’ve posted for your convenience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

If you’re a serious renter, contact us at the phone number at the end of the video and leave a message, and we’ll be happy to show you the house in person.

And don’t forget to check out my other videos in this YouTube account. My favorites are the latest ones that I’ve made right here at home:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, February 24, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Pinal Ave.. & W. Kortsen Rd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, February 24, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Pinal Ave. & W. Kortsen Rd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!

This week:

I’m delighted to say we’ve finally signed a tenant for the manufactured home we had for rent in Arizona City. It’s so beautiful and in such great shape that no one can resist once they get inside. It was just a matter of finding a serious tenant, and we finally did!

Otherwise, we’ve been fighting several of the machines that we depend on for our work--both Jim’s and my printers, my fax machine--and just life in general, so things are still going slowly for me. But we’re taking heart: Spring is peeking around the corner. Winter’s not so bad here in Arizona, but it’s still too much for me. I welcome the warmer weather and don’t even mind the summer heat.

Still, that rising temperature level reminds me that we desert dwellers are the real canaries in the global-warming mine, so there is still plenty of reason for me to keep on doing my real work. That’s why I’ll keep on sounding the trumpet for humans to stay on the progressive course of the 20th century that finally landed in the hands of the Democratic Party but has been completely rejected by most members of the GOP, who want to drag our country all the way back into the Dark Ages. No, there is no perfect candidate, but then, Jesus Christ isn’t running for office. But even if He were right here in the United States, The Lord certainly would not vote for the people who use His name on the campaign trail in such blasphemous manner.

When we’re able to get past all our current distractions, we do intend to make more of my videos in which I will discuss these issues in depth. Meanwhile, I hope you continue to enjoy the three I already have up on YouTube, and feel free to recommend them to as many other people as you can think of:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, February 17, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Trekell Rd.. & E. Cottonwood Ln.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, February 17, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Trekell Rd. & E. Cottonwood Ln. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!



This week:

Well, as usual, I haven’t accomplished all I’d hope to this week, but I’m working on it, slowly. As usual! I’ll keep plugging away, bit by bit, till I get that task done, and then I’ll go on to the next item on the agenda.

Meanwhile, since they’re still so new, I must remind you all to check out my first personal videos on YouTube:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

And finally, we still have one vacant unit, so feast your eyes on the video tour of this beautiful 2026 square foot home in Arizona City, AZ, available for rent to a qualifying tenant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Speech Is Not Always Free: A disabled writer speaks out

Throughout my life, I’ve had to deal with two issues:

• the often selfish demands of people who insist I use my talents, energies, and resources on their behalf
• my ever-diminishing store of energy as a result of lifelong progressive chronic illness

After trying my best to satisfy everyone else’s agenda, I finally had to explain that I couldn’t do all they demanded because:

• I had to take care of my own needs.
• As I became sicker and physically weaker, I couldn’t do as much as I used to do.

Unfortunately, the almost universal reaction to my explanation has been anger. People have said and done some very mean things to me because of their prejudice against me because of my illness.

What is most puzzling is that this type of reaction has even come from both family members and people who have disabilities that are obvious and more easily understood than the hidden disability of chronic illness. But I’ve never let that deter me.

No matter what anyone else says or does, I continue to write about my dream of establishing a global society in which every person contributes according to their individual abilities and there is no more poverty or war. And now I’m expanding into the medium of videos in an effort to spread my message of prosperity and peace for all.

First, I explain why I refuse to hide my disability. Since the only obvious sign of my condition is my crutch, I’ll make sure it’s visible whenever I appear onscreen. And when I speak about the rights of disabled people, unlike most disability advocates, I’ll be speaking for the rights of people with both visible and hidden disabilities.

So, following is my first video, “Speech Is Not Always Free”:

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, February 10, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Trekell Rd.. & E. McMurray Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, February 10, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Trekell Rd. & E. McMurray Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!



This week:

I am absolutely ecstatic to announce that I’ve finally got several videos edited and posted on YouTube. I’ll soon be featuring all these videos and more on this Blog page too! Yippee! For now, here’s what I’ve posted on YouTube so far:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still wanting to be a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

Arizona City Mfg. Home: We currently have a beautiful 2026 square foot home in Arizona City, AZ, available for rent to a qualifying tenant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

In a couple of days or so, I hope to post my video of Tony Fasline at his weekly peace vigil that he holds every Friday during the cooler months here in Casa Grande. That particular day, my husband, Jim, joined Tony at the corner of Arizola and McMurray. I worked the camcorder while they held signs telling people about the need to focus on ending conflict around the world. Of course, that’s a complicated issue, but we can’t move in the right direction if we don’t keep in mind the best outcome for all concerned. In future, I’ll do more home videos as well to discuss more of the issues that connect poverty and war and why we need an economy that allows everyone to participate in at least minimum prosperity so we can end the resulting conflicts in our global society. Check back often to learn more about these issues.

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Managing the Medicare Maze (Part IV)

Now that I’ve detailed our experiences arranging the various pieces of our retirement insurance coverage, it’s time for me to wrap up this series with a few comments about the situation.

THE GOOD

On the positive side is the fact that Medicare exists at all. Too many conservative politicians want to abolish it completely so they can toss senior citizens and people with disabilities back into that shark tank infested with insurance companies that care more about amassing profits than providing access to affordable medical care. Details in this article apply to the current situation, not the right-wing “wet dream” that, should it ever come true, would be a hideous nightmare for the neediest people in the country.

Currently, Medicare Part A, which covers a large percentage of the cost of hospital care, is available at no charge to qualified U.S. residents when they turn 65 and younger people who’ve received Social Security Disability insurance for two years. The program is supported by payroll taxes from people who are currently employed. A qualified person just has to notify Social Security within two months of the date eligibility begins. Part B covers a percentage of doctors’ visits and outpatient tests and treatments, but the insured person must pay a premium for this part of the coverage.

Many people purchase a Supplemental policy to cover medical costs not paid by Parts A and B, or an Advantage plan, or Part C, which is a comprehensive package that covers Parts A and B as well as co-pays. Most Advantage plans also include drug coverage, which is called Part D when purchased separately with Parts A and B.

Part D is the newest piece of the puzzle and it has numerous flaws, especially the cost to people who need the more expensive drugs. Many of these costs will go down as the government plan, commonly called “Obamacare” by critics, comes into effect in stages over the next few years. That fact should be viewed as an argument to support the new health care law. But to conservatives, whose empty claims to compassion disappeared as soon as they took power in 2001, it’s a reason to attack the program.

One way to lower drug costs even more is to use mail order to purchase drugs taken regularly over an extended period of time. In spite of the fact that many drug providers have featured this service for many years, some people are still reluctant to depend on mail for their medications.

Having used mail order through several different insurers over the last couple of decades, I can say that overall, the service is no better or worse than using a local pharmacy. It’s up to the consumer--that’s you and me--to keep good records and alert the provider when there is a problem. Some companies are harder to deal with than others, but that can also be true with many local stores.

One last positive thing I can say about dealing with Medicare is the fact that the website is extremely helpful and the customer service staff are both friendly and supportive. There are some excellent online charts to help users choose Supplemental and Part D plans, but it did take me several tries over a few days to figure everything out. I finally called and a really nice lady patiently talked me through the necessary steps. Besides that, I signed up for regular email updates from Medicare.

THE BAD

As useful as Medicare, with all its parts, is proving to us, especially with our complicated medical issues, we still don’t like the way it’s designed. First, it took a lot of work, especially on my part since I’m the family “office manager,” to research and set up all the pieces of the puzzle. That’s a lot of time and energy that I could have focused toward other pursuits. In addition, this task is generally being performed by people in physically and/or mentally weakened conditions, so it takes more energy from us than it would from young healthy people who are generally more tech savvy.

In addition, there is the fact that plans differ according to services offered by different providers. We had to choose from a range of Supplemental plans and drug providers based on our current medical needs. Since Jim and I both have complicated medical conditions, albeit somewhat different from each other, we ended up with the same Supplemental plan through the same insurance company. But because we each take a completely different number and range of medications, we each had to sign with a different Part D provider.

The problem with this is we’re stuck with these plans for a full year, until the end of 2012. If either of our medical situations changes and our current plans don’t fit our needs, that’s just tough cookies. We can’t make changes until the next annual enrollment period, which begins on October 15 and ends on December 7, and those changes won’t go into effect until January 1, 2013.

There is a provision for people with certain qualifications to switch to certain Advantage plans, and another situation in which a person must be disenrolled from their previous plan. But this is all just a testament to the fact that when government services are controlled by politicians and for-profit companies, the rules are even more complicated than when the government is the only service provider.

THE REALLY UGLY

As I explained in the first article in this series, as much as Advantage providers tempt people with low overall prices, the hidden costs are a time bomb just waiting to explode in the faces of clients who live far away from in-network providers. And drug co-pays which are low for insured working people skyrocket for retired people who live on a fixed income. All in all, these are just more ways that the for-profit medical industry squeezes every last penny they can out of the most vulnerable people in the country.

Then there’s the insidious “credible coverage” requirement for previous insurance. This one makes perfect sense to the profiteers, but it amounts to financial punishment imposed on sick and disabled people. Here’s how the plan works:

Many younger people with medical problems are being denied coverage by insurance companies because of their conditions. Then when they finally qualify for Medicare, they’re charged a penalty on top of premiums specifically because of the fact that they weren’t able to obtain insurance before that. These extra costs are just one more way that the for-profit medical system in this country torments people who commit the “mortal sin” of being imperfect.

AND IN CONCLUSION

Lest anyone think any of these issues are an argument against government managed health care, I vehemently disagree. The complications arise from the involvement of for-profit companies and the meddling of lobby-supported politicians.

If health care were supplied to everyone in a straightforward manner according to each person’s need, with no costs added to boost corporate profits and executive compensation, the service would be much cheaper and far more successful than it is now. And I’m not opposed to charging penalties to people who want coverage or care when they’ve previously refused to participate in a universal system.

We just need to actually have such a system that doesn’t discriminate against sick and disabled people, as the current for-profit system does. The only way to care for everyone who needs it in an efficient manner would be establish a truly universal health care system which requires everyone to pay what they can afford for coverage.

And now that I’ve come this far down that circuitous path to Medicare, I’d like to say I’ve earned a black belt. But since politicians are always tinkering with the system, I’ll just claim a brown belt now and steel myself for the battles that I know must surely be lurking farther down the road.


Managing the Medicare Maze (Part I)
Managing the Medicare Maze (Part II)
Managing the Medicare Maze (Part III)

The Trouble with Electric Shopping Carts (Part IV)

In the first three parts of this article, I detailed the steady deterioration of electric shopping cart services at stores in Casa Grande. Now it’s time to wrap up this series by explaining what happened when I tried to get help with this and other problems related to my disabilities from the Casa Grande Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues.

When I first wrote the two-part article about electric shopping carts for my column in the Arizona City Independent/Edition, I also called and sent a letter trying to get the attention of someone on the Committee regarding the problem. We lived in Arizona City at the time but did all our shopping in Casa Grande, 15 miles north of our home.

I’ll give Committee members the benefit of the doubt and just say the reason they might not have responded to my original complaints might have had something to do with the fact that we weren’t residents of the city. Still, that logic doesn’t compute when you consider most subsequent developments in relation to the issue.

In 2007 we moved to Casa Grande, and a few months later I volunteered to serve on the Committee. At that time I explained that since my original complaint regarding the lack of enough working carts, stores had begun to replace their old carts with new ones without arms, making it difficult, or even impossible, for people with certain types of disabilities to use the carts and, thus, shop in those stores.

Finally, a Committee member called several large grocery and discount stores in town to survey them regarding the replacement of their old electric shopping carts with armless carts. When I attended my first Committee meeting as a member, they presented me with the survey report. After that, there was no more talk of armless electric shopping carts--or any other issues connected with hidden disabilities.

Conversations at meetings were mostly about visible disabilities, such as mobility, sight, or hearing problems. I heard little or no discussion of other disability issues, such as those affecting people with seizure disorder, mental or developmental disabilities, AIDS, or those confined to nursing homes or rehabilitation facilities.

The same problem existed with outside activities sponsored by the Committee. For instance, the annual Disability Awareness Day was focused on difficulties faced by people confined to wheelchairs or those with visual impairment. The one time I was able to attend a Disability Awareness Day luncheon, I told a couple of people attending who held management positions at the local Wal-Mart that I hadn’t shopped at their store for a couple of years because of the problem with armless shopping carts. They said they’d check into it, but they never got back to me and didn’t even answer the followup email I sent after that meeting.

Besides that, I could never attend the Committee’s annual Halloween party because my nervous system can’t tolerate vibrations from loud music and I’m deathly allergic to dyes in all the refreshments served at the event. In fact, in 2009 after taking a colored pill I’d previously been able to pass in a few days with minor symptoms, I ended up in the ICU for two and a half days. That means that for the rest of my life, I have to avoid all those chemical dyes that make food and drugs so pretty to look at. One more exposure could propel me past the ICU all the way to a slab in one of those little refrigerated compartments in that windowless room in the hospital basement. No thanks!

Meanwhile, two more of my problems continued to worsen, but whenever I mentioned anything I was going through to anyone on the Committee, they showed absolutely no interest. First, even more stores are replacing their older electric shopping carts with newer armless ones. That means it’s getting to be impossible for me to shop comfortably in just about all the larger stores in town. I am fortunate enough to have a manual wheelchair, but anyone who’s confined to a chair knows that sitting low to the ground limits their view of most store shelves and makes it difficult to chat with people standing up near them.

Meanwhile, my physical symptoms are deteriorating, as they have slowly but surely pretty much all my life. I no longer have the stamina to manage most normal activities. When I need to go out to see a doctor or shop at a local store, we have to plan the logistics carefully. My husband does all the driving now, and since I lack the upper-body strength to push my own wheelchair, he has to push me wherever I want to go.

Of course, it would be great if I could use my own electric cart. Unfortunately, our house isn’t accessible and has no garage. We can’t just roll the cart in or out of the house, and if we had a hoist installed on his truck, it would be vulnerable to theft or vandalism. That means I’m stuck with the inconvenience of my wheelchair. At least I do have that.

And since my disabilities are of no interest to anyone on the Casa Grande Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues, I’ve chosen to focus my limited energies to more important and more effective activities, such as writing about a world in which the needs of every single person are respected, even those people who have to deal with hidden disabilities.

Part I: Going the Distance (Part I)
Part II: Going the Distance (Part II)
Part III: Disarming the Carts

The Trouble with Electric Shopping Carts (Part III)

If you’ve read my last two posts, you know about some of the problems disabled people have long met with when we tried to use electric shopping carts provided by large stores. Those issues were minor, though, in comparison to the latest situation that has arisen In the last few years, which I first wrote about in my column in 2008:

Disarming the Carts

Here we are, finally settled in Casa Grande, where we’re close enough to stores that I can go shopping more than once every month or two--and wouldn’t you know it? Some of my favorite stores are making it impossible for me to patronize them. They might not realize what they’re doing, but it’s true all the same.

The problem has to do with those electric carts I wrote about three years ago in my two-part article, “Going the Distance.” At the time I explained that many stores don’t have enough carts on duty at their peak shopping hours. I even suggested they truck some carts from their northern stores down to their southern stores for the winter season, then return them as the “snow birds” are flying north so the carts will be available up there during the summer months.

It sounds perfectly logical, but to date, no one has paid any attention to my idea. Pretty soon I’ll post the article on my web site and start spreading the word again, but that’s not my big beef this time. Now, those same stores are beginning to replace their old carts with new ones that make it impossible for me--and probably thousands of other disabled people--to ride at all!

You see, the new carts have no arms. None at all.

For some people that doesn’t present a problem. But for me, and most other people with serious back and/or balance problems, this means we can no longer use their carts. And since at least one major discount store in town has replaced all their old carts with armless ones, that means the store could lose thousands of paying customers in a very short time. I know they’ve already lost me!

With scoliosis, I require side support for damaged back muscles. Reaching the front steering column is difficult for a small person like me because the nonadjustable seats are set very far back and very high up. Leaning forward stretches my damaged back muscles, aggravating my pain. Without protective arms on the cart, people like me with dizziness or stability problems could fall out. The one time I tried riding that cart, the experience was so painful and disorienting that I left the store vowing not to return until they bring back the carts with arms.

I’ve heard a couple of explanations for the situation. One person said the armless carts make it easier to transfer people from wheelchairs into carts and back again. But in the two decades I’ve used store carts in three different states, I have yet to see anyone roll in with their own conveyance and transfer to a store cart. On the other hand, I have noticed hundreds of people with obvious back and balance problems who need the carts to get around. So, the statistics don’t support this theory at all.

The explanation that is probably closest to reality came from a store manager who said the decision was probably an economic one--which doesn’t surprise me at all. This person said that the elimination of a single moving part multiplied by thousands of carts across the country could save the company thousands of maintenance dollars. I doubt they’ve thought about the possibly more thousands of dollars in sales they could be losing with all the disabled patrons they’re turning away.

I’ll be honest, I own a cart myself. The problem is, even when the electric hoist in my little old station wagon actually works--which is rare these days--the cart is much too cumbersome for me to manage on my own. My next option would be to buy a cart rack that goes on the back of a car, but that will cost hundreds of dollars that we can’t afford. And what about all those disabled people the store has turned their back on, figuratively speaking, who can’t afford their own carts?

No, I’m not going to budge. They’re not going to see me until they get those arms on their carts again.

And just in case anyone wonders about the logic in this attitude, let me point out one more fact: In the past, carts had signs warning that arms must be in the down position when the cart is moving, for the sake of safety or insurance or both. When did it suddenly become safe for people with balance problems to ride a cart without any side protection? Not in my lifetime!

I wonder if the company is prepared to deal with the lawsuits when people with a tendency to faint start falling out of those armless carts and hurting themselves. Maybe then they’ll start thinking about the economics of fixing a simple moving part, and serving disabled customers the way they should be served!

Okay, that’s everything from the past. Since I wrote that last article, the situation has deteriorated in several ways. In a few days, I’ll post a new report about my efforts to get help for this situation, along with a list of those stores in my town, all major chains, that have joined the parade of companies that don’t seem to want people with certain disabilities shopping at their stores. Watch for it!


Part I: Going the Distance (Part I)
Part II: Going the Distance (Part II)
Part IV: The Trouble With Electric Shopping Carts (Part IV)

The Trouble with Electric Shopping Carts (Part I)

In the introduction to my earlier posting of my letter of resignation from the Casa Grande Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues, I promised to post articles I wrote in the past detailing my experiences using electric carts at large retail stores.

In the summer of 2005, I wrote a two-part article, “Going the Distance,” to explain problems I often encountered with store carts that were either lacking a sufficient charge or in disrepair. Then in 2008 another issue arose and I was forced to write “Disarming the Carts.” Those articles were first published in my column in the Arizona City Independent/Edition. I later posted them again in my online column as Phoenix Progressive Examiner for Examiner.com.

Since then, I’ve been trying to get help to address these problems from the people at the stores and at the corporate offices and members of the Mayor’s Committee, but to no avail. That’s one of the reasons I finally had to resign from any involvement with the Committee, which I will explain fully in a later article. First, I’ll post the original articles here, for your enlightenment:

Going the Distance (Part I)

For decades I’ve fought the battle of the electric shopping cart. The first problem I had to overcome was my own attitude toward my developing disability from lupus and complications. For over 30 years, I’ve had intermittent mobility problems, but I can usually maintain a steady gait for short distances with the aid of a crutch (Canadian cane) on my left side. On the other hand, walking any significant distance is so exhausting that I can barely do anything productive for a day or two after that.

By the mid-1980s, I realized it was becoming harder for me to shop in a large store without using an electric cart. It wasn’t easy to face this reality, especially since I’d been taught from childhood to ignore my long-developing disability, usually to my detriment. But I finally had to accept that I’m not as strong as I wish, and I need help to do many things in life--if I can, or should, do them at all!

Unfortunately, once I was comfortable enough with my own limitations to tell others about my needs, I found myself in the midst of the real battle!

Some stores do provide plenty of electric carts for their disabled customers, and they try to keep them in tiptop shape, but those stores are in the minority. The sad fact is, the busier the store, the less likely they are to have a sufficient number of working carts, especially at peak shopping hours. And the more successful stores seem less likely to maintain their vehicles on a regular basis.

Of course, electric carts in the busier stores are well-used, and no one can foretell how many carts will be needed at any given time. Though the Americans with Disabilities Act requires public facilities to provide architectural access for wheelchairs and electric carts, they aren’t required to provide those carts themselves. That’s the letter of the law.

But the spirit of the law calls for a better attitude from store employees toward disabled patrons than what I’ve often experienced. The real problem is not so much that there aren’t enough working carts to meet demand, especially at certain times, but the fact that managers and employees don’t seem willing to address the problem.

I’ve explained the situation to several people at the biggest store in town and at their corporate headquarters, but the response is little more than a symbolic “pat on the head.” Meanwhile, more carts seem to be breaking down, so fewer of them are available, even after the “snow birds” fly off to their summer homes in the north. Worse, the attitude of many employees toward disabled customers who need carts seems cooler than ever.

In the interest of good corporate relations, I’d like to pass along some suggestions that might help the situation. Perhaps others will join me in trying to get store managers and employees to consider the needs of their disabled patrons, who, like every other customer, come there to spend money.

I’ll share those ideas in the second part of this article. Meanwhile, I want to pass along a little story to demonstrate the depth of the problem we disabled people are facing--not the lack of carts, but the attitude of many people regarding our disabilities. This anecdote has been repeated often in motivational speeches and sermons over the years:

Somewhere in the South Pacific there was a hospital ward full of men who’d been damaged in the war (the Big One, WWII, according to reports). Everyone in the ward had problems walking for reasons that doctors couldn’t always explain. “Shell shocked,” they called it at the time; the condition is now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. One day a huge snake slithered into the ward, and when someone screamed and pointed to it, all those disabled men made a beeline for the exit--on foot!

The moral, according to all the motivational speakers and preachers, is that we don’t know what we can do until we try. They fail to consider the possible damage to both body and mind that could result from the effort of performing an act we’re not fully equipped to do.

Certainly, people have been known to summon up the courage and will to accomplish great things, but they’ve also been known to do great harm to themselves by doing some of those remarkable things. For someone with a disability, whether doctors can understand or measure the condition or not, that effort might be doubly dangerous.

This is especially true when you consider that the power to perform unusually brave acts comes from a sudden burst of adrenaline, which speeds up the heart rate, raises the blood pressure, and intensifies other bodily functions. Though handy in unusual circumstances, this “fight or flight” mechanism puts extra stress on a number of organs, especially the heart.

For someone whose body is already weakened by illness or injury, experiencing this type of stress can be a dangerous practice. That’s why it’s not always safe for people with certain types of disability to do too much. It is also why doctors now tell patients to listen to their bodies, which is something only disabled persons can do for themselves.

That’s why I have a different moral to offer to that “inspirational” story: Just because a disabled person can do something once, or for a short period of time, doesn’t mean they can do it on a sustained basis. Neither does it mean they should be doing it at all.

I’ll keep that principle in mind in my next article, when I discuss some of the things that need to be done to solve the electric-cart problem at large stores.


Part II: Going the Distance (Part II)
Part III: Disarming the Carts
Part IV: The Trouble With Electric Shopping Carts (Part IV)

Disability Committee Resignation

This weekend, I finally resigned as a member of the Casa Grande Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues, as detailed in the letter below. While I explain the reasons in general terms here, the personal issue that made me finally decide to take this step involves the fact that no matter how much I tried over a number of years, I could not get anyone on the Committee to understand the need for a greater variety of electric cart services in the largest stores around town.

In the past, I wrote an article series explaining the problem for my column in the Arizona City Independent/Edition. In the next day or so, I’ll post that series on this blog, so watch for it. Meanwhile, here is the notice I just sent to the Mayor of Casa Grande, members of the City Council, and members of the Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues:


To Whom It May Concern:

After much careful thought and soul-searching, I’m forced to resign from membership on the Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues.

This decision does not mean I’m going to stop writing about issues affecting people with all manner of disabilities, which is only one of the vital social issues I’ve discussed in my earlier newspaper and online columns, and now in my Peace Blog:

http://imaginetheworldatpeace.blogspot.com/

I feel this Committee’s focus is too narrow, concentrated almost entirely on people with a couple of the most obvious disabilities, while virtually ignoring the needs of citizens with other conditions, especially hidden disabilities affecting millions of people, like me.

While I know it’s impossible for anyone to work on all the issues, I’ve tried to educate my readers regarding a wide range of disability issues in my work as a columnist and blogger. That’s why I don’t feel it’s an effective use of the Committee to simply repeat well-known and understood messages year after year. Since I want to help people with a variety of needs and find support for my own needs as a disabled person, participation in these activities is a waste of my time and energy, which are extremely limited because of lifelong chronic illness.

I would love to see Committee members adopt at least one new issue each year, learning and spreading the word about it throughout that year. Among the many groups that could benefit from this attention are students with learning disabilities, prisoners with untreated and often undiagnosed mental disabilities, seniors with age-related disabilities, and numerous people in the area whose lives are limited by the effects of chronic illness, like me.

As part of this broader focus, I believe it would be beneficial for the Committee to organize an annual public gathering in which people affected by that year’s subject condition(s) present information about their situation and follow up with a question-and-answer session in which they can better educate audience members.

In addition, I would like to see at least some member of the Committee respond quickly when any issue is brought to the attention of the Committee. And when action is finally taken, I hope that if one step has little or no effect--and indeed, the situation continues to worsen--Committee members do not simply dismiss the issue because it doesn’t fall within the limited focus that now seems to be considered the only mandate of the Committee.

When I tried to get help for the problem I’ve tried to get the Committee to address, I had to send several messages over about four years before anyone responded. Then one step was taken and the results reported to me. Unfortunately, since that time, the situation has not only not improved, it has deteriorated throughout the city. But each time I bring up the issue, I’m treated as if I’m bothering people about something that is of no importance to anyone on the Committee and, therefore, something I shouldn’t think about, even though the situation further limits my access to local services that most people take for granted.

Believe me, if a problem affects one person who has the courage to speak up, then it affects a lot more people who lack the means to stand up for themselves. That’s why I’ll continue to write about this problem, along with the fact that people with other types of disabilities are ignoring those of us who are not like them. That’s why besides sending this letter to members of the Committee and other city officials, I’ll use various internet tools to spread the word about all the problems I’ve discussed here, and much more.

I regret the situation has reached this point, but it will not stop me from using whatever means I have to continue trying to educate people about all types of disability, without regard to who these conditions affect. That’s because, no matter what my own personal issues are, I understand and work in support of issues that affect people of all kinds. I make no distinction because certain people aren’t considered to be among the favored few. If more people felt that way, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re dealing with now.

In peace,
Debbie Jordan

Disability: Reality vs. the one-legged runner

Note: I promised to post the following article a couple of months ago, but medical issues, both mine and my husband’s, slowed things down for a while. We’re both doing better now, so now I’m back to the grind, and you’ll hear a lot more from me for a while.



In my previous articles on Disability in the Media, I discussed the ways in which artistic productions focus on disability. Now, let me reveal another side of it with a couple of examples that have been covered by virtually all the news outlets, one recent and another from 1980. First, the 30-year-old case:

As a person disabled by chronic illness, I must confess what I think about the fantastic image of the “one-legged runner.” Many people are familiar with media images of Terry Fox, the young man who lost his leg to cancer before he tried running all the way across Canada. He had a two-fold purpose for his marathon-a-day journey: focus more attention on the need for cancer research and raise money for that research.

While his efforts at bringing attention and cash to the cause were successful, few people are aware that Fox had to end his journey well before he reached the halfway point, and nine months later he died of his disease. At the time, I appreciated the need to focus more attention on the need to spend more money fighting disease, cancer and any other type of illness. But like many others with various types of disabilities, I wasn’t completely thrilled by the image of the “hero” amputee that most people saw in the media.

That’s why I was delighted to read Cheri Register’s reaction to the one-legged runner in her book, Living with Chronic Illness: Days of Patience and Passion (Bantam, 1992). Ms. Register and I share a history of dealing with the ups and downs of the unpredictable nature of different kinds of chronic illness. I knew exactly how she felt about the one-legged runner, especially when she revealed that she’d heard the same reaction from others who suffer from chronic illness.

People with different types of chronic illness rarely have the capacity to run around the block, much less cross-country. We don’t have much opportunity to gain media attention and focus people’s minds on donating to research for our particular medical conditions. Thus, reports of the one-legged runner made many sick people fantasize about sneaking onto the sidelines along the course he was running and, when he passes by, sticking out a crutch to trip the “heroic symbol” that gets all the media attention.

Granted, it’s not a very charitable reaction. But it does help us sick people relieve a lot of our frustrations at being shut out of the media loop when the cameras focus on all the unbelievable heroes with different types of disability.

As if the decades-old image of the one-legged runner weren’t bad enough, now we hear about the quadruple amputee who recently swam the English Channel. The angel on my right shoulder reminds me that I must congratulate Philippe Croizon, who completed the crossing in 13 ½ hours. On the other hand, that impish fellow on my other shoulder keeps whispering bad thoughts in my left ear: “Next time he tries something like that, maybe an anchor would slow him down just a wee bit.”

Okay, I’m really trying to be a good girl here. But the reality is, on the rare occasions that I try to explain something about the reasons for my disability, many people will counter with a claim that they know someone with [whatever detail I’ve just shared], and that person is doing just fine. I bite my tongue before I dare to ask if they know everything about that person’s life, such as the many hours, days, or longer, when that person hides the bad times because they only want to come out in public for the “up” times. I’m pretty sure the answer will almost always be “no.”

Then there are the many people who ignore everything I say about limitations I face daily. Instead, they insist I push myself beyond my capacity to do things for them. In recent years, my answer to such abusive demands is always “no.” Because of this, I end up being the one that’s called “selfish.” But I believe that focusing my limited energy in an attempt to help make this a better world, while they’re trying to manipulate me into satisfying some selfish demand of theirs, demonstrates the real difference between us.

Meanwhile, people who really need help don’t have the strength to do the spectacular things those unreal disabled “heroes” use to get all that media attention focused on their conditions. There are plenty of sick people who need help too. We need to find out how to get the media to pay attention to our situations.

The time has come for everyone to rethink their attitudes toward disability. The most important thing disabled people really want is help to break out of the disability “closet” and just be useful, productive, contributing members of society. That’s all I’m trying to do with this work.

Here’s my entire series on Disability in the Media:

Time to end “blackface” practices toward disabled actors and characters

Disabled performers prove capable of filling various roles

Finding the middle ground when casting disabled characters

Disabled performers fight discrimination in the entertainment industry

Media images of disability: Reflecting negative social attitudes

Disability: The media picture vs. reality

Disability in the media: Time to change attitudes

Terry Fox (1958-1981), Canadian cancer fund-raiser,

during his 1980 “Marathon of Hope” fund-raising run across Canada.

July 12, 1980, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

courtesy Photographer Jeremy Gilbert)

Disability in the media: Time to change attitudes

Despite being a double amputee, Robert David Hall juggles a successful

acting career, including a decade-long role as Dr. Al Robbins, coroner on

“CSI: Las Vegas,” and working as a disability activist, especially

as Chair of I AM PWD.

(Picture: Copyright Christopher Veolker, Wikimedia Commons)

So far in this series, I’ve focused on the situation that already is:

• the various ways in which disability is portrayed in the media, both positive and negative;
• how a few disabled roles require more from actors than people with certain disabilities can manage;
• how disabled actors who could play disabled roles are often overlooked when casting those roles;
• and contrary to the ways in which disability is often portrayed in the media, how many disabled people are abused in real life.

Of course, people who know what life is really like for the disabled also understand the reasons we need to change many of these conditions. But some people might wonder why we should even bother trying to change the ways in which disability is portrayed in the media.

The reason is simple: In order to effect social changes, we must focus on images of disability as portrayed in popular culture. This could be the only way to change the minds of many people who judge us by images they see on the big and little screens. As I AM PWD Chairman Robert David Hall explains:

“Society’s values and priorities are expressed and reflected in film, television, theatre, news and music. If you aren’t seen and heard, you are invisible. People with disabilities are largely invisible within the arts and media landscape. I AM PWD will change that.”

Thus, the job requires a comprehensive multi-pronged approach. Besides working in communities to improve the lives of people with various disabilities, everyone--from executives to producers to performers to consumers--must take action to change the face of entertainment and news. Employers within and outside of the media must hire more people with various types of disabilities. That means not only casting people with disabilities in various media productions, but hiring more disabled people for jobs in production offices.

We consumers can take action by demanding these changes too. We must support productions that include disabled performers, especially those that present honest portrayals of the reality that people with disabilities must deal with. In addition, we must refuse to support those productions that violate these principles. Write letters, send emails, and make phone calls to let media companies know you expect to see more disabled performers in their productions and disapprove of portrayals that go against these principles.

We must do the same with all the other types of companies too. People with disabilities have always experienced the highest percentage of unemployment in the country. We must learn more about which companies hire disabled workers and buy more of their products and services whenever possible.

And since disabled people experience a higher percentage of poverty than other minorities, we must support laws and policies that provide support and services to disabled people who need them. For instance, besides supporting federal laws that ensure most Americans will receive adequate health services, no matter their medical histories, we must lobby our representatives to improve what was only a first step toward providing everyone with all necessary medical care.

There are many other things we can all do to help make life better for people with various disabilities. Every so often, I’ll share information about the different ways we can all help in this endeavor, as well as many of the organizations that are leading the way in this campaign. Meanwhile, for more information on this issue, you can watch the video below (or go to YouTube to watch the video) from Robert David Hall and I AM PWD to learn more about the problems disabled performers face in an industry that has tried to keep us as invisible as they can.

Now that I’ve discussed various aspects of the images of disability in the media, my next article will be a bit more personal. I’m going to share another side of the media images of disability. I’ll reveal a somewhat naughty (no, not that kind of “naughty”) fantasy that many of us with certain types of disabilities have about the media invention of the disabled “hero.” Check back in a couple of days for that.

Disability: The media picture vs. reality

Even in the 21st century, prevailing prejudice against people with disabilities

would probably keep someone with a visible disability, like that of

Franklin Roosevelt, from being elected president of the United States.

(Photo of President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Warm Springs, GA,

the only place where he could safely reveal his disability,

courtesy Wikimedia Commons: Images of American Political History.

Posting online by Dr. William J. Ball. All images

are believed to be in the public domain.)

So far in this series, I’ve discussed the public face of disability as presented by the entertainment industry. Now it’s time to get personal.

As I’ve intimated in previous articles in this series, I’ve dealt with various degrees of disability almost all my life, and so has my youngest sister. Over the years, our conditions have developed in different ways, to different degrees. Because we share some triggering factors but not others, we have some conditions in common and experience many symptoms separately. The way I explain it is: We have the same thing, only different.

When we compare notes on treatment we’ve received because of our conditions, we also find similarities and differences. The most important factor is that attitudes are pretty much the same. The negative ones are primarily based on ignorance and fear, the same emotions that spawn other types of prejudice. However, this type of prejudice is based on an extra element that’s harder to deal with:

Those who discriminate against others because of religion, skin color, nationality, gender, etc., don’t worry that they’ll become like the people they feel so strongly about. Their fear is based on ignorance about the others. But prejudice directed toward people because of illness and disability is based on a natural, and far too common fear that the same thing could happen to them.

Their discomfort is based on negative feelings about their own imperfection, weakness, and mortality. They know instinctively that in the blink of an eye, they could become just like us. This prejudice is actually an insidious form of self-loathing.

It’s much harder to get through such strong emotional barriers with reason and logic, especially since so many aspects of our society strengthen this fear. The worst culprit comes in the form of religious tradition. Almost all religions worldwide support the belief that there’s something inherently wrong with a person whose daily life is circumscribed by some form of disability.

That explains why, beginning in first grade in our parochial school, my sister’s medical condition made her the target of religious intolerance. One day this innocent child was ordered to hobble on her crutches to the front of the room and stand before the entire class while the nun explained that she’d been cursed with polio because she’d committed some terrible sin.

Imagine the shame my sister felt, being made an object of such cruel condemnation before her entire class when she couldn’t even understand why she’d been “chosen” to be ill in the first place. At that time, the Roman Catholic catechism taught that children aren’t responsible for their actions before the age of seven, considered the “age of reason.”

Since my sister was stricken at the age of six, the nun’s crime of psychological abuse was supported by nothing more than irrational religious intolerance. In fact, their anger toward my sister was so intense that more than one nun took out her frustrations on my little sister, even to the point of pushing her in line when she couldn’t move fast enough on crutches and braces to suit them.

By the time she was in high school, my sister was strong enough to walk without crutches or braces, but she still had issues with coordination. That’s why she was often picked on by the gym teacher, until one day when the teacher used her as an example for the entire class of how not to perform a particular exercise.

This event, along with many others, made my sister finally beg mother to help her get out of gym class. Unfortunately, the school counselor was the gym teacher’s girlfriend, so their complaints proved to be counterproductive. It finally took a doctor’s note to exempt my sister from gym class for the rest of the year. But the counselor wasn’t finished with her yet.

When the time came to help students plan their futures, the counselor thwarted my sister’s hopes for higher education by telling mother her youngest daughter “wasn’t college material.” That’s why this bright young woman gave up any dreams of more schooling and found work in the growing field of computer technology. Eventually she founded a successful company that provided computer accounting services to numerous professionals, including many doctors and lawyers in the Los Angeles area. So much for not being college material!

Like my little sister, the reality I witnessed around me was exactly the opposite of what was shown in the media. In movies and on TV, disabled people were often portrayed as having negative attitudes about their conditions, then some healthy person would come along to teach them how to either accept their conditions with grace or fight to become well again.

I realized early on that while my sister and I instinctively dealt with our conditions as intelligently as any child could, negative attitudes from many people around us often made our lives intolerable. We were often objects of antagonism and abuse because our disabilities upset so many people.

From a very young age, I was constantly chastised for having severe allergies. I was often criticized by adults for not being able to breathe through my nose because I couldn’t get it to stop running. For instance, several times my senior high school English teacher kept me after class to give me a lecture--making me late for my next class--because she was angry with me for constantly sneezing while she was trying to talk.

What I didn’t have the bad manners to tell her was that since she’d dictated the seating order, I was forced to sit in the path of every insidious allergen in the room. I’ve always been sensitive to cold, and my seat was right next to the window. As the weather turned colder, I was subjected to a steady stream of chilled air coming off the nearby glass. Below that was the heating unit, which blew warm moldy air directly at me. Topping it all off, with my desk sandwiched directly between the window-heater array and the teacher’s desk, I spent the first hour of every school day gagging on her godawful cheap perfume.

As if it weren’t enough that I was born allergic to so many things, in the mid-1950s I developed a particularly virulent case of female disease. Needless to say, I was often shamed and punished because of that. Worse, because my disease went untreated for decades because of negative attitudes of people who should have cared about me, I now suffer from a greater degree of disability than I would have if I’d received proper treatment decades ago.

For a variety of reasons, almost everyone from family to medical professionals generally denied my access to treatments that could have helped my condition. When I finally received treatments that slowed or stopped the progress of certain conditions, I was told that nothing could be done to reverse the extensive damage that now limits my capacity to fully enjoy each day.

The trouble is, in the minds of so many people, everything we disabled people do or say is always wrong. They believe that having a disability automatically makes us “bitter.” If we stand up for our rights, we’re labeled “militant.” Strangely, I’ve found that some of the strongest of these accusations often come from people who claim to be pro-civil rights. Still, they draw the line when it comes to standing up for human rights for people with disabilities.

Sadly, the abuse my sister and I have experienced is not uncommon. That’s why I hate to disappoint all the naysayers and abusers, but their anger and condemnation isn’t going to shut me up. I will continue to do everything in my power, within my physical limitations, to fight for the rights of people with disabilities everywhere. One of these days, they might find themselves in need of my help. Not to worry. I will be there for them, as much as I can be, given my limitations.

That’s why I try to avoid watching media portrayals of negative or stereotypical disabled characters. I also try to avoid those stories in which able-bodied actors are cast in the roles of disabled characters, except where a performer with that type of disability couldn’t handle the full range of the role’s demands.

In my next, and the last, article in this series, I’ll explain why the time has finally come to change these negative attitudes toward the disabled. One of the most important and effective places we can start to change those attitudes is with media images of disability.

Media images of disability: Reflecting negative social attitudes

Even severe arthritis couldn’t keep Lionel Barrymore from working

as a prolific actor, director, artist, and composer. Yet onscreen,

he was forced to portray the stereotypical gruff and “bitter” cripple.

(Picture in the Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons:

Lionel Barrymore in the movie “Camille,” 1936)

When “ER” debuted in 1994, I enjoyed watching the show, not every week but often. Shortly after the appearance of Dr. Kerry Weaver, I stopped watching, and I haven’t seen a single episode since. The fact that Laura Innes is not disabled was one factor in my decision. More importantly, by that time I’d begun to tire of the media image of the embittered cripple.

For decades, I’d watched disabled characters in the media who fell into one of the following extremes:

• the angry invalid who blamed everyone, especially God, for being cursed by their condition;
• the fighter who must overcome a disability to become “normal” again; and
• the hero who performed amazing feats, despite severe physical limitations.

Along the way, any negative expression from a disabled character was considered a sign of bitterness. As a result, certain rules of behavior were imposed on the disabled character. Thus, most plots were about bringing the disabled character to the point of mirroring the following acceptable personality traits:

• They must not complain about anything.
• They must be express happiness, no matter what.
• They must strive for a cure from their terrible condition.
• If they cannot be cured, they are often expected to die.

These policies meant that just about every story featuring a disabled person was about their having to learn the lesson not to be bitter but to accept their lot in life with “grace.” And it took the patience of Job on the part of those able-bodied characters around them to teach them that lesson.

What I rarely saw personified in the media was a well-adjusted disabled person who took their condition in stride, did what they could to be as fit as possible, and used their abilities to be contributing and productive members of society. Another reality I rarely saw portrayed in the media was the able-bodied person who abused someone because of their disability. You’d think the world was just chock full of nothing but Florence Nightingale clones ready to sacrifice everything to come to the aid of some grumpy sick person.

And of course, there was that cardinal rule that no starring role would be filled by a performer who was actually disabled. The single exception I recall is Lionel Barrymore. In spite of spending most of the last two decades of his life in a wheelchair, he remained a prolific actor. Still, too often his characters were gruff and sour. By the end of the movie, Barrymore’s character would often learn a lesson in niceness, thanks to some infinitely patient able-bodied character.

On the other hand, Barrymore’s extracurricular activities during this time defined the ideal of a well-adjusted and active disabled citizen. As the director of the 1929 movie, “Madame X,” he developed the concept of the boom microphone, giving actors freedom to move about the set without compromising the quality of the sound of their voices. In 1944, he joined ASCAP and composed numerous musical works in the classical tradition, and he was a talented artist, despite the fact that his hands were badly deformed by severe arthritis.

So much for the stereotype of the bitter cripple in the face of what must have been an extremely painful disability. Sadly, that optimistic spirit was rarely reflected in movies featuring disabled characters.

These experiences are an important part of the reason I now avoid watching portrayals of negative or stereotypical disabled characters. I also try to avoid those stories in which able-bodied actors are cast in the roles of disabled characters, except where a performer with that type of disability couldn’t handle the full range of the role’s demands.

Despite such growing enlightenment and the activism of people like Robert David Hall, Chair of Inclusion in the Arts and Media of People with Disabilities (I AM PWD), the able-bodied star of one of the most popular TV shows today assumed a disability in order to explain his character’s bad temper. When Hugh Laurie began playing Gregory House, I read an article stating that he developed the back story of a severe leg injury in order to “explain” his character’s grumpy nature.

Even if that decision was made by someone else on the production staff, there’s no excuse for it in this day and age. Everything about the role of Gregory House is a slap in the face of disabled actors and citizens everywhere. That’s why I do not watch “House M.D.” And given what I’ve seen of trailers advertising the show, I know I’m not missing a thing.

Moreover, I've recently read that the physical demands of walking with a phony limp have caused Laurie to develop serious hip problems. Hmm. Could this be some sort of "cosmic justice"? The better side of my nature hopes not, but I find it awfully difficult to feel too sorry for the man. All it would have taken to avoid that problem would have been a bit of research into the problems people with certain disabilities have walking with deformed legs, hips and backs. If he'd been smart, he'd have turned down that role.

In my next article in this series, I’ll share a slice of reality, what life is really like for some real-life disabled citizens whom I know intimately. Stay tuned.