Tag: equal access

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Privileges For Me but Not for Thee

vicky

There has been much confusion over the past week over what the rules are for people living in long-term care facilities.  This has made it very hard for residents to plan for the holiday season.   But today (Dec 22nd ) at 6:00am, we were told that we are not allowed to leave the building except for medical appointments. And if any of us disregard this rule, we need to get a negative PCR test before we can return.

Now for people who have a home to go to where they can wait up to 72 hours for those test results, that is no problem   But for the many people like myself who do not, we would be homeless for 2-3 days.

It is infuriating.  People who live outside of long-term care facilities or other Institutions – including the staff – are able to go about their days and even attend parties of up to 10 people.   It is blatant paternalism and infantilism towards people with disabilities who live in long-term care.  We are autonomous human beings and these decisions should be left to us. 

This idea of privileges for me and not for thee is misguided paternalism. And it must end.

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I can’t believe I have to write this… But here we are

vicky

Hello humans. I’m afraid I have a little bit of lecture/PSA for you today. The people who read this blog probably do not need it but my hope is that by putting it down on paper so to speak it will be shared to people who actually do need to hear this message.

Often when I am out, people say things to me that they think are compliments but are really not. Some examples are: “It’s so good to see ya out” “you’re such an inspiration“, “I’m proud of you.“ Or my favourite and I mean that with the most heavy layer of sarcasm I can muster “I don’t know how you do it, if I was in a wheelchair I’d kill myself.“ Yes these are things people have said to my face not just anonymously over the Internet, these are people I do not know. In what universe is it OK to come up to a complete stranger and tell them that if you were them you would kill yourself? The weird thing is they think it’s a compliment! It’s not a compliment, it is actually extremely harmful. I have dealt with suicidal ideations in the past and hearing things like this does not help! What I hear when I say this is; what, I am so tragic and bad that I shouldn’t even want to be alive? It’s not being in my wheelchair that makes things hard, it’s the fact that I live in a world that refuses to accommodate me based on something that I cannot do anything about. What’s hard is having well intentioned people say horrible things that make me want to scream and yell but I can’t because I have to be an educator. Next time you want to say something like that to somebody just don’t do it. It’s extremely horrible and makes us want to punch you in the face. Sidenote: I would never actually punch someone in the face.

Another misconception I seem to get is that I am constantly reliant on my parents for everything and that I don’t have any friends outside of the ones connected to my family. Yesterday, when I told the CCA I was going to a play with someone she asked if my parents were picking me up, I said no I was taking the bus. She looked at me like I had six heads when I told her I was going to go on the bus by myself. She then asked if my friend was a family friend. At this point I got really frustrated and said rather harshly, no I have friends and I am a grown ass woman who is 30 freaking years old I don’t need to run to my daddy for everything! Let me reiterate that I am 30 years old and that makes me a bloody adult! Would you ask a non-disabled individual these types of questions if they are 30? No, probably not so don’t do it to me please.

I don’t have much more to say on that in particular but here is a list of other things you should not do if you were interacting with someone in a wheelchair:

Don’t lean on the chair without permission. That’sI can’t believe I can’t believe like leaning on someone’s shoulder who you don’t know. It’s creepy and weird.

Do you not assume somebody needs help and then do stuff for them . You can ask if someone needs help that’s actually really nice but if they say no leave them alone! Also if they do you need help, ask how you can help them instead of just assuming you know the best way to do so.

If you want someone in a wheelchair to move ask them, do not simply move them out-of-the-way by grabbing their joystick or pushing their handlebars. People have done this to me several times throughout my life. It is degrading and rude. It would be the equivalent of you pulling a stranger by the arm to get them to move. That is obviously not acceptable.

If you want to ask somebody with a disability a question, ask them not their able-bodied companions. I can speak for myself thank you.

I could go on forever but I have stuff to do this afternoon so I’ll just offer this last one. Do not freaking pet me! Do you know how many people freaking touch me on the head like a dog? It’s a freaking lot and I hate it if you do it to me you will be told off because I am not a freaking dog!

So in summary, disabled people are people! Treat them the same way you would any other human and if you think something about them that you wouldn’t say to an able bodied/neurotypical person keep your damn mouth shut! Thanks, talk soon, love you!

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Thank you So Much! I Literally Owe You My Life.

vicky

Hello humans! Here’s the deal. I have a lot of feelings about this whole moving thing and I don’t see my therapist until the 13th so I’m writing this all down and you’re coming with me.

 

 On the one hand I feel fucking ecstatic because I and many other people have been fighting for this for a very long time in some cases decades. On the other hand I am getting a swanky condo on the south end paid for by taxpayers while there is a housing crisis.

I was not expecting anything as nice as what I’ll be getting honestly. I expected a basic bachelor apartment with slightly bigger rooms to accommodate my wheelchair and my other mobility equipment. What I’m getting looks like something Carrie Bradshaw would live in. Which don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy about it but I feel like I don’t deserve it when there are other people who work very hard full-time jobs and can’t afford the basics they need to live. I know I worked really hard for this but it almost seems like overkill. How do I justify this when people are literally starving on the street!? The only way I can think to do that is by using the tools I’ve been given to fight for the right for other people to have the same opportunities. I promise with everything I have that I will fight every day to make sure that I am worthy of these opportunities made possible by the taxpayers of Nova Scotia. You’re paying my bills so it is my job to make sure you don’t fall through the cracks either.

A few weeks ago a woman reached out to me on Facebook to tell me about a problem she was having. She then apologized because she felt that since it wasn’t a housing issue it wasn’t my problem. Let me make something very clear, if you are a person disabled or not and you are suffering, that is my problem and I will do everything in my power to make it right or to reach out to people who can make it right if I cannot. I don’t care what time it is, whether it’s the weekend or a holiday. If you need help and you think I can provide it, message me. I may not get back to you right away but trust me I will take care of it to the best of my ability. The taxpayers of this province have given me a gift. The least I can do is help you in return.

Anyway, that’s all I had to say, have a nice day!

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Well Shit

vicky

Well, this is a pickle for me. On the one hand I am very glad that Iain Rankin will no longer be representing the entire province on the national stage as I think he has a lot to learn about communicating with his constituents, I didn’t expect Nova Scotia to vote against its own interests! If the pandemic has shown us anything it is that Nova Scotians need more public support not fewer. Conservative governments are known to cut social programs and other things that support everyday citizens in living their lives with dignity and autonomy. One of the main problems I think is that some people, particularly on the conservative side, think you should just “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps”. However, how are you supposed to do that when you can’t even afford boots!? The only way to get people out of poverty is to give them enough money to start with. If we’re not going to increase the minimum wage to an affordable living wage (it still shocks me that this is not the same thing). Then we must be willing to step in and provide the necessary tools for survival! Universal basic income would be the easiest way to do this. I’ve heard people say that if we introduce universal basic income that nobody will want to work. Let me explain something to you about universal basic income. They are not giving you money to live in a penthouse apartment eating steak every night. This would be just enough money to survive. For some people this would be enough and yes they would not work but most people want to have things that are not necessities like cable and a cell phone or higher priced clothing or a million other things that provide joy in our daily lives . Therefore they would have to work to get those things because they can’t survive without them. Furthermore I don’t know about you but if I didn’t have a job to go to or do I wouldn’t have a purpose and I would be very bored. I feel like many other people would feel the same. This way people will be able to get jobs they at least somewhat enjoy and won’t have to take work that makes them miserable in order to survive. This would also force business owners to increase the wages to attract workers.

One thing people are concerned about is automation because it would take away jobs apparently. To me this is the same argument as “if everybody has a car, that will put the horse and buggy drivers out of business!” Technology and society changes and we have to be willing to adapt. The world didn’t collapse when different transportation services were invented or when different forms of communication were invented. Change is good, please don’t fear it. 

Are we in for a rough couple years? Absolutely, but I believe on the other side there will be a better, more equal society where people don’t have to fight to stay alive. That sounds pretty good to me, what about you ?

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No Justice Less peace

vicky

Hi y’all,

I don’t know about you but I am just about sick of all this crap. First it was Covid and then a mass shooting and then in an effort to raise morale the snowbirds came to entertain us and one of their pilots lost her life. You would think that would be enough but nope, then the entire world watched yet again as an innocent black man who was unarmed was brutally murdered in front of our own eyes in a way that even other cops could not justify. 2020 has certainly fucked us over. I know it can be difficult to stay calm in this environment that’s why I don’t think we should! I am not advocating for violence, it never solves anything, but we certainly could afford to be a lot more vocal than we have been. It obviously isn’t enough to just to say well that’s not right and then move on with your lives. That has not worked. People need to wake up and realize that the politicians work for us and it’s time to take our power back! Our leaders need to stand up and condemn the actions of a certain orange being, I hesitate to call him human because he certainly doesn’t act like it. How many more people have to die before we do something beyond talk ? Agin, not a violent thing, but civil disobedience is certainly called for . Yes walk the streets with protest signs. Make people uncomfortable or inconvenience them by blocking off sidewalks and crosswalks and roadways. Play them videos that show how bad things have gotten and if they try to look away don’t let them. Looking away is not gonna help things. If we continue to look away or say that’s just the states problem we are just fooling ourselves. In Halifax people in black and brown bodies are hesitant to even contact the police because what if something bad happens? Yes not all cops are bad, but you can’t exactly tell which ones are bad until they do a bad thing and then it’s too late. I understand the hesitancy. If there was even a minuscule chance that somebody would murder me if I asked for help simply because of the body I live in I wouldn’t ask for help either. Right now my first thought when I see a police officer is not, a good here’s help! It’s have you killed anybody recently or harassed them simply because of how they look?

We do not have equality in this country, just ask somebody who is indigenous, I mean some of those reservations don’t even have clean water! That should not happen here. The fact that it does makes me sick. First settlers came in and murdered a bunch of people and took all their stuff. Then we abducted their children and tried to “civilize them“ ,which in this case means trying to eradicate their entire culture, now some of them don’t even have safe water. Step up people! I know that those of us who are currently around did not participate in eradicating indigenous populations but we’re here now so should we shouldn’t we some of them don’t even have save water. Step up people! I know that those of us who are currently around did not participate in eradicating indigenous populations but we’re here now so shouldn’t we at least attempt to make things better? I don’t think wanting clean water is asking for too much.

I want a world based on equal opportunity and equal rights. It’s not hard. Just do it already!