Aug 2009
Involvement is dead
26/August/2009 03:10 PM Filed in: Social Care
I use the Independent Living Fund. Today I received a
letter dated only as August 2009.
It was telling me about ‘The Right to Control’ consultation about the future of social care.
As a trainer and consultant - it’s something I am already supporting other local authorities with - as a services user I may not have heard about it.
They have sent me a booklet with some answer boxes for SELECTED questions from the consultation which they believe are the most important to me.
I feel angry that someone else has decided which elements I might consider important in terms of the consultation.
I am frustrated that I am being signposted to the internet to read up about it before I make some comments because whilst I have internet access - many ILF users probably don’t.
I am angry that on August the 26th I am being told about consultation dates which began on August 25th.
Am an annoyed that my local consultation event is being held in 1 weeks time in London. For people with severe impairments, travelling to London of all places and with so little notice makes this pretty impossible.
I am annoyed because the ILF came to my house the other day and took the time to write down on my notes that I prefer to communicate via e-mail and that this is the most appropriate and accessible format for me. However, my consultation letter was sent in the mail as was the booklet which is no use.
The letter does not say that the pros and cons of this government change could be far reaching and are not explored on the web-site it signposts to. There is no signposting for people to find out more from organisation run by disabled people, only government documents which don’t tell the full story. How can consultation be anything more than tokenistic when there is so little information of opportunity to find out the facts of the proposals.
What happened to involvement?
It was telling me about ‘The Right to Control’ consultation about the future of social care.
As a trainer and consultant - it’s something I am already supporting other local authorities with - as a services user I may not have heard about it.
They have sent me a booklet with some answer boxes for SELECTED questions from the consultation which they believe are the most important to me.
Angry
I feel angry that someone else has decided which elements I might consider important in terms of the consultation.
I am frustrated that I am being signposted to the internet to read up about it before I make some comments because whilst I have internet access - many ILF users probably don’t.
I am angry that on August the 26th I am being told about consultation dates which began on August 25th.
Am an annoyed that my local consultation event is being held in 1 weeks time in London. For people with severe impairments, travelling to London of all places and with so little notice makes this pretty impossible.
I am annoyed because the ILF came to my house the other day and took the time to write down on my notes that I prefer to communicate via e-mail and that this is the most appropriate and accessible format for me. However, my consultation letter was sent in the mail as was the booklet which is no use.
The letter does not say that the pros and cons of this government change could be far reaching and are not explored on the web-site it signposts to. There is no signposting for people to find out more from organisation run by disabled people, only government documents which don’t tell the full story. How can consultation be anything more than tokenistic when there is so little information of opportunity to find out the facts of the proposals.
What happened to involvement?
Oppression through faith
22/August/2009 12:35 PM Filed in: Other
What do you do when the laws of a religion that
describe how a person of that faith should act are
oppressive and go against an individuals’s personal
feelings or actually cause severe mental distress or
a denial of human rights?
I see many examples in relation to my own faith, Roman Catholic, on one of the most widely used and promoted web forum ‘Catholic Answers’. What I read always shocks me for a faith that should be so loving and none judgemental yet can manifest as a cruel torment for disabled people.
Here is one example. A young woman who has Tourette’s Syndrome asks people on the forum for some guidance. She finds managing stress difficult, experiences sleep deprivation and describes herself as having a mental illness. She says she lashes out at times when she is tired and that she has concerns for a potential baby’s safety.
She wants to get married and asks whether she should have children or not and what to do if she makes the choice of using contraception (to the extent of surgery). She knows she would give all she has to be a loving mother.
The question she poses: is mental illness a good enough reason for a Catholic to remain child free.
The Catholic church is unmoving from it’s stance. Under no circumstances should a woman contracept. If a woman does not want children she must not marry. There are no exceptions. A minority of the faithful (although not in the view of the Church) disagree with this ruling.
Here is the shocking part. This woman is reaching out with a huge dilema and she is not alone - many disabled people pose similar questions on this forum. Here were some of the most shocking suggestions for her:
Option 1: Find a husband to be a full time carer to protect the child and help you be a mother - or don’t marry.
Where is her right to have a husband who remains just that and not a carer? Her right to social care and family life?
Option 2: Is this a calling to religious life. The only person to help with your struggle is your husband or God.
The Catholic view that people in this situation must by default be called to religious life is one which denies people opportunity to realise their true vocation. To provide the advice that you are alone with only God and your future husband to help you work through things is a denial of the many support systems that could be doing some really empowering work. This person needs to be around people who will take into account her social needs, her human rights, her emotional and spiritual needs. Advice which keeps people in isolation from the support of others is surely abusive?
Option 4: “I just briefly read what wiki saids about Tourettes, and I think your suitable to have children.”
and finally - since when did Wikipedia become the oracle for consultation on whether disabled people will make suitable parents or not!
There were eventually some more ‘rounded’ views and I hope this young woman found all the support she needs because she wasn’t getting it from her Catholic community.
I see many examples in relation to my own faith, Roman Catholic, on one of the most widely used and promoted web forum ‘Catholic Answers’. What I read always shocks me for a faith that should be so loving and none judgemental yet can manifest as a cruel torment for disabled people.
Here is one example. A young woman who has Tourette’s Syndrome asks people on the forum for some guidance. She finds managing stress difficult, experiences sleep deprivation and describes herself as having a mental illness. She says she lashes out at times when she is tired and that she has concerns for a potential baby’s safety.
She wants to get married and asks whether she should have children or not and what to do if she makes the choice of using contraception (to the extent of surgery). She knows she would give all she has to be a loving mother.
The question she poses: is mental illness a good enough reason for a Catholic to remain child free.
The Catholic church is unmoving from it’s stance. Under no circumstances should a woman contracept. If a woman does not want children she must not marry. There are no exceptions. A minority of the faithful (although not in the view of the Church) disagree with this ruling.
Here is the shocking part. This woman is reaching out with a huge dilema and she is not alone - many disabled people pose similar questions on this forum. Here were some of the most shocking suggestions for her:
Option 1: Find a husband to be a full time carer to protect the child and help you be a mother - or don’t marry.
Where is her right to have a husband who remains just that and not a carer? Her right to social care and family life?
Option 2: Is this a calling to religious life. The only person to help with your struggle is your husband or God.
The Catholic view that people in this situation must by default be called to religious life is one which denies people opportunity to realise their true vocation. To provide the advice that you are alone with only God and your future husband to help you work through things is a denial of the many support systems that could be doing some really empowering work. This person needs to be around people who will take into account her social needs, her human rights, her emotional and spiritual needs. Advice which keeps people in isolation from the support of others is surely abusive?
Option 4: “I just briefly read what wiki saids about Tourettes, and I think your suitable to have children.”
and finally - since when did Wikipedia become the oracle for consultation on whether disabled people will make suitable parents or not!
There were eventually some more ‘rounded’ views and I hope this young woman found all the support she needs because she wasn’t getting it from her Catholic community.
A forgotten people
18/August/2009 01:43 PM Filed in: Other
You may have seen this e-mail going around...
Too many people fail to
mention the 250,000 + disabled people who were
tortured and murdered. Many more were subject to
forced sterilisation. Last week Liz Crow took
her place on the plinth in Trafalgar Square to
highlight the relevance of those events for
people today. You can see Liz by following this
link.
http://www.oneandother.co.uk/participants/Liz_C
Never forget.
It is now
more than 60 years after the Second World War
in
Europe ended
This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain,
in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million
Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900
Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred,
raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the
German and Russian Peoples looking the other
way! Now, more than ever, with Iraq , Iran ,
and others, claiming the Holocaust
to be
'a my th,' it's imperative to make sure the
world never forgets, because there are others
who would like to do it again. This e-mail is
intended to reach 40 million people worldwide! Join
us and be a link in the memorial chain and help
us distribute it around the world.
http://www.oneandother.co.uk/participants/Liz_C
Never forget.
Equality praise for casual gaming company
My Zoo is a casual game from Eyrewood Studios for the Facebook platform. With 659,924 monthly users and a portion of profits donated to wildlife charities it’s something that is appealing to all age groups across the globe.
The game is based around creating a zoo through buying land, staff, enclosures and of course the animals themselves. Players can choose to breed endangered animals and make improvements to their zoo to keep visitors coming back and increasing profits.
A little while ago I approached Scott Carney from Eyrewood Studios and asked if some disability equality features could be added to improve the ‘visitor’ experience. After some suggestions around the types of features and language, I was delighted to see that equality has become part of the game experience and players now have to build in disability features to progress in the game.
As a way of making equality mainstream, building equality into gaming is a fantastic way to engage with people. I have approached other companies on similar issues but they have so far declined to include disability equality features into their games.
So far, features include:
• Disabled facilities to increase guest satisfaction
(Text reads “Accessible restrooms, surface improvements, easy-to-read signs and wheelchair/scooter ramps yield more visitors and higher satisfaction.")
• Employee Training (which requires the disabled facilities upgrade)
(Text reads “Customer service and equality training improves interactions between employees and with visitors.)
Future plans include stroller and wheelchair rentals and a zoo train to improve getting around the zoo.
Scott said, “I'm really glad that you contacted me and brought this important aspect of building a public facility to my attention. It wouldn't have occurred to me on my own and I think it's a great addition to our simulation. Because of the limited scope of facebook applications, I wasn't able to incorporate all of your suggestions, but I was happy to add as many as I could. Feedback was very positive when the items showed up.”
