Many independent living resource centers (ILRCs) in Kansas will be holding press conferences this coming Thursday (25 February) to coincide with a state budget hearing which may cut another $1 million from ILRC services. One of our local TV stations didn't read the date on the press release sent out last week and showed up at my ILRC yesterday. Since I'm one of the 1800 people in my state waiting for services and because my IL counselor knows I'll talk to anybody about improving life for people with disabilities, she called me to ask if I'd talk to the reporter. Mom and I quickly drove to town for the interview. Sorry my hair is a fright -- my little hoodlet is great for keeping my ears warm and mussing up my hair. Isn't Reba exceptionally photogenic?
You can see the video as it aired last night here. Unfortunately, they did not put closed captioning on this.
I'm still going to the press conference Thursday. I'm supposed to prepare a statement, but we'll see if I get called on to read it.
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3 comments:
Cool - I hope you are called on and I hope people listen, it is courage to be in front of others and try to explain the private aspect of disability, and the needs we have. But it can make so much difference - thanks.
Beth -- I've been living in New Orleans for a while now, and I'm amazed at how PWDs don't really stand up for themselves. They did a story a few months ago about a woman who has to drive her power wheelchair in the busy streets for 4-5 miles to get to work because the sidewalks are in horrid shape and the buses' lifts break down all the time. Did she raise a fuss? Did she yell this is unacceptable and dangerous? Did she demand someone be held accountable and made to remedy the situation? No, no, and no. She just smiled and said, "It's no big deal."
*headdesk*
I am not like that. No attendant care is a big deal, and I'm going to keep raising hell about it until it's fixed or I'm dead. How can I expect anyone to stand up for me if I won't stand up for myself?
Too many people don't want to make a fuss, don't want to be in the spotlight, don't want to stand out. WIth her powered chair in the street, she already stands out; maybe she just doesn't want to complain...
Dawn, the only thing I can reply with is Ian Robb's song "They're taking It Away." See cfmb.icaap.org/content/29.4/BV29-4art9.pdf for the words and sheet music.
I think about you and Beth frequently as I walk to work in winter (1-metre-high windrows of snow left ON the sidewalks and ramps by snowploughs), and summer (roads crowned higher than the sidewalk, cracked walks, ramps on THREE corners of an intersection!).
I have wheeled around my workplace in a wheelchair just to see if it was possible to use the building in a chair (it is, but the "accessible" washrooms are badly designed); the experience made me wonder if it would be possible to live without a car if I had to use a wheelchair all the time. My city isn't designed for pedestrians.
I also hope that you are asked to speak tomorrow, and that there's someone there listening. BE the squeaky wheel!
Love and zen hugs,
Neil
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