Today’s the day! The International Day of Persons With Disability, proclaimed in 1992 by the UN General Assembly Resolution 47/3 is here again. For many, it’s a time of reflection – what did we accomplish this past year that allowed those who live with challenges to daily living to be more included, to feel more included?
This year’s theme is ‘Removing Visible and Invisible Barriers’.
“Rita Ebel, nicknamed ‘Lego grandma’, builds wheelchair ramps from donated Lego bricks in the living room of her flat in Hanau, Germany. The ramps contain several hundred of the small plastic bricks stuck together with up to eight tubes of glue.”
A wheelchair user for 25 years after an auto accident, Ms. Ebel saw a need and decided to do something about it. That’s often how a life-altering ‘fix’ to independent living gets started. She painstakingly pieces together community access, one Lego ramp at a time.
For folks like me, living with disability is a cradle to grave existence, a life that has to be planned around wobbly mobility in order to stay safe and well. As I age with cerebral palsy, I have noticed changes over the decades with regard to mobility; as well, proficiency was impacted by a transient ischemic attack last year. Biweekly physiotherapy provided by New Brunswick’s Extra Mural Program significantly enhances the quality of my life so I may continue to live independently in my own home, in surroundings that meet my needs. Everything as I need it ensures safety while aging in place. Providers of services like those available through the EMP are a huge boost to independent living to the since birth disabled and those new to how changes in health and wellness can impact how they conduct the daily business of living their lives. Every day, many of us have to tweak how we do things as our health and stamina changes.
In my 68 years of living with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, I have faced many obstacles, mostly with regard to architectural accessibility being the big sticking point in my world. My home underwent many renovations to accommodate my situation, some of them were undertaken in advance of the implications aging would pose on my lifestyle. Grab bars in the bathroom; grab bars along a wall going down to the den where there is an open space on one side, with a railing on the other add an extra layer of protection. Just in case.
If you have an older neighbour who might need some guidance, perhaps you could do a walk-through and make a list of what may be needed to ensure safe independent living going forward. Being able to stay home, even if alone, is much less costly on health care dollars than admissions due to falls with subsequent expense of care at home.
International Day of Persons With Disability shines a light on what the community can do to enhance inclusion and safe participation. Anything that is done at the local level saves money in the long term. An emotionally and intellectually engaged person is a healthier person and less of a drain on health care dollars. Finding their place and finding their way requires power of the people. Maybe you’re such a person who would find common ground with someone who moves differently, talks differently, thinks differently, but enjoys company while eating, watching a movie, or going for a walk or a wheel to the park for some people watching. Companionship fills a huge void in the lives of many among us. Including you!
Attitudinal barriers were problematic during my secondary education as well as during my early work life until we, the disabled community, became more visible in the 70s and 80s, with 1981, being the International Year of Disabled Persons. It was also the year that Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married and they acknowledged the accomplishments of persons with challenges to daily living with a request that donations be made to local charities instead of gifting to them.
Arthritis and other musculoskeletal problems, like cerebral palsy are the most common causes of long-term disability, making up as much as a third of all disability cases. Arthritis is probably the biggest single cause. Three of my siblings lived with the disability of arthritis and its concurrent complications. I live with osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine, often found in persons with cerebral palsy who do manage to learn how to walk. Life is a daily balancing act where I must gauge what I can do that’s necessary to maintain a healthy home and a healthy self and what I can no longer do. I try not to ask for help often but sometimes, it’s a necessary part of my world.
Discussing disability and other differences amongst us can be difficult, but it is in the differences that the foundation to empathy is found, adding support social-emotional learning, even in young children.
When I’m out and about, my interactions with both young and old are such that they lend themselves to bringing to the attention of the person with whom I am conversing a greater awareness of what living in my world is like. They leave our brief time together armed perhaps with a different perspective, with a greater appreciation of how they could be helpful to someone in their community, on the street where they live. A hand reaching out.
Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, a boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell
No comments:
Post a Comment