Aging with disability is a co-operative effort

For some, aging as I am with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy or any such brain injury is not easy, with lots of men and women experiencing daily pain in arms and legs that just don’t work the way they used to, to the constant throbbing pain in the spine, to a chest pressure that sometimes mimics a heart attack. Though constant, the discomfort may be dull, requiring no pain management interventions, or for some the pain may be so severe that they require morphine and other such narcotics. I do quite well on a daily basis except when it rains as my body does not tolerate humidity well at all — thankfully, I very rarely have to medicate/sedate. I do take a non-prescription diuretic ‘as required’ because I don’t want to get locked into taking something longer than I really have to or need to. 

Those of a ‘certain age’ appreciate the need to get up and move if they are able. Findings from a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that sitting for excessively long periods of time is a risk factor for early death. What’s not explored is the implications for those who cannot walk or ‘move about’ as the ‘typically aging’ person is able to do. 

The differently able have a whole host of concerns that need to be addressed as part of their daily living plan so clinicians involved with developing specific regimens need to be aware of the extent of limitations and what tasks/exercises that would improve health and wellness might be incorporated into a daily routine. If possible and practical, that routine needs to be maintained as well during periods of hospitalisation.

Should I ever require hospitalization for illness or injury, I would expect that nursing staff to fully accommodate those needs specific to my birth and ongoing mobility disorder; they must afford the same consideration to all patients under their care who have special needs outside of those that brought them into the hospital in the first place. To not accomodate unique needs is not doing their jobs and if some nursing staff caught in the trap of a cavalier attitude gave thought to that reality of how how their behaviour impacts patient care, they’d make changes or be compelled to make them.

Nurses have a duty to ensure a patient’s comfort and safety. Is their nursing career a calling or is it ‘just’ a paycheck? I don’t think I’m off the mark when I say that some nurses are not always doing their jobs in a manner that speaks to genuine care of patient; they’re trapped in a complacency that can and often sadly does put patients at risk. Years ago, during a hospital stay, I was put at risk when a nurse actually grabbed me to ‘assist’ me. Her action could have caused irreparable damage. That is my reality. It’s the reality of many with long-term chronic disabilities who are hospitalised and the full impact of what they have lost over time must never be dismissed by givers of care who are treating them for conditions that directly impact their disability. 

Administrators need to be cognizant of the fact that some nurses are failing their patients and corrective measures must be taken to address those concerns in a timely fashion. When a patient says no, the patient means no. Do no harm is paramount.

In my opinion, having been put through my paces from Monday to Sunday during my formative years and knowing from where I speak, I believe that seniors in care facilities who no longer walk, or no longer walk as much as they used to may actually like to engage in a light exercise regimen. In fact, a few exercises done before bed will actually contribute to a better rest — that ‘good tired’ achieved from physical activity. Too often, sleep is induced with medications; certainly, they have their place, but what if they could be replaced with a few exercises to work the arms and legs, the spine and the core? A medicated/drugged sleep is not a restorative rest and doesn’t contribute to a stress/pain free day. Movement of limbs actually reduces pain, if done slowly and gently. Think about how you’d feel if not able to get up and about, or not be able to reach for this or that on a table beside your bed - a table that may be ‘just out of reach’. Because it doesn’t take a long time before a group of muscles weaken, it reasons that better toned limbs would contribute to more efficient self-care in the clinical setting.

Patient health and wellness must be a co-operative team approach and staff must co-operate with patients who have often lived for decades with conditions that require they be handled with a different kind of care than the mainstream patient without disability.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, New Brunswick with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca via email.

Focusing in on that blurred line between parenting and teaching

It’s that time of year, everyone. Classes are in full swing and parents breathe a sigh of relief as they get their  children, youngsters, middlsters and oldsters in high school, convinced they know it all, off to their respective hallowed halls of learning. 

Teachers can’t nor should they be expected to do it alone. Parents PARENT and parents TEACH. Parenting IS teaching, from the first moments of birth; the parents, with mother first, teach the child. The roles of parent and teacher requires a commitment to ‘quality’ and ‘control’, and parents will teach long after their child has left formal schooling. Teach by example.

Teachers enter the fray when the child is delivered to his first formal setting of learning within 4 walls and the requisite ‘time to sit down, sit still and pay attention’ thing is in force. Some children may object and will be in for a bit of a shock if they were not prepared at home beforehand.  Lots of parents prepare their children from the very first day they’re brought home from hospital; structure is essential. Formal school is going to a journey with lots of twists and turns for child and parent(s).

I recall reading two online newspaper articles written several years ago about two incidents in the US where Grade One teachers failed their entire class. They both got a lot of flak from parents and the community at large. Both, in the respective cases, were of the opinion that the children had no business being in Grade One at all; they were not remotely ready for the challenges of sitting down, sitting still, attending to task, even in short bursts. The children were ‘all over the place’ because that’s what they did at home. One teacher, with decades of teaching experience, was terminated. A sad commentary on where priorities often are when it comes to early education and education in general.

When my stepson was young, he struggled in school; at a parent-teacher conference when he was in Grade One, I expressed the sentiment that he should not be promoted to Grade Two as he was not emotionally ready — in fact, he wasn’t emotionally ready to be in Grade One in the first place. His teachers disagreed. His father could see my position but felt teachers and administrators knew best, so, my stepson went on to Grade Two and failed. It was downhill from there, with several social promotions peppered with suspensions and at the end, expulsion from school. Today, he’s an adult who still lacks direction and purpose.

“In loco parentis” was the order of the day for children in lower school, where teaching was child centred, with teachers carrying on what the child was taught at home. Wait a minute! What if the child wasn’t really taught? What if the parenting style was such that once children reached the walking and talking stage, they were given free rein with little or no constraints in place. They had the ‘run of the house’. Some may have two working parents and spend from 8a.m. to 5p.m. in a daycare center. Some parents may be able to afford a nanny or housekeeper so their child is able to stay at home, safe and warm, while Mom and Dad work. In how many of those homes is television the real babysitter? Is there structured learning in place on a daily basis, as precursors to the ‘sit down and be still’ that will come with kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and so on?

Recently, a Facebook contact reported in a posting that her grandaughter forgot her lunch bag on the kitchen table. Grandma wasted no time in getting it to her, saying she didn’t want her to go hungry; she needed food to be able to learn.  Was Grandma delivering the lunch enabling the child, who was ‘old enough’ to know better? The youngster was not going to fade away into oblivion if she missed a lunch meal. The missed lunch could have become a teaching moment; instead it had potential to set the stage for more enabling. Will grandmother and child own their behaviour?

What a child learns at home, he carries with him into the classroom.  Johnny leaves an expensive pair of sneakers at school, finding out the next day that they’ve been stolen. Parents buy a new pair. Sasha leaves a bookbag with a electronic tablet on a chair in the dining hall and it goes missing. Oops! Will the parents replace the bookbag and the contents without question or will they have a conversation with the child and negotiate a repayment scheme? After all, it’s the child who needs the tablet and the books, papers and pens, right? 

Always remember and never forget — teaching and learning is a two-way street. Don’t worry, Mom and Dad. Your brains nor your wallets don’t have to explode. You will survive.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, New Brunswick with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca via email.

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

I’m no longer sick and tired of being sick and tired. 

Recently, after I was relieved of a few vials of blood, needed to run a battery of tests, a follow-up with my doctor revealed I have hypothyroidism. As well, an appointment is set for 11 July with a cardiac internist to investigate concerns regarding function, given I also live with aortic insufficiency and have been experiencing  concerning symptoms.

According to Dr. Zoltan P. Rona, it is estimated that over 200 million people globally (about 35 million people in North America) suffer from at least one of the many forms of thyroid disease. In fact, thyroid problems are increasing so much in frequency that scientists are calling it an epidemic.The incidence of thyroid illness occurs about seven times more frequently in women than men, and it is thought that at least 50% of the cases are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

Symptoms of hypothyroidism, several of which I do not have, include: fatigue; increased sensitivity to cold; dry skin, muscle weakness, elevated blood cholesterol level; muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness; pain, stiffness, swelling in joints; thinning hair; slowed heart rate; depression; impaired memory  — these are but a few. Be assured, it’s not all in your head, so don’t settle for a prescription for anti-depressants or sleeping pills. Proper/full testing is critical.

The gold standard to determine thyroid problems is a blood test to measure how much thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) the pituitary gland excretes into the bloodstream. Most doctors typically don’t run a full thyroid blood panel nor do they investigate fully the patient history, symptoms, family history and thorough physical exam. I’ve often wondered why. Make sure to ask for Free T3 and Free T4, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies to be checked. It is your right to ask for any and all tests that provide complete answers.

Several years ago, under the care of my now retired physician, I had appropriate and complete bloodwork done as I asked for it; nothing remarkable. I attributed my fatigue to aging with cerebral palsy and the long-standing quirk with my heart.

When contacted by my current doctor and asked to come in for bloodwork, I decided that since I’ve been officially an ‘old gal with attitude’ for a few years now, I should just get over myself and do it. Unless there’s a gaping wound with bleeding, or a dislocation, I stay well away from doctors’ offices and hospitals. I feel for those who know that something is wrong and their doctor essentially dismisses them. Yes, they do. Thankfully, my doctor lined up all the ducks and ordered all the right tests and the truth of my recent health status was revealed.

The thyroid is said to be the most vulnerable component of the endocrine system, and when its function is put at risk all manner of things can go wrong in quick succession. As example, maternal hypothyroidism is implicated in causing conditions like cerebral palsy, Asperger’s Syndrome, Autusim, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Bipolar disorder among other conditions. In my genetic profile, all of those conditions exist amongst family members. As well, untreated maternal hypothyroidism causes miscarriages. In my own recollection, my mother had a few, so it’s possible that in carrying me, she also carried the disease along with us. Speculative, certainly, but points to ponder nonetheless. To my recollection, I was never tested for thyroid disorder as a child. Today, infants presenting with conditions like cerebral palsy are routinely tested and if the thyroid is found to be deficient in function, then interventions are introduced. Sometimes, a lot of the symptoms associated with a condition like cerebral palsy can be minimized or reversed in those early days and weeks of life. That is not to say that the condition will no longer exist but that impact of such a brain insult will potentially be considerably lessened if the culprit of a thyroid disorder is treated early.

Currently, I’m taking 0.05mg of Synthyroid daily - late night/middle of the night when the old dog wakes me up. I opted not to take it in the morning as it’s best not taken with food or coffee. 

Even with Synthroid treatment, some patients may still be symptomatic, finding relief with the addition of another thyroid hormone known as T3, which is available through the drug Cytomel, or from medicine made from desiccated pork thyroid gland, which naturally contains both T4 and T3.

After routine blood tests, it has been determined  that and the current dosage of Synthroid is working. So far, I can say I FEEL GOOD. I promise not to sing.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca 

Helping those in need will make a difference in your life

In response to my recent article on homelessness, I received a lovely email from Karley Schmidt, a founding member of the local non-profit, CROSSOVERS, who shared with me information about the effort she and her colleagues have undertaken to help those whose lives are compromised by circumstances often out of their control and not always of their making.

In just a few months, their ranks have grown — 23 members strong and counting, with their mission being to help our veterans, service men/women RCMP, the homeless, and those affected by mental illness. 

Partnering with several local doctors and other health and wellness professionals has allowed them to make inroads into the concerns of at risk individuals who are often under-serviced, but more needs to be done. One of their goals is to get persons who are homeless off the street, with the long term plan being to build a tiny home village as a safe short term transition. I’m sure you’ll agree that such a proposal is a great idea. If you do, get in touch with the folks at CROSSOVERS and find out how your interests, aptitudes and skills set may be put to good use. Becoming part of the solution will make a huge difference in your life.

Another of their services is to help veterans get all the benefits to which they are entitled while providing assistance to transitioning to civilian life after their service to our country is over. Learning to live again is a challenge for so many, as they defined themselves almost exclusively through their job. They could use your help, too.

CROSSOVERS connects with families of the compromised to engage in discussions about how to help a loved one who is out there and at risk. If you’re a good listener and believe you can help, never feel your input won’t be important and very possibly life altering; not just for the people with whom you will interact, but also for yourself. Community involvement is a growing experience of giving and receiving.

We can help Ms. Schmidt, her team, and all volunteers reach out to the homeless and others by contributing to their personal care packages, whether it’s providing a monetary donation or actually getting out there and putting together these packages (personal hygiene products and the like). Get in touch with the folks at CROSSOVERS to find out how you can help. Then grab a few friends and get to it. You know you want to.

They have plans in the works to do a hot soup/beverage evening downtown in the near future as well as a blanket/jacket drive in preparation for colder weather. Who doesn’t like a good soup?

I really like the idea of their $20 campaign where individuals agree to donate $20/month for a year. Imagine what that infusion of financial help from 100 people, from 1,000 people, from 5,000 people can do. 

Ms. Schmidt tells me that they have members from all walks of life ( veterans, currently serving military, retired RCMP, early childhood development, health care, mechanics, teachers, etc) which enables them to interact with those in need on an equal footing without ego. Ego is left at the door, or on the curb, as the case may be.

Their motto is "never assume you know someone's story" and their name, CROSSOVERS is an acronym (Citizens, Resourcing, Ongoing, Support, Services, Offering, Veterans (and others), Encouragement, Respect, and Self-sufficiency). Ms. Schmidt and her partners in service found that far too many people are falling through the cracks for many reasons and they wanted to be that helping hand to pull them back up.  I wholeheartedly agree with her when she says that “everyone deserves to have a good quality of life and be respected and we hope to enable that, one person at a time.”

CROSSOVERS can do so much more if their numbers expand and that’s where you come in. Your resources pooled with those of a few of  your friends can have a lasting impacted on one life, on many lives. 

The only way society can make that difference is by coming together and pooling all resources available in a compassionate,non-judgmental, and helpful way. CROSSOVERS strives to be one of those resources.

As cold weather approaches and those compromised by the elements need our help more than ever, what better time to get involved. Perhaps you might find your true calling and make volunteering part of your presence in the community. As well, involving children returned to school is a perfect teachable moment. Within their ranks may be a whole new group of volunteers to fill in the gaps our province is currently experiencing, as the ‘old guard’ ages out of their service to community. Imagine all the class projects that could be organised in the spirit of community service.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, New Brunswick with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca via email.

Accepting people as they are requires that we examine who we are

      “Can we accept people as they are?” asked Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, 

an international federation dedicated to the creation and growth of homes, programs, and support networks with people who have intellectual disabilities. 

Wanting to change people may give us a feeling of power but why would we want or need power over anyone? We need to free ourselves of the notion that we are ‘better than’.  A significant problem with trying to change people is that we create division, and with that comes  a loss of forward momentum. Examining what within us wants others to change is a start. The  who, what and why of our own place and space often determines how we perceive others and how they will actually fit into our world. Will we make adjustment to accommodate them, or will we expect them to do all the ‘changing’ and ‘fixing’ to suit our needs and wants? 

In the dating game, for example, and not exclusive to teenagers in love, we find couples getting together, with physical attraction, ‘the look’ — various physical attributes being the initial lure. That comes from centuries of mating practices as men and women are drawn often to their ‘type’. Men chose women who would bear lots of children to carry on the family through generations while working the land and caring for the home. 

How one looks and how one’s beliefs and outlooks mesh with our own determine if we will have mutually nurturing relationships, whether it be friendship or a love match.

In the corporate world, the world of work, the world of providing goods and services, accepting people as they are is critical to the morale of the team. Sharing our time and attention with the team mate who may be struggling strengthens the group. Sometimes, we simply must accept their various ‘flaws and imperfections’ and focus on those attributes that put them in the game in the first place. 

Persons with disability, no matter the type and degree sometimes have difficulty fitting in, finding their niché, being accepted as they are.  We who live with disability cannot be ‘fixed’. We’re not broken. What may  be battered and bruised is our spirit. Too often we’re excluded because of  disability when we should be included in spite of it, with the type and degree of disability dictating the level of inclusion — experiencing even small wins is huge. Stop and think about that for a moment.

As we approach a new school year across the province, there will be many old and new students — eager to learn. There may be children from other lands coming from horrendous life circumstances beyond our imagining. They’re looking forward to making new friends, enjoying a safe learning environment, and educating themselves in the ways of things in our province. Some may live with disabilities that may impact inclusion so it reasons that they will be drawn to those children already here who are like them in that regard — a sense of kinship paves the way. Adults must not get in the way of these developing relationships by possibly tainting them with their own prejudices about those who are different.

Parents have an opportunity to engage their children in discussions about acceptance; accepting children who don’t have the same colour skin, accepting children who may not have brand new school clothing, accepting children who are differently able but still able. Sometimes, a child will bear the burden of all three pidgeon holes and because of that sad reality may be bullied and verbally battered before that critical first school day has fully gotten under way.

Teachers must be vigilant as they are the second line of defense, steering children to making good choices about how their behaviour and their attitudes affect others. It’s possible that the family dynamic is such that some children may not adequately learn those lessons, so teachers who have their eyes open will see beyond the nervous smile and the shuffling of worn out running shoes and the knapsack that’s seen better days.

It’s easy to say that we must accept people as they are but it’s often difficult to put those words into action when we are inundated with media influences that bully, belittle and berate those who are different, whether it’s because of their place of origin or a criticism of their physical attributes or their socio-economic station and the ‘stuff’ they don’t have.

We would better served if we spent less time and energy trying to ‘fix’ or change someone else to suit our ideals and look inward to see what it is about ourselves that we could reshape, repackage and put back out there in the world. Perhaps we need to work on being less critical; perhaps we need to spend less time creating a ‘pretty face’ and embrace what’s fresh and clean and devoid of covers to our imperfections. In point of fact, flaws give us strength and that is a powerful lesson of acceptance.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca 

A daily dose of togetherness is a perfect prescription for young and old

Over medicating in care facilities, and self-medicating, or in some cases, over- self-medicating at home is not new and it’s not confined to the elderly, who are often thought to be forgetful and not ‘checking it twice’. Medication over-use and misuse is sadly, and often tragically a growing problem amongst all age groups.

Thankfully, when it comes to seniors and those of significantly advanced age, clinical staff in many care facilities are addressing the issues head-on and hands-on, examining what patients are taking and why. Very often, the ‘why’ is taken care of right away when drugs are no longer ordered as the condition for which they were required no longer exists. That should beg another question - why, in some cases, was a drug no longer required still being prescribed and dispensed? Along with that is learning how drugs interact with each other and how some drugs offer the same benefit as other drugs and taking away one cuts into ‘duplication of services’. 

The rationale of prescribing drugs that serve only to sedate should be examined more closely via conversations with the patient, as he is able, and anyone attached to him who has regular contact who knows how the patient lives/copes on a day to day basis. Once in assisted care, a lot of the routine tasks normally undertaken by the elderly person are charged to someone else - a nurse or other caregiver. That being so, some of the previously ‘required’ drugs, like those for pain management, may not be indicated. Again, conversations about the ‘why’ of pharmacological intervention  is critical.

In the clinical care setting, there has to be an admission of culpability by hands-on clinicians that some patients are sometimes or even frequently sedated for the convenience of staff. If asked, I’m sure some frontline health care workers will admit to wanting to sedate ‘so-and-so’ ‘because s/he’s too needy, too demanding’, ‘always ringing the nurse’, and so on. 

Nashwaak Villa and many other such facilities, with the Planetree model in place, have gone a long way to enhancing quality of life of their residents. Inviting the community to ‘come on in’ has been a huge success. Seniors in care have lost access to a big part of themselves and their identity - the community in which they live. They’re now relegated to a life behind brick walls. Certainly, facilities are  high tech, but they’re still ‘facilities’, and they are sterile no matter how much of ‘home’ is brought in to ‘pretty up’ a room. It’s the ‘people connection’ that will ultimately make a huge difference in the life of an older person in care, even if dementia plays a role in their daily interactions. Wouldn’t it be great if a hug could be pulled out of a bottle and dispensed at will? It’s long been demonstrated that a touch, a hug, a kind word, and a smile go a long way to lifting the mood. Make no mistake, a senior, even those lost in dementia, need all of that and more. Their need for connection doesn’t disappear the moment they pass through the doors of a care facility. In fact, it’s even more critical that they be made not to feel abandoned and forgotten. 

Planners of primary and elementary education are developing programs that include ‘friendly visiting’ at local nursing homes. Young school children are often removed from what goes on with the older persons in their community by virtue of age, certainly, but also because lots of children are still functioning in the ME mode, which is to be expected.  But, at some stage, they have to be guided into more WE activities and what better way to do that than to get them acquainted with serving the community, serving those who have lived and worked in the community for decades. The young meeting the old must be part of the circle of life, to coin a popular phrase. No one should live in isolation at the end of their days. That’s not humane. 

Youngsters, if given the opportunity, would enjoy spending time with older people, hearing their stories, listening to and singing their songs, sharing a meal. The daughters of my former mail carrier are testament to that, thoroughly enjoying their time with the folks at Nashwaak Villa - breaking bread together.

Imagine what the lost art of actually making bread together could accomplish? Dough kneading has been proven to help persons recovering from stroke with the repetitive motion of hands and arms communicating with the brain to restore function. As well, on many levels, persons with dementia will ‘remember when’, if they are given opportunities to ‘get back in the kitchen’. The mutual benefits to a 7 year old and a 70 year old rolling up their sleeves to work together for a few hours a week are many and will create cherished memories. No pills required.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca

Having a safe place to go when home becomes a battleground

Kenny House, part of Fredericton, New Brunswick’s Liberty Lane’s  second stage housing project which features 10 units had been in the works for 10 years and it’s finally here. With one apartment tailored to the needs of a women with disability, Kenny House recognises that those with challenges to daily living are not immune to abuse. 

In planning accommodations for the differently able, it’s critical to gear environments taking into consideration the ‘most’ disabled. Accessibility issues for a C2 quadriplegic are more involved than for a paraplegic or for a woman with cerebral palsy who walks with crutches or uses a walker. Transition houses and 2nd stage housing and non-profit housing need to be fully aware of the unique changes that must be made to dwellings that will become home to women in crisis who live with various types of disability.

Research suggests that women with disability are more likely to suffer domestic violence and sexual assault than women without disability and women with disabilities report abuse that lasts longer and is more intense than women without disability. By virtue of obvious visible limitations to freedom of mobility and movement, women with disability may also live with various components of health and wellness that are not visible. So there’s the case of ‘all is not as it seems’. They stay in abusive relationships for many of the same reasons that women without disability stay in abusive situations, but there’s another layer to their decisions to stay in place.

Some will stay because their home is where they feel safe because the spaces ‘fits’ their physical limitations and meets the emotional needs sometimes imposed by those limitations. The tendency to ‘put up’ with slaps, kicks, punches, verbal abuse and emotional abuse get squashed down. Sadly, what often happens to break that cycle is a major emotional explosion that sometimes requires hospitalization. Then, the woman in crisis will allow herself to ‘break’ in what must be a safe place. A hospital is supposed to be safe.

With  hospitalization, whether for an overnight or two nights, is an opportunity for a woman to feel safe to attempt to settle herself. Clinical staff can go a long was to contributing to wellness by ensuring that the woman, upon presenting in the ER, which is often the first stop, is immediately taken to a quiet room and not obliged, in a public space, to disclose the reason for her visit. Sometimes, the person who abused her may very well be the one who brought her to get medical attention. Hospital staff need to quickly become proactive to protect privacy and safety. Women with disability need that extra layer of protection put in place. Minimizing their risk of further harm is paramount. Connection with a woman’s shelter while a medical exam is underway would be an appropriate step. 

If there is no going back home, after a period in a women’s shelter, and secure housing becomes necessary, places like Kenny House with its accessible unit offers a safe place to heal and make a plan to move forward. If staff need to be educated about specific needs of women with certain types of disability, they will learn. They will ask questions. The staff is there to help in whatever way they can. Let them in. Women stay at Liberty Lane units for a year, during which time they develop skills to move on with their lives - education and employment empowerment are crucial.

Like other women, women living with disability are often abused by someone they know. In addition, women with disabilities face the risk of abuse by health care providers or caregivers  — being abused by someone relied upon for care escalates that trapped feeling, so it’s important that the victimized is able to communicate with a person who can be trusted, whether a doctor, family member, friend, or neighbor.

When the violence is perpetrated by personal assistants, family members and/or friends, it is often considered to be a problem that can be addressed by the social service system rather than considered to be a crime that should be addressed by the police and/or the criminal justice system. Women with disability who are victims of abuse deserve the same considerations at law as their non-disabled peers, and to minimise their situations because they live with disability is yet another crime against them.

Access to safe havens like Transition House and accommodations provided through Liberty Lane are a necessary part of the community. It is important for us to do our part as we belong to the same community. Think about it. Someone you know may be utilising their services while you’re reading this commentary. Our contributions continue their efforts.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca