From the Jackson, TN, Sun:

Residents of North Madison County in Tennessee have organized in opposition to a proposal to build group homes there for people with developmental disabilities, arguing that the homes would drive down property values and bring undesirable people into their neighborhoods.

The homes are planned to replace an aging, institutional-style facility that is being closed in the wake of a federal lawsuit over the treatment of people with disabilities in the state.

Related op-ed: Developmentally disabled have rights, just like everybody else — By Peter Watson. An excerpt:

To me, the issue is, do these people have a right to live in a decent home in a decent neighborhood? To me, the answer is yes.

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See the original here.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, people come up with some new ones. Questions, that is — about Sarah Palin’s baby son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome (at left with sister Piper at the Republican National Convention). Here are answers to some common questions.

1)  Down syndrome — that’s really bad, right? Doesn’t that mean he’s sickly and won’t live very long?

First of all, let’s think about this baby as just that — a baby. People with Down syndrome vary widely, and each has a unique personality, temperament, and combination of strengths and challenges. We haven’t been told anything about Trig’s health status yet, except that he has Down syndrome.

In general, people with Down syndrome have some degree of mild to moderate intellectual disability and have a higher risk for a variety of health problems, particularly heart trouble. At the same time their life expectancies have increased dramatically, from an average of about 9 years in the 1920s, to something reaching into the 60s today. (See my post here on Bert Holbrook Jr. of Waseca County, Minnesota, who just celebrated his 80th birthday.)

As recently as the 1960s, people didn’t know that people with Down syndrome were capable of learning, and sent them to institutions where they were most often neglected or abused. Most of the very negative images about them, and the worst health outcomes, date from that time.

With the improvements in education and health care of the last few decades, it’s not unreasonable to expect that children with Down syndrome born today can enjoy full, rich lives, form satisfying relationships, and gain skills that will allow them to work and make positive contributions to their families and communities.

2) If Palin opposes abortion rights, as she says, why did she have an amnio? Wasn’t that a waste of money?

Many women who oppose abortion nonetheless have prenatal testing so they can get information that may be useful in planning for their baby’s delivery and care. Gov. Palin has said she was glad to receive Trig’s diagnosis before he was born so she could learn about Down syndrome and come to terms with her son’s disability before she met him.

3) Ninety percent of American women who get a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome get an abortion. Doesn’t that prove people with Down syndrome have terrible lives?

Actually, no. People with Down syndrome are valued, valuable and contributing members of happy families. Their families report deep attachment to their children, and are saddened by those abortion statistics. Family members attribute the numbers to widespread public ignorance about people with Down syndrome; doctors who lack current information and aren’t well-trained to deliver prenatal diagnoses; lingering fears and stigma left over from the days when these people were institutionalized under horrible conditions; and unrealistic desires for the “perfect child.” See also this post.

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Josie Byzek, writing in The Progressive, says she won’t be joining the boycott of “Tropic Thunder,” but she hopes the controversy will focus attention on “the real pain that slurs cause people with disabilities.” She’d like to see some films that portray people with disabilities as three dimensional people, as well as some with “disabled actors playing roles that have nothing to do with disability.”

An excerpt:

Any person with a disability who has been the target of the R-word knows it is painful. But for decades, many of us have tried to get the media, especially Hollywood, to realize it’s even more hurtful to exploit disability-themed inspiration and pity in order to get a prize of some sort.

… Movies like these depend on nondisabled audiences dehumanizing or infantilizing us.

We don’t want your pity. We want dignity.

Byzek is managing editor of New Mobility (www.newmobility.com), a lifestyle magazine for wheelchair users.

Writing in the [UK] Guardian, Peter V. Berns says the portrayal of a person with an intellectual disability in the film “Tropic Thunder” is offensive and shouldn’t be tolerated.

He says the use of the word “retard” and other insulting language in the film could spark abuse, bullying and violence against people with intellectual disabilities. An excerpt:

The oppressive power of these words has deep resonance for individuals with intellectual disabilities and for the disability rights movement. In the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, the use of the R-word in this film represents a serious setback. The portrayal of this character sends a clear message to the audience that the lives of people with intellectual disabilities are worth less and that it is acceptable to degrade and dehumanise them.

The history of people with intellectual disabilities in the U.S. evokes a dark time when these individuals suffered institutionalization, forced sterilization, segregation and other abuses. While the U.S. has made monumental strides toward including people with disabilities in the community, further progress will only be made if we speak out against bigotry, mistreatment and disrespect wherever we see it.

… We invite our colleagues in the disability rights movement, worldwide, to stand together and work to educate, inform and inspire people of conscience. Critics may try to dismiss our criticism as just some kind of politically correct talk, but that rejoinder is far too simplistic in the face of the suffering people with intellectual disabilities have experienced in their lives and throughout history. Individuals with disabilities should enjoy human rights on an equal basis with others without stigmatization, discrimination or prejudice. It is they who define themselves.

Peter V. Berns is the executive director of The Arc of the United States, the world’s largest community-based organization of and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

From Disability Now:

Stephen Fry, a prominent UK writer, actor and television personality, says people with mental health problems should develop a sense of pride to help banish public stigma. Fry, who has bipolar disorder, draws parallels to the civil rights and gay rights movements.

“Once that pride is there, once we all stand up and account for ourselves and not be ashamed of ourselves, then it makes the rest of the population realize two things,” he said in an interview. “One, that we are just them but with something extra. And two, how close we are.”

… “It’s actually necessary for our gene pool to have some people in it who are just not normal. It is an immense privilege to belong to a group of people who are not normal.”

From the Houston Chronicle:

Michelle Colvard, the reigning Ms. Wheelchair America, is touring the nation to challenge stereotypes about women with disabilities. The 32-year-old Colvard also serves as executive director of the mayor’s office for people with disabilities in Houston.

In a Q&A, Colvard says she wants the public to stop seeing women with disabilities as victims or heroes, and just relate to them as people like everybody else. She’d also like to see improvements in employment, housing and transportation. An excerpt:

Q: What is one of your most heartwarming moments as Ms. Wheelchair America?

A: I got to go on the ice for the Houston Aeros game as Ms. Wheelchair Texas. I had a little table during intermission to sign autographs. At one point, I went through this line of little girls, and they’re like, “Ms. Wheelchair, I need your autograph.” All of a sudden, I was mobbed.

I grew up with my peers treating me a certain way. Back then, if those kids would have been exposed to this kind of figure — an image that portrayed a strong, confident, attractive woman who just happened to have a disability — I don’t think they would have treated someone who is in a wheelchair differently.

When I realized that, I started getting choked up.