The best crip tools ever, or the tools I can’t live without…
- Duct tape
- velcro
- superglue
- zip-ties
And my favorite store to keep my vent up and running: RadioShack
Corporal Punishment, child welfare and restraints.
March 29, 2011 By 3 Comments
Two weeks ago, my elementary school principal, Ernie Ross, passed away. Mr. Ross was my principal for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades at Mountain View Elementary school. I, like many of my classmates, had great fear of Mr. Ross. He manned a stop light in the lunch room that would move from green to yellow to red as the noise level rose during the lunch period. At times he would walk around the lunchroom carrying his paddle. Rumors abounded among my classmates about Mr. Ross’s accuracy and strength in utilizing his paddle. He was rumored to have a paddle with holes to make the swing swifter.
I was deathly afraid of him. I had been spanked at home, and was quite intimate with the effects of my father’s belt. The belt, however, was the limit of my experience with spanking implements. I imagined the paddle, and especially the paddle with holes was 10 times worse. Although never said, I knew if I got spanked at school, the school punishment would be the least of my problems. I’m sure I would have been one with my father’s belt.
Once, in 4th grade, I was sent to Mr. Ross’s office. I was often quick at completing my school work, and when bored would start chit-chatting with the kids nearby. Despite several warnings from my teacher, Mrs. Coffey, I continued to talk away. Mrs. Coffey didn’t have many options for punishment. I already had to stay in most recesses because I couldn’t pass the stupid multiplication time test with 100% accuracy. Fed up, she ordered me to go see Mr. Ross. I don’t think I was ever so frightened in my entire school career. I was sure I was going to experience the paddle, and I felt like throwing up. When I got to the office, the school secretary told me to sit on a bench outside Mr. Ross’s office. I sat, and sat, and sat. With each passing minute, my fear grew. I never did see Mr. Ross that day, and after a period of time, I was sent back to my classroom. The experience remains vivid in my mind 30 years later.
Today I was reading a New York Times article about the decline of corporal punishment in schools. Colorado is among the states where the practice is still legal, but rarely used. Many states, including Texas and New Mexico are considering bans of the practice during the current legislative season. In Colorado, not only is corporal punishment by schools legal, but parents can also use corporal punishment, with some limits. Despite the law allowing corporal punishment, the first thing that happens in most child protection cases is that the court orders the parent(s) to not use any physical discipline. Foster parents are also not allowed to use physical discipline.
The hypocrisy of all this struck me as I was reading the Times article. The states that are banning the practice are doing so because of the demonstrated harm to children. It doesn’t seem like the use of corporal punishment, albeit legal, is a big issue in Colorado. However the use of prone restraints not only harms children and people with developmental and mental disabilities, but it kills them. [Read more...]
Sneffels Range east of Ridgway, Colorado
Medical marijuana — a disability rights issue
March 28, 2011 By 4 Comments
Access to medical marijuana is a disability rights issue. For many people with disabilities, medicinal marijuana is the only effective treatment for pain, muscle spasms, and cachexia. It is imperative that medicine be available to people who need it. Fraud and abuse, however, are rampant in the medical marijuana licensing system, and the amount of fraud ans abuse is likely to backfire on legitimate users. It is long past time for the disability community, and legitimate users to speak out against the fraud and abuse in the system.
Yesterday I was gathering some statistics about disability prevalence for Democrats with Disabilities. According to the Census, on average, 16.3% of Coloradans have a disability. The actual percentage is higher because the Census Bureau does not include individuals in nursing homes and other congregate settings in their statistics. As I was compiling the data, it became obvious that there are some serious discrepancies between people alleging to have a disability to use medical marijuana, claiming to have intractable severe pain, and those who claim to have a disability in other settings.
The majority of people with disabilities do not qualify for a medical marijuana license. In Colorado, the only medical diagnoses that allow a person to get a medical marijuana license are: Cancer, Glaucoma, and HIV or AIDS positive. Other individuals who have a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition that produces cachexia, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, or persistent muscle spasms can also receive a medical marijuana license. These definitions are quite restrictive, and clearly do not include most disabling conditions (deafness, hearing loss, blindness, intellectual impairment, mental illness and the like). According to the US Census, over half of the population of people with disabilities in Colorado fall into the categories of being deaf or hard of hearing (3.2%), having a visual impairment (1.7%), or having an intellectual disability (3.7%). 5.2% of Coloradans have a physical disability interfering with ambulation. The remaining, 2.5% of people with disabilities in Colorado have some sort of other disabling condition. Note that the Census does not specifically ask questions about mental illness, so some of the remaining 2.5% are people who considered themselves to be disabled by mental health conditions. This is all a very medical model perspective of disability, but one that is important when looking at medical marijuana usage in Colorado. [Read more...]
I haven’t updated the blog in [gasp!] years. New look, and hopefully more regular posts. Maybe it will be an April Fools resolution, that why I am safe either way.