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Beautiful Sights Indeed!

Jun28

Beautiful Sights Indeed!

 

The last few days I was lucky enough to see three precious sights right near our home. First, there was tiniest brown bunny that I have ever seen. He or she was was about as big as a minute, much smaller than my chihuahua. He or she was surprisingly tame as I came very close to it with my power chair.

About ten feet passed the bunny, there was a mother deer with her two spotted fawns.  They were grazing on grass. Like the tiny bunny, the deer were very tame as well,  One of the two young fawns was looking at us with such curiosity, but there was no fear. Finally, the mother doe sauntered off with one fawn following closely behind. The second fawn continued to look at us as if  he or she was unaware that he or she was being left behind.

My husband spoke up and said, “You better follow your Mama!” As if the fawn understood perfectly, the youngster scurried after them and disappeared into the trees. Yesterday, we saw another young doe on the edge of our lawn. I am grateful for the plentiful rains that came during the winter and spring that brought lush greenery for these wonderful animals to eat.

deer familydeer

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I Remember Dad….. Happy Father’s Day!

Jun17

I Remember Dad…..

I remember dancing with you Dad

Aren’t I light on my feet Dad?

I remember your uproarious laughter as I said it

The bear hug of a squeeze during our dance

You carried me to your room, sharing our little moment with Mom.

 

I remember resting on your shoulder Dad, with my arms outstretched like wings,

Buzzing all around the house we were, weren’t we?

Me laughing and you running

You zoomed me into the kitchen and swooped me down,

So I could give Mom a kiss, and she smiled.

 

I remember Dad and I, singing in the car loudly and with gusto,

As off key as possible, just to drive Mom nuts,

Her face was evidence of what she wanted and prayed for,

“Oh please, stop assaulting my ears!”
I remember Dad, swinging in the swing at Buddy Todd Park

And at home too, the swing kept going back and forth,

Higher and higher I swung, trying to make it to the sky,

“Higher, higher Dad!” Heaven bound was I.
Happy Father’s Day Pops, I love you and I miss you!!

 

Dad and me

 

Ableism Should Be Eliminated

May1

Abilism photo

This is a summation of an article that I read for a discussion in school, but it covers my own thoughts and feelings well, so I thought I would share it with my friends and family. I hope you find it worth reading.
About 20% of us have some sort of disability. Therefore, ableism is a construct in our society that we cannot remove too soon. The problem is that it is deeply rooted in our vocabulary and in our subconscious. We need to stop viewing people with disabilities as defective and different (in a negative light). After all, we all have similarities and differences. In other words, we must do away with the idea that we need to be “fixed” and that we have no gift or talent to offer others. The ablest ideal allows us to marginalized, discriminated against and treated as though we have far less value than nondisabled people. (Zellwinger, 2015)
As a society, we often fail to offer full accessibility beyond getting in the front door – wheelchair ramps. After all, are wheelchair ramps, larger restrooms, curb cuts, larger dressing rooms etc. a huge bother for nondisabled people? Other accommodations can also include “braille, seeing-eye dogs/assistant dogs, ergonomic workspaces, easy to grip tools, closed captions … class note-takers, recording devices for lectures” and other services and accommodative devices or equipment. Lack of these restrict our autonomy and make us more dependent on others. Not only that, it takes away from our well-being and self-esteem. We begin to feel like a “burden.” More than that, a person with a disability often does not always have full access to healthcare. How does a person in a wheelchair get on an exam table? How does a nonverbal person communicate their problems and medical needs without a caregiver there? Medical providers need to be more aware of these difficulties (Zellwinger, 2015)
The language of ableism leads to both individual oppression as well as societal oppression as a whole. Inclusion should be the goal. Such pejorative terms include: mentally retarded, moron, high functioning, incapacitated person etc. need to be stricken from society’s vocabulary. I realize that many of these terms are used to describe a condition, or level of a condition, but more work needs to be done to find and use language with a more positive connotation. As I have said previously, I prefer the term “challenged” because a challenge does not have a negative feeling; it is just something to be dealt with or overcome. Finally, it is very important to remember that not disabilities are visible, however, that does not make them any less real.
People with disabilities should have the same rights to housing, employment, medical care, and educational access as anyone else who is considered nondisabled. In other words, they should be treated with respect and humanity individually and referring to them as a group. People with disabilities deserve to lead the best life possible.

Zellwinger, J. (2015) 6 forms of ableism we need to retire immediately Retrieved from
http://mic.com/…/6-forms-of-ableism-we-need-to-retire-immed…

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