"Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way." - Satchel Paige

Security 'H Afric.an Americans With

Disabilities - p. 3 Page 6

Access Press SOURCES

New Ser vices Planned ' -

E AFIncorporated, a S t Deafy~'sai)uocate in the limited basis. m a u l - b a s e d agency sew- state. kdhy ~chumacher has - . ing Deaf and Hard of Hearing 11 peoplesincel98O,isw0~Mng oete at the Health to develop advocacy services for victims d sexual assault and dhestic -When & &pa wm, iCwill be

'& '&&.-~~hat' battered

b w

~ e a f agencyr The program is still in the development stageg . -.* 7 -. -

b u t D E A F hopes to be pro- timi at the &is p& in in the advocate iran communi- vising services-in bss th& a E3gan ancf;$art-~mc&tt=the-i3atec with them in their own .,

~ n t e e r new prqmm. tive Director, is excited about women who m sv Li ,L# 1, ..L . the enthusiasm for the pro- ing to

; Department Of Health ;:;,. . " @am among Deaf women. c a q program started; and she Hearin

- Many Deaf women in Mine- is very e - p t a have been wanting apro-

0 License PCA gram develaping at D E A F. ers [about their needs] when "It's bees hard s- @ey need support the most," she explains. "When I ad& Bmlow. workingwithtwo women who - - - - - bothhavetobeincourtonthe L aape day, s@ one in M n n e F ap l i s at 2 p.m. and one in St. ber, acknowledges the role Paul $t 1 p&Wsnotfairthat hearing agencies, too. "Icredit one of them has to go to court LewisHouse with opening my without a Deaf advooq. , 'eyes. With the meria ls I

. A .

Sometimes I can arrange for- . - * g a f m b i r booth, - I.

another Deaf woman to go espkhdy 6' %mj wifb her, but becauseofsched- Control Wheel* &id '%%y ulek ~ ~ t a l w a y o w o r k Women Stay", I began to un- out. ~ i t h ~ e w w C e p t e r , ~ ' m derstand my own issues."

to - -

; &sell eventually sought support for herself. But when

Advocacy programs forhear- ' she lefi her husbhd and went ing women are doing a better to a'Twh Cities shelter, she j& of making their services facamany banks. During accessible to Deaf and Hard her stay, she was h d of Hearing women, but there by the lack of akcessibility are still serious limitations. andcommunication. The&& Many programs have TTY ter had a TN, but it was lo- capability, but because they cated in the business office, receive so few calls on than, whieh was only open during most of the advocates are not certain hours, so Russell's competent using the 'ITY. A access to it was limited. In few programs have staff or contrast, there was a voice volunteers who have some pay phone available to the American Sign Language other residents at all times. (ASL) ability, but most arenot The shelter had a captioned fluent. Some programs have television, but she had to ne- funds available to hire ASL gotiate with others for the use interpreters, but only on a Advocacy - cont. on p. 9

by Ken Moses - . , . ;,,*\ ' cornmunit$% 'h-dpeiota,"

.- 8 . says.fJ*~*..,i; "1 I"'"" . ,- '- >a

m e Personal Care me bat'!kWkmWa. The'Depart- abilities Act. cfwt (PCA)program (also ment's licensure com&nee 4. There is no provision so far Since there are already w&

d M - " P m n a l Assistance consists largely of Depart- for funding the increased over 150 battered worn& and hvkes"') covers those di- rect support services for people with disabilitieswtkh allow themtoUvethirliwin the community as indqem- dently as possible. They ass. -my--

?ilaviees fm " ~ v i t i e s @f daily lMqg,mperformed by oommunity &qde who do

me&- and whp we: w p e d s d and

I kair&%yitke p e o p l w v -

the -services are f&p&tly restricted by the federal and state funding which c v from health-care budgets.

ment officials; l ayem, md representatives of the ar& cal profession; oonsllmers and Independent Living ad- vocates are seriously under-

~ ~ t e d . T h e ~ t w o r k - hag rn of the.reguhtions h dloices and €on- ~~~ nm*have over t h i r d s :

L .

1. C o n s u m e r c m t r o ~ o f ~ ~ supenision, and training could be rectucLd.

2 Consumers w d d not be able to hire people on short notice.

-3. Tht program would be run with more medical-style

- ~gulation, with greater in- hiision into consumers' lives. Access to services (dside from money and - hours allotted) would de- pend on the type of disabil- ity (ratket tEran functional need) and is in violation of

. the Americans with Dis-

repld-,css -fmWkk# and canstrm8fs-wouM ha* to absorb the costs.

sexual assault programs aroundthestate,people~&t

another p r o m is nekbed. To d w e r thik question, it is necessary to look at the current network of services and how well they

r.arem&gtheWofDeaf I warnen.

The provisions of Ms licen- sure, as well as the increased kvel of~@ation, wouldrake bhe cost ofplwding ale m- vices wi- materially i~ proving the quantity, quality, or reliability of the services. Theamjmbemfit of liaasure appm a be that consumers whoareineligibkfmMedical Assistance could hire their PCAs through the existing providers, using them as es- sentially payrell agencies. This would c& consumers less than going through li- censed nursing agencies a d would be at no additional cost to the state. Licensure might also open the program t~ a shared-cost system for fman- cially-marginal consumers that is more reasonable than

: When estabMt$, crisis pro- grams ate fypidally set up to serve a p t i c u k p m h i c area; a county, region, or part offbemetropolitan area. And since these services were set up for the general population, they often don't have the ca- pacity to meetthe full range of needs victims of abuse have.

The Minnesota Department of Health, under a directive from the state kgislature, is putting together arecommen- dation to license PCA provid- ers. They are currently regis- tered with the Department of Human Services as providers,

Forsomeone who is Deaf, lack of accessible options is a ma- jor barrier to getting help. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing population in the Twin Cities is estimated at more than

PCA - cont. on p. 7 But there is only one

-

2 November 10, 1998 Access Press

Ventura's answers to a ques- resource for him. Over the mssful. Ifyoucanhelp themin &tion to privatize the pro- tion posed by ACCESS years, many ofus have been thiseffort, call thenumberat gram.Mainstreammediahas

need to pay attention to this issue and be prepared to mo-

* * * *

Metro Mobilitv

Metro Mobility Forums T heMetro~litanCounci1 See ad below for dates and tration at the forums. Sign

will hold public forums in times offorums. language interpreters will be late November and early De- provided. Reasonable accom- ember to gather i ~ f ~ m ~ a t i o n To register in advance to speak modations for people with about the transit needs of atafonun,callDawnHofierat other types of disabilities will people with disabilities in the the Metropolitan Council at be provided, if requested by metro area. 65 1-602- 1447 or65 1-22 1-9886 November 16.

TI11. There will also be regis-

Adaptive Car Seats Now Cove- -I By MA

I

T heMinnesotaDepartment under the Minnesota Medical this sdndard and the principles of Human Services re- Assistance program. underlying thesedecisions will

cently ruled that adaptive car serve as the base line for evalu- seatsforchildrenwithdisabili- The decisions in these cases ating all future requests for ties would becovered by Medi- were based in part on guidance adaptive car seats. cal Assistance (MA). Three from the Health Care Financ- casesinwhichtheDepartment ing Administration (HCFA). Also of note, the Department

The forums are intended to deniedfundingwereqpealed, HCFA's guidance led to the asserted in all three cases that elicit comments fromriders on and in each case the Commis- following conclusion: free adaptivecar seats are avail- ADA Needs Assessment Metro Mobility service and sioneroderedtheDepartment able from the Minnesota

and Metro Mobility Public Forums provide an opportunity for toprovi&theadaptivecarseat "... the federal Medicaid laws PassengerRotectionRogram. people to make recommenda- These decisions provide guid- and regulations have been However, investigations by

Attend and comment on: tions for improving the ser- ance on this often disputed interpreted by HCFA - ths hMinnesotgDisability Law future Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) vice. A rider's suggestion last area of service. agency overseeing the &9 - Wiiter rl:wealed that zb pt

~blic transportation needs in our growing year resulted in the providers medical assistanceprogram- gram in Minnesota, including blishing a cancellation line. line reduces the time riders ; d on the phone and frees

up reservationists to handle who nquirs support and PO- compliance withHCFA direc- Disability Law Centerman- I' more ride requests. sitioningof her head, neckand tion, states may not categori- mends that if you have aclient

Council Chambers, Mears Park Centre trunk due to spastic quad- cally deny prior authorization who is a Medical Assistance 230 East Fifth Street, St. Paul Riders who do not attend a riparesis and-bral palsy. ~n requests for adaptive seating recipient and requires anadap

forum can still participate. this case the snug seat is con- for disabled children." tive car seat to provide s u p December I I I am - I )m Send written comments to: sidered a prosthetic device, portive seating, proper posi- Minneapolis Convention Center 4 Dave Jacobson, Metro Mobil- a d pro&& & v i a m m v - Not only did theCommissioner tioning or necessary restraint 1 3 0 1 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis ity ServiceCenter,Metqmli- & by MA. ~n another situa- conclude that the Department in a car, you should prepare

tan Council. 230 East Fifth tion, MA reimbursement was couldnotcategoricallyexclu& and submit a funding request Register in advance to speak by calling 651-602-1447 Street, St..Paul,MNS5101. Fax qprovedfora&rillaadaptive car seats from coverage, he for Medical Assistance reim- - or 65 1-22 1-9886 TTY. You may also sign up to speak at the forums. Sign language interpreter services \Nil1 comments to 651-602-1660. car seat for a 3-year-old boy also concluded that adaptive bursement for an adaptive car

be provided if requested by November 16, 1998. Send TT"Y comments to 651- with multiple disabilities; car scats may be covered as seat. 221-9886. OrcalltheCouncil's including spastic quad- prosthetic &vices or as du- PublicCommentLineathimat rip&s,&palsy,asei- rablemedical equipment. He If you have any questions 65 1-602- 1500 or send corn- m*,-haly, also stated the following: about these cases, please con- ,-' ments to the Council's E-mail and general dev&pmatal tact Steven P. Elliot at the Min- ;

Dave Jacobson, MMSC address: data.cent&@metc. &lays. 'Ibis seat was also 'Itisthe prevailing community nesota Disability Law Center . Metropolitan Council state.mn.us. ruled to be a medically n- standard to provide adaptive (61213321841). 230 East Fit& Street sary prosthetic &vice. car seats to children with or- ... St. Paul, Minnesota 55 10 1-1634 Comments will be accepted thopedic deformities, to chil- Informationforthisartick~~~ ,

Fax: 65 1-602- 1660 TTY: 63 1-22 1-9886 until January 1,1999.. In tfie third case, the &&s- drm who lack trunk and head submitted by Steven P. Elliot, '

E-mail: damcente@metc.st~te.mn.us sioner appved Medical As- stability, and to children with Minnesota Disability Law m b b m n t for a behavior disorders. It is also Center cJnomey. .

Columbia 2000 adaptive car Ihcprevailing~~mm~tyStan- , - . seat for a 5-year-old boy with dard to provide children with

ACCESS PRESS autism. He concluded that disabilities withopportunities since the car seat will provide to travel throughout the corn-

Co-FounderhbUsher (1990-1995) .............................................. Wm. A. Smith, Jr. this young boy with the ps i - munity aschildren withoutdis- b e r F o d e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ChPrle~ F. Smith tioning and restraint he needs, abilities do.'' Cartoonist .".., ...................... " ...... ".." ................................ ....... ""..ScottAdPms Production .... .............. " .................. ,.., . .............. Resentation Images, Ellen Houghton it is a piece of durable medical

Editorial Assistant .,. "...,..-..- ............................ Donna McN~mnra equipment, which is covered 'Zhe Department has stated that I .... ACCESS PRESS is a monthly tabloid newspaper published for persons with disabilities b A-s ~ Press. Ltd. Circulation is 10,000. distributed the 10. of each month through m o ~ than 150 &cabom statewide. Approximately 650 co ies are mailed directly to political, business, institutional and civic leaders. Subscriptions are availabfe for SI51yr.

Editorial submissions and news releases on topics of interest to persons with disabilities, or persons B E n E R SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION serving those with disabilities, are welcomed.

Paid advertising is available at rates ranging from $14 to $18/column inch, depending on size and frequency. Classified ads are $8.00, plus 35 centslword over 20 words. 529-501 9 483-91 43 Advertising and editorial deadlines are the 30th of the month preceding publication; special scheduling available for camera-ready art. C ~ ~ E MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDER Access Press is available on tape. Call MN State Services for the Blind, 642-0500 or 800-652-9000.

W. Suite 185N St. Paul,

I'leasc yat~*onize your Access Press Advertisers - rincl

tell them whcrc you heard about them. I

The> bring you your paper. I

I . t

Access Press November 10, 1998 3 -

I African American people IN BRIEF . . . . 1: With Disabilities 1 ~ r t s Access Awards Announced

Many Unmet Needs Remain by Jeff Nygaard

i- 0 n October 6&, KMOJ Ra- dio and Insight News co-

sponsored a forum atlucille's Kitchen in NorthMinneapolis

; entitled "Understanding Dis- ability Through Awareness."

.- . As one of the weekly Public kw Policy Forums heldatLucille9s,

the proceedings were broad- cast live on KMOJ Radio, 89.9 FM in the Twin Cities.

Norman pointed to the fact that traditional (white-oriented) measures of IQ that the county relies on would indicate that "the average African Ameri- can is 'cognitively impaired,' which we know is not true." This and other examples led him to say that Hennepin County "is institutionally rac- ist, so we need to deal with

Americans as it relates to dis- ability, Virginia Richardson spoke eloquently of the com- plex interaction between insti- tutional racism and how it can lead to disempowerment among people of color. For example, in the criminal justice system, an assessment indi- cating mental health problems can result in juvenile offenders

L.

L A panel of five, moderated by

h - Insight News President A1 McFarlane, addressed the crowd on a variety of issues

,& - ' facing people with disabilities *- - in the Twin Cities area. Much

of the forum focused on the I - . - unique set of issues faced by

African American people with * disabilities in ourcommunity.

In adaiil"oh ro'moderator McFarlane, panelists included Virginia Richardson, with the

, , Parent Training Program at the &$$ PACER Center in Minneapo-

lis; Ella Gross, from the Insti- k. ,z tute forMinority Development;

Michael Cohn. who has re-

that." As a starting point, he said, "we need to bring people into the system [of county ser- vices] who are culturally com- petent in regard to disability and to ethnic realities."

Ella Gross concurred, saying that "[African Americans] are not going to these agencies and not getting support in numbers proportional to our numbers in the population." To illustrate, she pointed out that there are roughly 2,000 African Americans with devel- opmental disabilities in the county, but only 400 are cur- rently receiving county ser- vices. The Institute for Minor-

receiving more appropriate treatment and services. As Ms. Richardson pointed out, "Majority families get those labels right and know what their rights are. African American families do not know their rights." Ms. Richardson stated that "a key difference is the majority parents' assumption that our institutions will do right by their children. African American parents do not ex- pect institutions to do the right thing."

The suggestion was made that people call their county com- missioner to say "We want more services for African

centlv started a video educa- itv Develo~ment. which SUD- Americans with disabilities."

-+ . activist, and co- disgruntled with the system,

'ft%m; and was started with that reality in .v Paul Norman, a program man- mind.

geemed to agree with moderator McFarlaneYs

Ms. Richardson has a daugh- statement that "Services do ter with a developmental dis- not take into account the larger ability andepilepsy whoisnow context of African Amedcan an adult living independently lives." According to Mc-

- in the community. She spoke Farlane, "Too often, when the of some of the special chal- 'establishment' offers services lenges faping herfamily: "Be- to the public in general, those cause I am African Arnerican,J services are geared toward didn't connect with any agen- white people." Such bias can cies [for support in raising a ~&sdi"iii Atfticrin'++rijans daughter with a disability]. I beink deiiihd seivi~es@~#k-- wln ' t about to go to a major- fessional gatekeepers. In 'an

_ . . 6 , ~ty-runorganizitio that would era of intense focus on cutting make us feel bhl about our- budgets, denial of services can selves. So wedealt withitas be poitrayed as a good thing fiimily." . '. .? bqthe '+tilid 8 &neral.'

..:., .+ * .- . ,:t, .% I ,

Other pa?elisis echoed &is ~~abora thgon &dsi%dt$rfie distrust ofmostly~white insti- underserving of Akibhn

people that the commissioners are determined to cut property taxes, and that means that "the mcmey is nattheg?~ t q m i i d e needgd s-wjces: Ms. &h: ardson suggested that educa- tion is the key. Families need to educate themselves -about wkat is out there for them, and our institutidns need to be educated about the real needs of people in the community. Her advice? "Use your con- nections, and pass on what you've heard here May."

-Thi InsightIKMOJ Public PoliE$ Forum at Lucille's is p&sP.nfk@fiom 8iOO - 1O:CK)am and - ICkOJ. br~adt'asts the final half houi@:36--'KtWm~ live. For more information on

- forzim topicscall ~ n ~ i ~ h t ~ e w s 5884313.. -

I - . , .- . -, tutions and the barriers they d l i l , .

resent to people ofcolor. Paul

To Reach 10,000 Active

and Interested Readers,

H m HEALTHCARE E I 11 ~ o m r . - care services I I Ayailsble! 24 hours per day

- - ----. - . = . Specializing in the care of Children*Adults*Eldcrly . . . - . w. --+

I I wCppovi& ~e r sc&l&@ Y % R & ~ @ * Home Health Aides *Hcmem&ets *.*$%-in Cttkegivers Nursing I I

I I I d a r l W w b i ~ ~ F & ~ i c e s include: physical/ O c c u p a t i o n a V S ~ p i r a t o r y Therapies I I

Call 644-2133 I

. PCA Provider Organization MAEWaiverlMedicareCeaifk4 I I

Very Special Arts Minnesota (VSAMN) awarded the third annual Art Access Awardr at its annual Board meeting on November 1. Award recipients are chosen to recognize indi- viduals and groups for their accomplishments and efforts in making the artsaccessible to people with disabilities. This year's winners are:

Tara Arlene Innrnon, Minne- apolis, Activist and Visible Minnesota Artist wiith a Dis- ability; Hopkins Center for the Arts, Accessible Performance Space; Tom Moriarity, North Branch, Arts Educator for Stu- dents with a Disability; Tourette Travelling Troupe, Active Producing Group~The- ater Involving People with

Volunteer At MPR Minnesota Public Radio takepledgesintheirupcoming (MPR) is looking for volun- pledge drive. Morning, after- teers to answer phones and noon and evening shifts are

chorus Auditions

Disabilities.

VSAMN' s programs focus on making the arts more acces- sibleto people with disabili- ties around the state. For in- formation, call 6 1 2 - 3 s 3 8 8 8 (VoiceKTY) in the metro area or toll-free 1-800-801-3883 (VoicdITY).

availableNovember7- 13. Call 1-S(D228-7123.

Join Calliope Women's Cho- excellence and pride. Audi- women welcome. Call649-4732 rus in its 22nd season singing tions for all vocal ranges will be for information. Available in songs of peaceandjustice with held in mid-November. All print, braille, tape.

Accessible Arts Performances American Sign Language Audiokribed A r d * 1Y12, Thur, 7:30p.m. "Nunsense"; Anoka- * 1Yl5, Sun, 2 p.m. "A Delicate kialance" Ramsey Community College, Coon Rapids Theatre in the Round, Minneapolis

* 1Y20, Fri, 7:30 p.m. "The H&ngS'; 12/4, Fri, 8 p.m. "Gross Indecency" . +,:. ,,, NineMileCreekTheater,BloomingtoaArtCtr Guthrie Lab, Minneapolis , 1,:

* 11122,Sunday,2p.m. "ALittleHouseChrist- 1215, Sat, 1 p.m. ;12/8, Wed, 8 p.m.;12/26, Sat, mas"; Child's Play Theater, Hopkins 8 p.m. "A Christmas Carol"; Guthrie Theater,

* 1216, sun; 260 p.m. -.Annier.; w h e u m *1%6,St&$qm. "Antiie";O@heam'Ilea~s Theater,Minneapolis (call 6123734650) Minneapolis (cdS12373-56%)

- - MmD -. * 1m2, ~af,i:00~.m. ''Nmiayf; youth~erfa- * 1 ~ i l ~ $ , 8 p.m. "Orphan Train"

mance Co.,HowardCo~Fine Arts Ctr., Mpls, . Great American ~ i s t o q 'Fhatre~M =-

* 12/12, Sat, 4 p.m. "The Best Christmas * 12/12, Sat, 4p.m. "The ~ e s t ~ h r i s t m Pag- Pageant Ever"; Steppingstone Theatre Go., eantEver"; steppingstone~heatreCo.,Land- Landmark Center, St.Pau1 markcenter, St. Paul , - , , .

*-Asterisked performances are eligible fm:~educed admission prices through the Access to *-

~~ea&qraje&. Contact the theateior~my ~ ' ~ 1 Arts MN (332-3888) forfurlherdettail , 1 .-.> . ..... w , . . - 2 . . -,:-u ' . -1. .

- - -?>-J -*- - I ~ ~ t c h c : i i i i ~ ~ 1.kc:~1~c~ioii iill o i li: z f st GM~IU~Y '- ' :', . P I

11 Hiawa'tF 7 Light '=I\. , 1 1 -

giant,&[) Porwa~vl lo iinl)rovc ant1 e r ~ l i a n c ~ tlSiin&iL yer'vicas in ttrc 'hvin ' " ' Cili(~sZ@#b~~a. Even befili~: ~ lg t~ l - ra i thwlsk k&~wke bcgi11s. ~ I I B I ~ D srrp- j)orl ar#~dm1mrnily i lovolv~ner~l~lu: e s s ~ L ~ ~ l 4 ~ ~ 1 @ ~ U C ~ ) W S ~ L I I planning, alcsigbk us1 (c:tnislrl~tcl.im~af i@hl rail in oursrcgim. . . . " - . . . , .. ,-. .

'I'llo i l i ~ w a l l ~ a (:orri(lor mulc ia 12.2 rnflc9lnug. wl1.h i41lgtir rail sLations, bnd Lir~ ks downlwn M inrieapokii, M0ls.-St. 1'unllnlc~natim:D ARl)arr, and lllc hddd 01 Amc&:a. Estirnatm am~Lhtit~24.006 fltlers par day WH USC:I&KL .. rail will1 fielghbtrrhood conncclians Ilr)m Mcftwlhn~tt a ~ ~ r l ol.llc:r rcgio& bus scrvice. 'Ilvcoly-two light rail t h in cars, each 90' longwith lo\ir.~&&?ol' easy ba8M1- ing will scat 65 custonrers or 160 cuslorners inclutlingatinding room.

con1 ru w~ity Plannlrrg IY0rksll OP For ~norc irforn~al.ioa \Vcdrrcsday, Novcn~bcr 18,(i-9 pin abaul light rail call Lhe Mirincapolis Cur~vcnlion Center Regional I)ak Conter at Neigt~borheod 'Meetings 651-802-1 140 or visit I'ruvitle community input on plaming and design tile Mell'Wolilan of light llai# 8-. 'b&cherlde a'rmeblng cull Coul1Cil's webi te a t 651 -582-1 031 (Curing business hours. ~mv.uretroc'ounciI. org.

- November 10, 1998

On Mental Illness Access I

Offering Our L1Isacl- ;, Using Our Gifts by Peter Feigal

D uring the Depression, there was a young woman

from Minnesota named Anna Zupp. She lived with her hus- band Clarence and her daugh- ter Anna Mae on a farm near Frost, Minnesota, close to the Iowa border. They were ahard- working family, and even though they were poor, they were better off than many at that time, becausethe farm pro- - vided them with food. Anna loved her family, working in her garden, and singing in the Lutheranchoir at the church in Bricelyn.

I '111 .- Anna got very sick. Her legs , . - - - lost their strength and her b i -

ance left her, so that she couldn't walk. The small-town doctor, unaware of someof the newly discovered neurologi- cal diseases, didn't recognize the symptoms of multiple scle- rosis; and because it was 193 1, and she was avoman, hediag- nosed her as "Hysterical." His treatment was steady injec- tions ofpheno-barbital, his own secret addiction, which soon became hers. As she lay there year after year, her body be- came withered from the MS, and her mind became lost in the

tive overnight, then take the streetcar to the hospital in St. Paul. She would sit next to her mother's bed, holding her mother's hand in silence for the one hour allowed children visitors, then return to the farm the next day.

Annabelieved she had no gifts to give, had no meaning in her life, nothing butpain andshame to offer her daughter, and she drifted away into the darkness. A kindly nurse urgently contacted Clarence one day and he rushed to the Cities and bundled Anna up and brought her home, where she died the nextday of pneumonia. He had to rush, you see, because if Anna had died in the hospital, she would have been buried in the back yard without a cer- emony, without goodbyes, without even her name over her grave. Anna, my grand- mother, was 5 1 years old when she died.

The most painful thing that I have experienced or witnessed in my own 30-year struggle, is that people with mental illness have a deep conviction that because of their hurt, they have

that we must first be repaired, detoxified, perfected. We wait and wait, hoping for that mo- ment when we will be filled, finally be acceptable, before we feel worthy to offer our gift to others. Some of us wish to wait until our gift is potent and comprehensive enough to solve all the world's problems and seeing our gift does not stop all the suffering, we de- cide it is inadequate.

But our sorrow does not con- taminate our gift. In fact, in my experience, the opposite is of- ten true: our sorrow can break us open, illuminating our gift. From deep within our suffering and loss, we can become more aware, more sensitive, more attentive and kind.

And so our sorrow becomes our gift. In our grief and con- fusion, we may mistakenly be- lieve we have no offering to bring. But mere suffering can- not extinguish the priceless gift of our true nature.

Many of the gifts we offer to others are small, ordinary things: a kind word, a meal, a comforting visit, an hour's

and ordered her committed to of thei;gifts is, I would argue, laughter is our gift. If we grow insme asylum in St. Paul. more costly than the original tomatoes, then tomatoes are

Theywerenltcallingthem"in- pain of their mental illness. our gift. If we can cook, then sane asylums" anymore, Theirsorrows, while powerful foodisourgift. Ifwecanmake though, the new tern "hos- pital." But there was still little or no attempt at any kind of treatment ortherapy, and arose by any other name ...

Clarence and Anna Mae made the long trip to St. Paul as often as they could; but Anna, in her shame and guilt, could no long= bear to see them, and asked especially that her daughter not come very often. When she was allowed, Anna Mae would take the day-long bus ride from Blue Earth to

I I Minneapolis, stay with a rela-

and real, are not unbearable. With faith and kindness, pa- tience and wisdom, these wounds can heal. The greater &edy is that each person, in their own way, believes they have been broken by their suf- fering. As a result, they are convinced they have no cred- ibility, nothing useful to bring to the world in which they live, and they feel isolated and use- less.

W h we feel hurt or afraid, we arereluctant, ashamed our gift is insufficient. We are certain

music, hold a hand, listen well, build with wood, or plant flow- ers, these are our gifts.

Agiftis likeabulboraseed. It isn't an impressive thing. It's what can grow from the seed that is impressive. If we wait until our seed becomes a tree before we offer it, we will wait and wait, and the seed will die hlackofplanting. Thenira- cle is not just the gift, the miracle is also in the offering, forif wedonot offer, who will?

9 I \\\:\ton y

METROPOLITAN CENTER &.a * z i , FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING

MCIC OFFERS SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, THEIR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS. SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND INTERESTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN THE SEVEN-COUNTY METRO AREk

hformdian md R d d @rs(t imwdiorhdk~ 61-289) @ Independent Living Slrillr Triiniog @ Individual P e r Support

Deaf L L Sewices

Support G~wPs.. . cvmntly: lhnmmk Brain 1- 9 Cllvonic Nnar ~ D ~ a l P k y r i o J ~ 9 txxWnithDtab&k

Re&k~h@s 8 P a r o n a l A n ~ ~ ) a d F a m i i y C m r g i * m

~ e n o n d Assistance SeWiceS (M.A Subsidized) Ramp Project 8 Transition Program 8 ADA Information

Meeting Rooms @ Computer Lab 8 Resource Library

1600 U N ~ I T Y A ~ . W., Sum16 $ ST. PAUL, MN 55104-38.5 (651) 646-8322 vofa CB (651) 603-2001 TIY Cg (651) 603-2006 FAX

m : / / w w w . ~ ~ u ~ . o ~ d M C I 4

. - - - How I Spent My YU R

Summer Vacation-- -- by Frank Guinello

I was at Camp Courage for a ranging in duration from a few week in June last summer, days to 18 days. The camping

along with about 80 other dis- programs run from June abled adults. Almost every- through August, keeping the thing physical in life that the staffatcampfor IOsglidweeks. average person takes for At Lakeside, there are many granted, and even some emo- different programs for varying tional and communicative as- age groups. The camp that I pects are dangerous, difficult, attended was for adults, ages or painful for most of the camp- 25-45; but there are also pro- ers, myself included. Offset- grams for ages 18-25; acollege ting this difficulty is acounsel- preview camp for teenagers ing staff of college students with an interest and ability in and recent college graduates mathematics, business, or com- who foster campers' indepen- puters; and others, including dence. athletic camps, for younger

children. At Woodland, all the Camp Courage is one of two programs are for children with camping facilities run by the communicationproblems, but Courage Center. It opened in they are offered for slightly 1955tobroadentheexprienceS varying age groups. The available to people with dis- Woodlandprogramsofferpro- abilities. For44summers,ithas fessional speech therapists in done just that. "Certainly one addition to the staff common of our goals is to allow the staff to all thecenter'scamping pro- to care for any physical prob- grams. lems or health-related issues, !w?q and let the campers enjoy a As mentioned earlier, Camp typical, fun camping experi- Courage is not the only sum- ence," says Bob Polland, di- merfacility run by thecourage rector of camping services at Center. The other is Courage the Courage Center. North, located in Lake George

nearItascaPark, about 200miles Located inMaple Lake, about north of the Twin Cities in the 50 miles west of the Twin Cit- Minnesota North Woods.

riding or other outdoor ven- tures, water sports, arts and crafts, and campouts. They also assist in daily activities like getting in and out of bed, showering, dressing, and eat- ing. In addition, they are re- sponsible for planning and executing nightly activities, such as adance, acasino night, and an elaborate banquet. Polland states "that the camp experience is a two-way street for the very active counselors. The idea with the counselors is educating them on how to deal with disabled people as much as it is to have them help the campers." The counselors take as much from the experience as the campers; over 50 percent of the counselors return for another summer.

There are other staff members as well: the nurses, doctors, cooks, and many others. There is about a two to one camper1 staff ratio that seems to pro- vide adequate assistance to all campers.

The Courage Center camping department>has seiauniversal fee for all programs at both

80 disabled people in has since become a wonderful United way and other picate new and very accessible ac- addition to Camp Courage, donors. That means that a commodations. The adapta- especially for those who enjoy tions include large, spacious the outdoors. cabins with plenty of room for themany wheelchairstypically According to Polland, though occupying them. The cabins Courage North is not as big as all have accessible bathrooms. Camp Courage, it is a beautiful All of the common areas are setting for a camp. Hosting equally accessible; for ex- eight programs of its own, the ample, adining hall, arec hall, northern facility is more fo- and an arts and crafts building. cused on experiencing nature

and includes frequent trips to The other unit, the Woodland Itasca Park. The programs at Unit, is set up very similarly, Courage North include a Ham but houses up to 72 hearing Radio camp and programs for and speech impaired children, autistic children. They are for ages 7-14, at a time. This unit varying disability and age doesn't haveall the accessibil- groups. ity features of Lalceside, since t h p are not as many physi- Ihe counselors are the most cally disabled people staying important and visible of the at Woodland. The units also staff. The counselors at Camp share some facilities, includ- Courage wearmany hats, func- ing a fann forhoc&backriding, tioning as personal care atten- a lake for inner tube rides, dants,supeW,rnleenforc- speedboat rides, etc., and a ers, teachers. entertainers, and swimmingpoollgymnasium. mainly fritds. The counse-

lors help campers with all the Each summer there are 1 program's planned activities. grams at the camp, 12 at TypicaIly,activitiesatthecarnp Lakeside and 7 at Woodland, includeswimming, horseback

weeklong program wouldcost in the neighborhood of 400 dollars. HoweverPollandsays that there are scholarships available. "We never decline anyone based on financial rea- sons. No matter what people can contribute, we gladly take whatever they can pay, and let the other sources t a k care of the rest," he says.

Not surprisingly, Polland brags a bit when discussing the preeminence of Camp Cour- age. "There are pretty big fa- cilities in -Indiana, Connecti- cut, and Alabama," he says, "but I've been to two of the three, and Camp Courage is definitely the best in the U.S. as far as I'm aware."

Feel free to direct any ques- tions about the camps to Bob Polland at the Canning Ser- vices department of the Cour- age Center. His phone number is (612) 520-0502. w

'Your Key to Freedom"

--T I ID

(61 2) 571 -6368 Comfortable Sedan Transportation I for those with Special Needs I

Patronize your Access Press

Advertisers. Let them know

where you heard about them. They

bring you your naner. I MA Recipients

n

tter, the Department stated ; position as follows:

I ne Department that recipients w long-termcare facilities should have access to power wheel- chairs in a manner which is essentially equivalent to re- cipients who live in the com- munity. While the Department must comply with the language I of rule [Minnesota Rules, part 9505.0310, subd. 2 (A)] and statute [Minnesota Statutes, Section 256B.0625, subd. 311 regarding this issue, we do not believe that this additional lan- guage creates burden of proof which substantially changes the right of a long-term care facility residentrecipient to tht

R E N T A L - W S SERVICE - REPAIR I

NRECT B I Y # E Z yNEJIEEE MEDICAID I OSTOMY - URINARY MANAGEMENT

NURSING SUPPLY SPECIALISTS

933.1126 ST PAUL 841-1917

HOURS-M-F €33

Hello Nicole:

November 10, 1

Reliaion & Disabilitv

by Cheri Registe

* Every year on the Sunday physical pain and the terror it dawnsomeone walking with nearest November 1, Refonna- causes, I preferthesimple Tao- white. cane or the curled p tion Sunday, I drive to church ist statement, "Shit happens." tureofcerebralpalsy. those people who I feel may hoping we will sing "AMighty Evil simply exists. Horrible like this kill not Forlress."Myex-Lutheranwul things occur. C'cst lavie. The are lacking in s longs to belt out, "The Prince ProtestantC'Shitwon'thappen because they of Darkness grim, Itmnblenot if Itry harder" doesn't work for by an evil thati forhim-- ." The l iMhesby- me. Pain is just too powerful. in all of us: terians with whom I worship now don't generally personify *I fail to comprehend the gmd evil in this way, and I miss it. thatstrikesintelligent, family- der an outburst of self-hate if

lovingCEO1s of multinational * For the firit time in my 53 corporations and allows them rible. years, I am hooked on a soap to overwork, underpay, and opera. This past summer, I sat even sicken and injure their New Age trends iq theology down with my teenage daugh- 'offshore' workforce without and secular psychology both ,

tersin front of theT.V. and got guilt. How can human beings caught up, in spiteof myself, in who behave so inhumanely 'Days of Our Lives.' I am fas- enjoy the rewards of their in- cinated with Stefano, that humanity? charming, debonair, and vi- ciously self-serving Prince of How do we acknowledge the Darkness. force in our lives that works staredownthatPrinceofDark-

against the good, that aceounts * My favorite T-shirt, which I for both bodily pain a d the seldom dare wear, features pain we inflict on esachother? It eighteen variations on the slo- is time forthe concept devil to gan 'Shit happens.' I tuck the make a comeback, but not for shirt in to hide h last f w r the Puritan revivalism that items, added by someone who equates lying about sex with missed the point and saw this treason. There is a more dan- asamerejoke. Theoriginallist gerous evil afoot than that. is adever treatise on haw vari- The young men who crucified o w mljgions deal with the Matthew Shepard for his ho- p r o b h , & d i . As- m ~ i t y m i & t t l s r a g e f u l l y 925-0485. who has lived d f . 6 a d @-zi&&ously stxike

by Steven P. Elliot

A s youmay beaware,Medi- same medically necessary and nursing home resident recipi- cal Assistance (MA) re- appropriate wheelchair as a ents, who need power wheel-

cipients who reside in nursing community resident. Further, chairs for independent mobil- will be short and filled with and for whom it is the natural homes have had difficulty ob- we do agree that when arecipi- ity, to receive separate Medi-

know choose euthanasia. In some situations I felt it was

compounded with a severe the end 1 just had to try to trust

Disability Law Center and the chair, that fact alone will fre- submitting a request for sepa- disability and/^ illness,"can, that they made the decision Write to Nicole: Department of Human Ser- quently meet the test of an rate Medical Assistance reim- vices, the Department has de- "unusual medical need" as re- bursement, please contact cided to evaluate requests for quired in the rule language Steven P. Elliot, Minnesota power wheelchairs by nursing above. Disability Law Center, 612-332- home residents using the same 1441, TDD 612-332-4668, cr criteria as currently used for The Department's new posi- toll-free 1-800-292-4150.. requests by people living in tion should make it easier for ICF/MRs and people residing ;- the community. In a recent

Handi Medical Supply 2505 University Avenue West St. Paul, Minnesota 551 14

i&i& At Hwy. 280 & University Avenue

HANDa,v-=w-SUPPLY " . (651) 644-9770 6

Visit Our Large, Fully-stocked showroom open to the public.

YOUR COMPLETE MEDICALSUPPLYVENDOR Wheelchairshvith complete Commode & shower chairs repair service --7 'T.--? Ostomyland wound care *' -e Blood pressure equipment Walkerslcanes, crutch " '- ' Bathroom safety aids Diabetic supplies . IncontinenWrological supplies

GREAT SERVICE & PRICES We offer 24 hr. Emergency Service excluslvelv to our regular

customers. Free UPS and deliveries to Mpls., St. Paul & Suburbs.

We bill M.A.. Medicam, Blue CrosJ/Blue Shield, Medica and many other insurances

. .. ..- .

6 November 10, 1998 Access Commenta I Socia;Security: Markets And Societies by Jeff Nygaard

I n our last ins@lment, "So call it "privatization," since it - cial SecurityUpdate"(AC- essentially would privatize the , --T . - .cEssPRESSSeptember1998), entire system. That is likely

wesaidthatRodGramsseemed why he uses the tern "Per- :' "pretty excited about Social sonal Security" rather than f..: Securityreform." Thatwasan "Social Security." By further 5 understatement. On October labeling it 'Wealth in Retire f 6th, Senator Grams introduced ment," it makes one suspect 'i. . in the Senate a bill that would that the interests of survivors

almost entirely privatize the andpeopbwithdisabjlitiesare "' Social Security system, and he a low priority in his bill. A

has promised to hold meetings closer look shows €hat to in- in each and every county in deed be the case. Minnesota over the next five months to discuss his plan. TheSocialSecurityprogmmis Then on October 24th, Presi- officially called the OMDI or (dent Clinton announced the "Old Age, Survivors, andDis- first-ever White House Con- ability Insurance" Program. ference on Social Security, to "Old Age" is the retirement be hdd on December 8th and part. But almost 4 in 10 Social

, Wand ~ i s i p m d d tolead, Security recipients each year . to a " b i p h a n solrrtipn early are disabled workers or the de-

next year." W t s or survivors of dis- abled or dadeased workers;

r; + So' it looks like some sort of thatssf€xe "SW in the OASDI "solution" may beon the way. program, Noprivatizationplan ~ s f : ~ t a l y , dl of thesolu- provides good deYb m dis- tions put forth so far from ei- ability protecfion, and W s ther party accept themarket as areason for that: Workers who the ultimate solution. That is die or become disabled at a bad news for people with dis- young age haven't had time to abili&d+@themajority of save enough in their personal workers h the B&& States. accounts to support them-' . m s article will he*jl;oumake selves or their dependents. sense of the debate so p p tqg I1SctoMinnesota'sjuniorSena- In 1996, o w 20% of people

r;or wba Jhg comes to your newly awardeddis&ili~ ben-

And, since everyone pays in and everyone is protected, there is no way to "shift costs" or "skim off' the lowest risk individuals, as private insur- ance companies and HMOs often do.

A system of private accounts is not the same at all. Senator Grams' plan calls for the man- agers of the private accounts to use the balance in those accounts to purchase disabil- ity insurance for each account holder. But private disability insuranceisexpensive, and it's mnpkated to administer. A study done on this subject this past July by the National Acad- emy of Social Insurance had this to sa)i on the subject: '*If pu~hased privately, the de- sign of [dsability insurtmce] could not match the social in- surance features [of the public Social Security system] that pay different amounts to oth- erwisesimilarly situated work- ers bitsd OR whether they had small children or a spouse."

It's true that Senator Grams' plan requires that the private fund manager p d a s e dis- ability insunace sufticient6?o at least mat& the promid

Grams' "pri~atiZati0n" plan krACCESS PRESS, over the wou~d~eedtodrawfundsfn,m long haul the market cannot do the Treasury, pramably in- better than the overall creasing the federal deficit, in ecmomy. hi^ means thatthe order to guarantee the same bleak projections for the over- level of benefits that the cur- all economy which give rise. t~ rent system already provides. talkof8 Social security fund- The current system has never ing "crisisw are the'same pro- had a deficit. Under the priva- jKtions that give the lie to tized Social security systemin promises for high -ket re Chile, a System admired by turns over the same period. In Senator Grams, similar govern- other words, if themarket does merit guarantees are putting well, so does the Social Secu- ~ ~ r i o u s strains on the federal rity system. And if there really budget. is a problem with Social Secu-

rity funding, then the market One thing seem5 ~lznost cer- has the same problem, because ti3in: The high Costs of pW- they're based on the per- c h i n g therequireddisability formance of the underlying hiurance in the privatemarket economy. That's all you need wi l lea tu~alarge~nt%eof to know about thewhigher rate everyone's retirement ac~o~nt , ofreturn" argument. But there resulting in a ve~.much * are many other problems as duced pension benect for d l well. Forexample: nun-disabled retirees. Thus, such a plan may n d l e s s l ~ 0verhead.Ofeverydollarin create a ~ r c e ~ t i o n o f c o m ~ Social Security taxes you pay, htionf~fundsbetween~e~le over 99 cents goes to pay with disabilities and retirees, benefits, meaning that the where none exists today. administrative overhead for

the public system is less than * $ a r a J o M one percent or a private wm system, costs are much

"There is no doubt that a mar- higher. why? Unlike the ket-based n3i~ment System public system, any private will generate much better re- system would include corn- him than the traditional So- nrissims, fees, msaction

financial markets, had this to say abwt private Social S e curity accounts: "If we are to have self-directed individual accounts, we must be ready to undertake an unprec- edented level of broad-scale policing of the equity [i.e. stocks and bonds] markets. Without such policies, fraud and sales practice abuses may be perpetrated against m m y of novice investors. And many of those novice investors are our society's most vulnerable citizens." Who knows how much this would cost? There has been no significant fraud in over i&D years with thecurrent sys- tem

* Oversight unlike tmhitional Social Seourliy, each account holder in an individual sys- tem would want (and need) to monitor the performance of their portfolio. That means that millions of people who don't have to think aboul their Social Security income under the current system would have to educate them- selves about the market and then spend many hours man- aging their accounts. As- sumin& && -t&em~urs

- Y -1 . *., 1

r - L r t .~=u.A*h7&,.1,C . ' P -

ess November 10, 1998 7

OClAL StCURlTY = c0"t.fim.s setting aside money forarainy would thus be going to some- day. M a r k e t d o w n t ~ , fraud, thing other than paying ben- Senator Grams claims that his errors, inexperience, and bad efits. SO, overall, we'd be worse plan would increase benefits luck. all of these are risks to be off. Yetprivatizers often claim withoutraisingtaxes orincreas- faced by the majority of indi- that the average return on in- ing the deficit. Does that sound vidual Americans who would vestment would be higher un- too good to be true? It is. And be "novice investors." der a private system. How the sad truth is that the "liberal

could the system as a whole be alternatives" to privatization But the other category is en- worse off and the average re- all call forreducing thecurrent tirely different. These are the turn be higher? Simple, if you none-too-generous benefits costs and risks shared by the understand the difference be- through raising the retirement societyasawhole. Thesecosts tween a market anda society. age, reducing cost-of-living and risks are often not seen by adjustments, or other techni- the "average" person, but they First ofall, akey word is "aver- cal changes. are very real. The costs of age." If mostpeople are worse regulation r e f e d to by the off but a few people are much The reality is that the value of SEC chairman, as well as the better off, the overall average Americans' personal savings

I costs of insurance, marketing, may well be higher. That's and private pensions, both of sales, and other costs associ- how amarketis. It has winners which are supposed to supple-

the current spend-down sys- tem.

Much of the difficulty in pro- ducing the regulations for the program stems from the per- ception of a disability as an illness, and of consumers with disabilities as automatically being invalids in need of medi- cal care. In the past few months, the Department's li- censure committee has held four public meetings to con- sider these issues, most re- cently on October 20. At that meeting, a representative of the Nurses' Association stated that PCA services are an extension of nursing, and a representative of the Depart- ment of Human Services as-

The Independent Living phi- losophy upon which Personal Assistance services are based is an outgrowth of the overall civil rights movement of the past 40 years. ''The dignity of risk is the heart of the Indepen- dent Living movement. With- out the possibility of failure, the'disabled person lacks true independence and the ultimate mark of humanity, the right to choose for good or evil." @eJong 1983).InNew Jersey, the program's regulations state that a self-directed person liv- ing independently "does not need or want amedically-based person or organization to op- erate and oversee personal care services and can manage and supervise a Personal Assis-

pm at thesnelling Ofice Park, 1645 Energy Park Drive in St. Paul. If you are concerned about Independent Living Per- sonal Assistance services, y ou should try to get to that meet- ing. Copies of thedraftregula- tions and further information are available from Mary Cahill or Maggie Friend (651-215- 8725 or 8726), and writtencom- ments may be sent to either of them at the Department of Health o B o x 64900, St. Paul, MN 55164-0900) or to Ken Moses at MCIL (1 600Univer- sity Ave. W.,#16, St.Pau1, MN 55 104-3825) to be passedon to the committee..

Ken Moses is the Personal Assistance Services Program

ated with acompetitive private system are costs you wouldn't

I necessarily be aware of, but which would nonetheless drain funds from the system.

In the private market, indus- tries often can increase their profits by getting somebody else to pay a part of the costs involved in doing business. For example, thepetroleumin- dustry increases its profits by getting the government to pay for part of the costs of cleaning up after major spills such as the Exxon Valdez. This is called "externalizing" costs. What does this have to do with So- cial Security reform? Every- thing.

and it has losers. A society does, too, but with one key difference: In arnarket, the los- ers simply go away, and the money they have lost goes to the winners. In asociety, there is nowhere forthe losers to go.

A "market-based personalized retirement system," such as Senator Grams and many oth- ers envision, would "external- ize" as many costs as possible. The costs of regulation and the costs to each household of overseeing their investments, for example, would be invisible within this system. Most CN-

cially, the system would exter- nalize the costs of supporting its inevitable losers. But who will pay the costs of support- inn them if the Social Securitv

ment Social Security's minimal benefits, are going down. What we should be doing is expanding and strengthening the Social Security system to address this problem, not cut- ting it backorreplacing it with some pie-in-thesky plan. But, the rhetoric about a false crisis has made it all but impossible to talk about anything but cut and slash.

It would not be that hard to . maintain current benefit levels for the next century. To do so, we would have to raise taxes gradually, for a total increase of about 1 percentage point each for workers and theirem- ployers. Can we afford that? If overall wages continue to go ua at even a verv modest level

meering, the 6-page draft of He&&

. of .$rat sysfem s&I, 'That's sim of this solution yet put sented at the Septembm 30 T%e commiw's final draft qf n a a p- -e. m t ' s a forbard, A strong, public sys- -- meeting had IRW-ed t a the recommended regulations welfare ism.* Trye enough, tem of Social Security is the

-'

ZOpagesofmedical-dl b. will bsant ta the sbtB1CgisIa- b u f b t i f l - ~ m ~ best hope f w people with dis-- page, and the committee 6 tw in January. b i e r defEci& $ &* -. ab~tleg, and forthe majority of c i d d bstart over rather thsm Just l&e w d d b r e in the h r i ~ and thei~

families. Let's not createareal

- 17, fi.Om'f0atn to"3

We ask people who plan on attending to RSVP by Monday, Nov. 30m For more (MCIL), the following individu- comMtia of color.

als were elected to the MCIL information, directions, or requests for LEGISLATIVE ROUNDTABLE

Board of Directors: Jamie Fdowing a brief business accommodations, please call DSCC. set for January 6,1999

Becker; Richard Caner; Mary meeting and lightsupper, board Mack; David Swanson; Julie members and guests were en- All disability groups and coalitions

Wegshied and Elizabeth tertainedbyagroupparticipa- are invited to participate.

Young. The following were tory production of "The Mir- Disabled Student Cultural Centsr (DSCC) elected officers: Pam Stenhjern ror," performed by Made in 235-L offm man Memorial Union 300 Submit your 1999 legislative agenda (on disk in an IBM

compatible WP 6.1 or lower [or text] file) to Tom Brick by Chair), Valerie Bygd (Trea- was a reminder that there are December 20 to be included in next year's Legislative surer), Julia Washenberger many individuals whose lives Roundtable booklet. (Secretary) and George Hall are governed by societal mis-

Metropolitan Center for Independent Living For further information, callTom Brick @ 65 1-296-3478.

(MCIL) 1600 University Ave. W. 3. Paul, MN 551 04-3825 65 11296-6785 V/TTY 651 1-646-8342 NOICE) or 1-800-945-891 3 VlTTE , .

expanded office space; a new creating a truly inclusive soci- computer lab for Independent ety for individuals with dis- Living classes, which is open abilitiesa

by Victoria Medleys

Changes in solidarity notwith- mental retardation certainly hears used indiscriminately by step is to accept that you have we all go down." standing, crip caste is still alive doesn't mean you're dumb." the disabled and non-disabled an obligation to recognize your more obvious.

alike. "Many people think I'm privilege. "If we can recognize as a group that our issues are the same For those on the low end o

do is use it in my work to help you say it, but I can't say I've quads or paras to be poor, to foundit an influencein my own have few social skills, to be life," saysTucson, Ariz., writer living in astate institution orto

"unsuitable" for such a life- Non-DisableCMairs hitsthe here? Perhaps part of the an- saving measure. With &help nail on the head. Most know swer can be found in writer

stayed at home so as not to Cross-DiiityRealities of other advocates, Jensen there's something happening, JamakeHighwater's'TheMy-

one more year.

, d d e s s q anaccasionalcolunvlistftxthe joined self-deter- People First of Washington vernor's groups or newsletter, .knows well.

councils. "There's a big. difference be- ficial divi- tween people with spinal cord

sions increased the separation injuries and the greater popu- nds of dis- lation ofPeopleFitt,'" he says.

society &-large; "In how they grew up, how also fueled disability-spe- t h e y n x i n ~ ~ l ~ e s , what

on formoney and they talk @boutand whom they get along with. As far as what we'retrying toachieve, there's

StephanieThomas, edi- little difference, As fm as how Incitement", ~DAPT's people respond to us, there's a e, politically radical, blgdiffercnce."

inclusive newsletter,- readily admjtted to her igno- - Moss, who uses crutches and

powerfiiltheaterfilledwithdis- mendilln=&t;weyre&d my privileges, I don't look ability metaphor and history. ofthe pynem ⁢ and we're down, but I do feel sort of a

notwillingtolwkatitbeca~ggr twinge - a desire to make it Knownforhes&b+gtl- w e ' r e w w M t W w e, , p d b l e tQ share the goodies em style, Wade says &m&rl# m & e w e me.'' Csmm@tT society is not quick to let go be ~ S S than b o m t not to XI- i y &ply pmj* of." - mit she% grateful to bpmt of and s b e may not be easy. the "llpper" caste. "From my B u t g i v ~ & & s ~ of "W&iw a es-ly di-. rather privileged disabled po- with disal~ilitie~, Wade be- vided group? q s 'NEW sition, I say 'yippity-do-ya- lieva, it's a dmgerous luxury MOBILITY' editor Barry .yeah' for at least one gift. to ignore it. Co*. ' y- w b n a Anybody who functions sw- , i comes to inqam& .What ws ces&lly in this balf+a sys- "'You mlly+a a thelrap of the have in the disat@ty1~apmu- tean d @yo ,different is a- caste tdaySSkut with -d nity is an entiregroup dtrhlud gddmn liar. You'd be a fool

- to wet to be o&erwim!'

I - HOUSING AND PERSONAL CARE SERVICES

. - ~ccksible Space, Inc. (MI) offers subsidized one and two bedroom apartments for individuals with physical disabilities. Wehave housingi~~the

I I Twin Cities metropalitan area, .St. Cloud, Brainerd, GrandRapids, @%bing, Austin, Marshall, Vki-llmar, Gd~~lGth.

The apartments are fully wheelchair accessible md&b building has a

I i.

central laundry room, large co-Q mom, secured entry a d qn on-site caretaker* -

I .-

AS1 also offers shared personal care services 24 how8 a day, at most - locations, for adults with a physical disability and/or traumatic brin .

injury who qualify for Medical Assistance.

For more information call (65 1) 645-727 1 or (800) 456-7722. For services or ho6singcall ~eigh, for employment as apersonal care attendant call Sean. -- %* -, I

8 '0 1 , Accessible Spam,Inc.

it in more personal terms, "Eventually," he says, *'what wecanhdpto+'leafilisth8t one's grata& enmnyisn" the fact ofbeing a crip, but iather what o m sees in the mirror." ~ ~ ~ b e r s t h e ~ y s he a v o W c&ms with dis- abilities,& W m e m pres- ence in hi3 e @ t y as some- thing that c o u 2 d ~ ~ m d o w n in the eyes of 0 t h ~ ~ .

Cheryl Marie Wade says she, too; spent years being "the %xc@m ta tlre rule," count- ing on her intellect to some how 1ih her out of disability prejudice: -Ws an attitude she .Cantinu% to confront. "It's a lifelong struggle to deal with t h e bu&lt4ib-ng the way, yau ~ t ' ~ ~ 1 B H 1 e n t S of amval, bm+hm%& @mm, m, lhear'p&gre&ioa to eir- lightemmeat. When y-ow get

- ~ - h e n t s , j u a ~ b 'ern d rhn kikh it." ' '

- "'JVZlat if domes down to is bask survival: Wade says.

. . "If you don't think we're ex- p ~ ~ , think <&gain. The histiny ofpebp.le with disabili- ties isn't aactly a song and -e, you laow.". -

Crip Caste: dwning up to the Pecking Order and Prejudice Within tke Disability Cammu- nity originally appeared in New Mobility magazine,

- from pm ADWAS was thefvstpogam As a fmt step, a group of four by Deaf people." ,f the TV. And she had no way option is usually only u&d as in the United States specifi- Tw o communicate with the a last resort, because it means cally set up to address the women vomen around her. 'mere leaving friends, family andev- needs of Deaf and Deaf-Blind at vas no interpreter provided erything else behind (and it is peoplewhoarevictimsofsexual n or me, so I could not benefit also no guarantee of safety assault and domestic violence. Russell was one of the seminar Deaf women Reed? What kind rom the house meetings or [many women are followed, Foundedin 1986,ADWASisa participants from Minnesota. of program should we have? The Seattle program also in nteraction with others," stalkedandkilledby theirabus- non-profit agency of, by and ''Inbecominginvo1ved,1hoped When the groups reconvened, cludes asystem ofsafe homes, Lussell recalls. "This is true ers]). But nationwide the Deaf for the Deaf and Deaf-Blind. to create a change of climate they found they had identified which have proven to be an or all of us who are Deaf in community is small and news and attitudes for the Deafcam- the need for the same basic effective alternative to shelter nost shelters. When Deaf travels fast. Something that With a grant from the Justice munity here in the Twin Cit- services. Women ranging in forDeafwomen. Thesafehome vomen do not have full and happens in Washington, D.C. D e p a r t m e n t ' s ~ o f V i ~ ies,"statedRussell. 'Thehigh- -age from t h e i r b to their 60s providers in Seattle abide by qual access, and when they onedaywillbecommonknowl- of Crime, ADWAS is sharing light for me was the way in talkdabouttheimportanceof the strictest confidentiality re made more lonely by their edgeinSanFranciscothenext. the advocacy model they d e which we all bonded, becom- things like a 24-@UI crisis policies. No one knows who

move into the shelter, they are Even a less desirable option, veloped withothercities. Min- ing strong links in the chain hotline; equal access; Deaf the providers are. Usually, a morelikelytoretumkkhome. like moving across the coun- neapolidst. Paul was chosen first begun by ADWAS." advocates, and safe housing. womanstaysatasafehomefor We are tired enough from the try, is not an option many Deaf as one of five cities to receive one week, and, if additional abuse at home, and our ener- womencanconsider. Sowhen training under the grant. In September, ADWAS staff ~ o f i ~ r e s l o w feltoverwhelm- time is needed, will move to gies are too drained to advo- it comes to providing safety Marilyn Smith, founder of traveled to Minnesota for a ing support from women at the another home. Occasionally, cate for ourselves at ashelter." from abuse, services must be ADWAS, has some long- week to provide training spe- conference. "We sent around women go to shelters, but only

$ based on the specific needs of standing connections here, cifically designed to meet our sign-up sheets for people to if very specific arrangements ~f Seeking help of any kind may Deaf women. and is confident the new pro-. local needs. In conjunction help with fundraising, giving have been made in advance to , inat feel like an option formany P gram in the Twincities will do with that visit, the Minnesota community presentations and ensure appropriate, accessible

, . $)&women. Becausethecom- D E A F's advocacy services well. Lori Breslow, D E A F chapterofDeafWomenUnited so on. People were signing up resources will beavailable. Itis Pbun i ty is small (some refer to it arebeing developed with these ExecutiveDirector, is a former sponsored a day-long confer- right and left to become volun- more likely that awoman would - tf;: w "like a small town"), confi- language and cultural differ- ADWAS Board member. An- ence on battering and sexual teers," said Breslow. ADWAS' go from a safe home to another ?dentiality is difficult to main- ences in mind. Deaf women other connection is through assault. Conference organiz- Smith concurred, saying, type of residence, such as an k ~ n . 'Women often won't survivors of abuse, advocates local advocate Kathy ers were thrilled with the turn- "There was this incredibleen- apartment, with sup ? *are what happened for fear and others in the community Schumacher, who has called out and response of partici- ergy near the end of the day .vicca off&. 2 ,of feeling ostracized by the recognize that the key to pro- on Smith and other AD- pants. Marilyn Smith, the key- when we. all broke into work - - community," says Schumach- viding safety for Deaf people staff numerous times for ad- note speaker, shated hei groups .and shared dreams for D E A F Incorporated is cur ?Qr. "They're afraid to say any- doesn't lie with mainstream vice and resourcematerials for thoughts on the cunferemk. - the ww *. I'm excited rently seeking funding 'to de i . .t thing because they think other agencies. With the support of clients here. "MinneapolisJSt. "I was surprised at the numWr both by the energy I saw and velop this program. The advo- 5 people will think it's their fault. women in Seattle and other Paul was chosen because over of women who showed up, the support hearing people cacy program will initiallymn- 2- So what I try to do is make sure cities, they are building acces- the years some women have considering the topic of abuse have shown." sist of a 24-hour crisis hotline p a o m e n know that whatever it sible, Deaf-based services in expressed interest in having issti11smewhattabooinmany staffed primarily by Wf -c?

1 was, it was not their fault." the Twin Cities. -5f

. training; and Lori was a great parts of the Deafcornmunity," The ADWAS model will be women. The p r o m is also 7% .- boardmemberwhenshelived shesaid. '*Womentoldmethat very helpful in meeting the looking for volunteers and $Other options may be limited ExtendvesupportforDBAFa out here. She is one of the tbey are ready for change in needsidentifiedbyconference other kinds of suppan For -,. for Deaf women as well. For program is coming from reasons I Rave great confi- howthecommunityviewsvio- participants. Their program more information, to make a .- 4

*+ . . ,example, some hearing women Abused Deaf Women's Ad- dence something will develop lence. And that they want this includes a24-hour crisis phone donation, or M b&&ie &B-

.

@'try to escapeabuse by moving vocacy Services (ADWAS) frornthis,"accordingtoSmirh. program to be run by a Deaf line, staffed primarily by Deaf volved, c a n t a ~ D E A F at n d . 7 to another city or state. This in Seattle, Washington. agency that is truly of, for, and women. This is accomplished 651-297-6700(Voice, m)..

featuring Afi-Tiombe, actress and historian .

Her one person readings entertain, enlighten, and educate audiences on black history and diGbility

Nov. 20;

FREE admittance, efreshments, and parking

-..> - > - ? a bus routes 21, 94, and 12

21 and 94 are accessible

Ca 7 for information on accommodations 651-646-8342 651-603-2001 tty

Sp~nrored by METROPOLITAN CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LMNG THE b U i M Y bSrmm COURAGE CENTER UNIVERSITY OF M I N ~ T A

THE VERY S P E ~ A L ARTS MINNESOTA Special thanks to the Minnesota Historical Society for providing space for this series of events.

r 10 November 10, 1998

Sports Beat a&d-%q,

Team USA Captures Gold Congress Fails To Ac nd Sllver Metals lL l i~ . On Work Incentives

' by Craig McCleltan and Luke Pedersen ! C .;-,,-+ by Bryon R. MacD

di ?-$)p3y, ,J T e a m USA captured the withahard-fought61-59victo- is curreay ee o chrge. he JeffordsIKenn ton

gold and silvex medals at ry against the Netherlands. 1 Work Incentives Im- advocacy. legislatois and the White House. Senate staf£ have re-

*?up, were hosted together. medal game Canada showed sessions. after October 9th, which was We areall responsible forthese will secure passage and the why they are the world's best,

TheEnergy AustraliaGold Cup as Team USA fell 54-38. ' 98 consisted of 240 athletes

tition. The tournament next month's edition. ed 66 action-packed cost activities. the first day of the next session 1998 than I hear loss and blame right and to yourselves and

* * * *

thegold, and thewom's team adults with physical disabili- phone at (612) 784-5743, be- the leaders here.

In 1998, we were not big In 1999, in the next session of enough, loud enough, early Congress, I have amessage for

eceuse of the messages we A good response to that is a Bryon R. MacDonald is the

, Congress,.-- includin~

-

To ListYour Business Card

Specializing in Wheelchair 3 Wheel 4 Wheel

Power Wheelchairs Accessible Homes Newsletters Ramps Trunk Lifts

Accessories Office: (61 2) 382-8330 Pager: (6 12) 632-3276

Free In Home Demo Home: (6 12) 45 1-7387 Sydney Wood. GRI

SCOOTERS S: WHEELCHAIRS Statewide In-Home S e r v ~ ~ e

S'1le5 & Serv~ce ot Pride Scooters & J u 7 y Power Wheelcha~rs, Electnc Trunk Lllts. ~ l t t Cha~rb, Stalr L I ~ ~ S & scoot-A-~ong Ambulatory and Wheelchair Service

Group Charters Available We Servlce All Bratzds M.A. provider plus other insurances

(612) 922-6876/885-0580

- How Lths mi llnzmrr . Hand Cmmb fa All Vchrk,

Lift Installation . Povtrrd ma Opmr

Mu* Lfl, Dntmg Auk

Raised Doors Wbxthprr hrnp FibnplruTqd for FUII ad EXCELLENT JOBS EXPERT STAF Msnt Shzcd Vuu - Rat& Dom

300 2nd St. S.E. R.C. SALES AND MFG., INC. If you don't call us flrst, you wil l M.I.S. out. 14726 Wake S ~ r c e ~ NE . Ham Lake MN $5304 a (612) 7866504 Call, fax, or e-mail Janet Arntsen at:

I

I

Toll Free 888-288-3749 651-463-3874

11 Northland Transportation, Inc. 1

12 November 10, 1998 Access P

Reach 10,000 Active, Interested Readers with Access Prass Classifieds. $8 up to 20 wards, 35$/wo1-d thereafter; Mail

with check to: ACCESS PRESS, 1821 11 University Ave W, #185N, St. Paul, MN 55104; (651) 644-:-

A - -

Burnsville: 2BR Accessible EZ~ivotmechanicallift. Holds Townhouse, Available 1 111. Person UP to 6'2"s 250 lbs. 2

: Bar- GreatLmation, Section 8 wel- months old. $600 or BO. 6 12- heel- come, $565.6 12-890-6292. 439-0327.

dized. One and two bed- OakpmkV&g6APmenb Salt Water aquariam, 125 gal- one bedroom

de- lons - 4'x 2'x 2', wet/dry filter, UV sterilizer protein skimmer.

signed for physically handi- $450. Ca117i9-0607. St. Pau1, OP- capped person. Convenient

St. Louis Park location. Call 935-9 125 for availability infor- -

Equal Opportunity PCA needed for Mexico worW vacation at Thanksgiving and second weekinFebruary. Call MAp. 651-64 1-0297,65 1-224-

~ ~ i ~ ~ ~ l ~ h ~ dual 5279 wheels, autoIvan lift, charger, other accessories, $2,200.6 12- 831-6973.

Interact To Ooen Art ~a l lery

P * K - - ,)T he public is invited to the Clown" by Tim Traver. Pro- and T-shirts displayed in the P. L+: - grand opening of the In- duced with the Center's gallery. Now an outstanding

side Out Art Gallery on Thurs- Mentorship Program, this small artist, doctors once thought " day, November 19from5:OO to edition artist's book tells the Traver would never be able to "2 , . 8:OOPM. Thenew gallery fea- story of whimsical characters walkortalkduetoencephalitis r x - -, 9 tures paintings, drawings, and on afantastic journey and how at the age of two.

sculptures by artists who work Timmy learned to fly. Traver

C in the studios of Interact Cen- uses screen printing, tie-dye, For more information, please ter for thevisual and Perform- colored pencils and paint to wntact I&r.;achat (612) 339-

include live music, refresh- g-. ments and an opportunity for visitors to explore what art enthusiasts refer to as Out- :

Ww-G *a*, Lq& sider Art. Guests are also of- -wPPed FOR INDEPENDENCE i fered an inside look at the stu- dio where the Interact artists work.

Outsider art is created by art- ists unshaped by academic training, individuals who have unique styles which may sur- prise and delight viewers. Pur- chasing it as an investment and colorful enhancement of homes and offices, art collec- tors have embraced outsider art. The Wall Street Journal calls it "the art of the nineties."

Your source of USED adaptive equipment

Large inventory of durable medical equipment available by appointment

USE OUR NEW LISTING SERVICE - CONNECTS SELLERS WITH BUYERS

Consignment P i c k up and delivery

Rentals Compact chargers

Check out our web page - The Interact Center for the Vi- www.equipimd.com sual and Performing Arts, f recognized for its successful theater productions, devel- : oDed the Inside Out Gallery to

Please patronize your Access

Press Advertisers.

They bring you

a showcasetheworkofitsminy : You can always buy new if we do not have what you need. visualartists.Mstic~ircctm O O O O O O O * * O O O O O O O O ~ O O O * O O O O * O O O O .

JeanneCalvitsays,"Theartist r-------I-----=- -q comes with the vision and the 1 Don't Miss An Issue! Subscribe ~ o d a ~ n l 5 I inspiration. We help facilitate 1 BUYS A Full Year (12 Issues) Of Access Press 1 therealization ofthis vision by I Name providing the space, supplies

I and mentors." The reception I

I I I I I

I 0 1 have an idea for editorial coverage. =I've enclosed my check for $15. I Send your advertising rates.

MAIL TO: ACCESS P ~ W ; I82 1 University Ave. W.. I

I XI85N, St. Paul. MN 55104. (651)644-2133 I L I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I J

THE FRIENDS OF ACCESS PRESS /I Since the sudden death of the publisher of ACCESS PRESS in 1996, ACCESS PRESS has been having financial problems. Over the past two years, The Friends ofACCESS PRESS has kept us alive. Yet, we need your continued support to keep the paper to 12 pages. Advertising and subscriptions have not kept pace with the cost of producing the paper. I

Here are the sponsorship levels: Basic (low income) .$5.00 Silver .... .$150.00 & up Benefactor ... $1,000.00 & up Friend .......... .$25.00 & up Gold ..... .$350.00 & up Bronze .......... $75.00 & up Diamond $500.00 & up

Contributions made at the "Friend" level ($25) or above, will entitle the contributor to a one year complimentary subscription to ACCESS PRESS. I ACCESS PRESS is a501(c)(3) non-profit. Checks should bemade out to ACCESS PRESS. Your contribution is tax deductible. Please mail your sponsorship to ACCESS PRESS, 1821 University Avenue West, Suite 185N. St. Paul, MN 55 104. I