Disability is Natural Newsletter

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Disability is Natural Announcement

www.disabilityisnatural.com

The Disability is Natural Free Press
Copyright April 2004 by Kathie Snow

IN THIS ISSUE:
--- NEW! Note Cards and Mini-Posters

--- Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal

--- Body Cleaning Made Super Easy!

--- People First Language Article--The Latest Version

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NEW!

NOTE CARDS AND MINI-POSTERS

All the positive messages that are currently on our badges, key rings, T-shirts, and sweatshirts are now available on note cards and mini-posters! The note cards are a great way to convey a powerful message when writing to policymakers, sending a thank you, or as invitations! Order for yourself or as a thoughtful gift for teachers, family members, or others, and share new ways of thinking about disability! Choose a box of 12 featuring the same design or select a combination of your favorite designs! The boxed set of 12 cards and envelopes is $6.00 plus shipping/handling.

The colorful mini-posters (8 1/2 x 11) will brighten the walls of classrooms, offices, and homes, and promote positive images at the same time. Display one favorite message or group several to educate all who see them! Wouldn't a CHILDREN FIRST, PEOPLE FIRST, or RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE ABILITY mini-poster add a nice touch to a classroom, office, or even your home? Each mini-poster is $5.00, plus shipping and handling; you can also order laminated or framed mini-posters.

Visit the Store page at www.disabilityisnatural.com to see these new products and other merchandise that promotes new ways of thinking. It's time for a gentle revolution in attitudes and perceptions. Are you ready to join the revolution?

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LIFE IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL

Actors are given a script. They learn their lines and practice the play over and over and over again, under the watchful eyes of the director. The set is constructed; costumes are donned; dress rehearsals begin. And at the appointed hour---ready or not---the curtain rises on opening night.

Life---for many people with disabilities---is not unlike the lives of actors preparing for a play, but with one significant difference. For actors, opening night signals the end of the readiness phase. But for people with disabilities, the dress rehearsals---getting ready for the real thing (LIFE)---continue indefinitely.

Parents and professionals depend on early intervention services (birth to three) to get babies and toddlers "ready" for preschool and/or public school. But by age three, most are not deemed "ready" for typical preschools. They're said to still need specialized services, and into a special ed preschool they go.

Special ed preschools attempt to get three- to five-year-olds "ready" for regular ed kindergarten. Yet far too many preschoolers with disabilities are never deemed "ready" for a regular ed kindergarten or first grade classroom. Some are even held back in preschool---and how, pray tell, does one fail preschool? Too often, the promise of special ed preschool is never realized as children are "placed" into a special ed resource room in the elementary school.

They, along with other students in many special ed classrooms (K-12), must then somehow try to earn their way out of segregation. Only when they're considered "ready," are they "promoted" into a regular ed classroom. Even if they finally achieve this success, however, a tether remains. One infraction in the regular ed environment can land them back in a segregated special ed room.

Sheltered workshops and other vocational services are supposed to get people "ready" for real jobs. Group homes and habilitation services are supposed to get people "ready" for independent living. But most "clients" never reach the level of readiness deemed necessary for working at a real job or living in a real home.

Get ready, get ready, get ready! The dress rehearsals for children and adults with disabilities never end. People with disabilities are on assembly line, moving from one special program to the next. Does this mean people with disabilities are failures? Or could it mean today's programs and services are failing people with disabilities?

Barring a stock market crash and a severe economic depression, if the unemployment rate of the general population rose to 70-75 percent, we would probably attribute this to a failure of the educational system and other public services. We most likely would not blame the vast number of unemployed people.

But now consider the current 70-75 percent unemployment rate for people with disabilities---a figure which has held steady for the past 12-15 years, despite more than a quarter of a century of federal special education law and more than a decade of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If we apply the logic in the previous paragraph, can we not see that something is very wrong with special education and other disability service systems---that the failure rests there, and not on the shoulders of people with disabilities?

Thinking about the brouhaha over "standards" in today's public schools can open our minds to the dilemma in Disability World. States have established standardized tests for students, to measure the effectiveness of teachers and schools. Low test scores are (supposedly) seen as a reflection of poor teaching and/or school management, rather than a reflection of individual student ability. In other words, the problem---theoretically---rests squarely on the shoulders of those providing the services, not those receiving the services. Wouldn't this same logic also apply to disability services?

If so, does the fact that the majority of people with disabilities are unemployed/underemployed mean sheltered workshops and vocational and habilitation services have failed to adequately prepare people for real jobs and independent and/or supported living?

Or does the fact that we still have sheltered workshops and habilitation centers prove that public school special ed services have failed to adequately prepare students with disabilities for life as successful adults? Or does the fact that so many students remain in segregated K-12 classrooms mean that special ed preschools have failed in their efforts to get students "ready" for inclusion in regular classrooms? Or does the high number of young children in special ed preschools indicate a failure of early intervention services?

But wait! Perhaps the failure of disability service systems actually rests in the philosophy that keeps these systems running: the "readiness" paradigm.

Disability services have devised artificial levels of readiness and competence based on an able-bodied standard which many people with disabilities are unable to achieve (in some cases, the bar is constantly being raised and remains out of reach).

And the resulting "not ready" status assigned to individuals who are labeled keeps the service system in business! If we choose to continue down the current path, the majority of today's children with disabilities will become adults who will maintain the 70-75 percent unemployment rate, living below the poverty line, and never achieving their dreams. Do we not realize that placing people in special "get ready" environments retards their growth and development? As Tom Powell, a learned man and father, once taught me, "If you want to know about basketball, you can talk to others about it, read about it, or watch others play. But the only way to really learn to play basketball is to get on the court and play!"

Are we truly willing to let even one precious day of a person's life be wasted in the demeaning, and often futile, attempt to meet another's standard of "readiness?" Would you be willing to exchange one day of the life you've chosen---a life of successes and struggles, laughter and tears---for one day of trying to reach a level of competence or success as measured by someone else? Would you be willing to spend your life in one dress rehearsal after another?

People with disabilities can achieve success in the same ways as people who aren't labeled: by having the right tools, accommodations, and supports in place (the things people who have not been labeled would not choose to do without). In the great drama we call life, we each have an important role to play, and our individual performances can contribute to the overall good, or cause the play to close after one performance.

When we change our way of thinking, we'll know people with disabilities have been ready for opening night all along; it is actually we who have been stuck in the rehearsal mode.

If you would like a hand-out version of the "Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal" article, visit http://www.disabilityisnatural.com and click on the Revolutionary Common Sense icon. Permission is granted to photocopy and/or share this article with others, in its entirety; non-commercial use only. For permission to reprint in your newsletter or other publication, write to kathie@disabilityisnatural.com In your request, please include the name of the article and provide information about your organization and newsletter.

Please do not violate copyright laws by reprinting without permission.

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BODY CLEANING MADE SUPER EASY!

Catherine S. wrote to share a "clean body" solution. Her daughter, Amber, was unable to transfer from her power chair to the shower chair for a few days.

Catherine and Amber discovered an easy, inexpensive, and readily available solution that may work for others, too---Dove Facial Cleansing Cloths!

Catherine had been using these cloths on her face every night. The lotion soap is already on the soft, disposable cloth, and Catherine noted that the cloths lather up easily with a small amount of water, the soap rinses off with an equally small amount of water, and her face felt both clean and moisturized.

When Amber wasn't able to take a regular shower/bath for those few days, she and her mom decided to try the Dove Cloths. Catherine reported that the cloths were better than expected: "Since the cloths lather up quickly with just a tiny bit of water, I could use really warm water that stayed warm while bathing Amber. Then I rinsed the same cloth out, and used it to wipe off the little bit of soap left on Amber's skin. The soap is very mild and leaves skin soft. These were easy to use and more comfortable for my daughter!" Amber added, "This was much better than a sponge bath---I didn't get chilled and it went faster, too."

Catherine and Amber thought this might be a helpful hint for others who may experience difficulty with traditional baths, for folks who may not be comfortable with traditional bathing, and for those who may not have access to a shower or a tub full of water---like campers and other outdoor enthusiasts! Available everywhere, these Dove Facial Cleansing Cloths are much less expensive than "dry bathing" products offered by specialty catalogs. If you have helpful hints or strategies to share with others, send them to kathie@disabilityisnatural.com and I'll help spread the word!

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PEOPLE FIRST LANGUAGE ARTICLE--THE LATEST VERSION

The latest revision of my People First Language article is now on the www.disabilityisnatural.com website, and you can download the PDF handout version. While you're at the Disability is Natural website, check out the thought- provoking, inspiring, and useful articles on the Revolutionary Common Sense page, and all the wonderful wearables and other goodies on the Store page. The Disability is Natural website is the place to visit for new ways of thinking, positive images, and effective strategies for change!

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Please feel free to share this Email with others, and invite your friends, family, and coworkers to visit www.disabilityisnatural.com and check out what's new! Be sure to visit the Revolutionary Common Sense page for a library of articles that may be helpful. And we'd love to hear your comments, suggestions, questions, and ideas.

Lead with a brave heart,
Kathie Snow

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