Furthering our ability to develop professionally!

Do you ever have difficulty accessing books, journals, oral presentations, continuing education course materials, or the like? Does the specialized software used in your field create accessibility issues for you? Do you have to request assistance to even minimally participate in the professional organizations in your field because the materials, activities, or website aren’t completely accessible, including captioning and security features for registration or contacting the organization? Have you ever had to change jobs or fields because technology was no longer accessible to you or the software would not work with assistive technology? Do you routinely have to pay someone or ask a coworker or friend to scan, read, interpret, or alter information related to your work or professional field so you have access? Have you ever been employed in a disability-related organization because there appeared to be no opportunity for you in your chosen field, even though you had several years of experience doing something else? Have you or someone you know ever had accessibility issues that were a primary factor in any of the following: work at a part-time instead of a full-time position; nine months or more of unemployment; work for less pay or at a lower level than your qualifications merit; dropping out of the labor force; or applying for SSDI? Professional development has moved away from an employer-supported activity toward an individual model. This means that in addition to the many obstacles facing people with a disability in obtaining and maintaining employment, we face another set of issues: Access to the materials and technology to stay relevant, increase our skills, and enrich our own knowledge. Without equal opportunity, the fields in which we can take part will be extremely limited, our opportunities for promotion will be restricted, and our odds of maintaining employment until we reach normal retirement age will decline. If you would like to be part of a web-based group that begins to formulate ideas and take action to address issues such as these, please email us at AccessAge360@gmail.com. We are located in the U.S., but are open to working with professionals in other countries. We may benefit from sharing information and working with international professional organizations. If anyone is proficient in languages other than English and is interested in extending this type of discussion and action to other languages, please let us know. The idea is to increase access for everyone through expanding knowledge about design, alternative text, captioning, and screen readers, advocating for systematic change within and by professional organizations, and helping to shape product design and public policy.

Stories from my Commute: Visitors

Each year about 12 million people visit Boston. They come for all different reasons: the historical sites, the 4th of July with The Pops, shopping, professional reasons, etc. Though these visitors come all year around, the majority are seen between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Fewer students and faculty members are in the city, and many residents flee the city for long Summer weekends. I’m sure the Summertime shifts make the tourists more noticeable walking around and on the T. I was walking through The Commons the other day with a friend, and he said to me, “we’re the only two people in this area not carrying a map; maybe we should get one.” My reply was, it wouldn’t help, and we both laughed. We were not laughing at the confused tourists; we know learning one’s way around Boston isn’t easy. We just know the truth: the map will not help. Maps only help if one knows where one is, and that is the challenge in Boston until one gets a feel for the city. Mostly the visitors from all over the world are great. They ask for directions and give some creative people jobs leading the duck tours. The most amusing visitors are often from other parts in the U.S. like the couple I saw on the train a few days ago. I got on the T and observed this middle-aged couple sitting not far away from where I stood. The woman turned to her male companion, her husband I assume, and said isn’t it amazing how these blind people are riding the train all by themselves. She went on to remark to her husband, and everyone else around her, that a woman with a dog got right on the train without even hesitating. At this point I was mystified, but completely acting as though I did not hear this woman. It seemed easier than trying to formulate a response. What can one say to this type of commentary? I’m certain she didn’t realize her remarks were condescending and reflected far more on her own ignorance than giving credit to those she was observing. It seems socially acceptable to speak about people with a disability in the same way one might speak of a toddler.

Does Age Really Divide?

Generation gaps can exist in the use of language, entertainment, and technology, but the flip side is that generations often care about and take an interest in one another. This intergenerational caring most often occurs in families. For example, my Mom relocated to be closer to her grandchildren. She wanted to help with babysitting and enjoy watching them develop. The interest in intergenerational interaction isn’t just for grandparents. There are a growing number of intergenerational activities proving that age does not itself divide. If people become isolated from others outside their own generation, then it is easy to forget that much can happen when people from different generations come together. Intergenerational learning programs can help young students learn to read, students of all ages learn a new language, and promote health among young and old alike. The Council of the Third Age is working to expand their intergenerational programs, and you can read about the art project between young teens and older adults here http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1206008/1/.html The past couple of decades have increased the number of colleges and universities that are connected to retirement communities. A growing number of retired volunteers are adding to the intergenerational mix. Read about Ruth: one example of such a person here http://cvilletomorrow.typepad.com/charlottesville_tomorrow_/2012/06/placemaking-kastenmayer.html Even among advocate groups in the U.S. the solidarity among generations is becoming evident. One recent example is from the organization Our Bodies Ourselves. Though a primary focus of this organization has been promoting public education about menopause, their most recent campaign aims to support information about reproductive rights and access to contraception. The name of the campaign is Our Bodies Our Votes http://ourbodiesourvotes.com/. Check out these photos at http://ourbodiesourvotes.tumblr.com/

Timeout

For those of you who became regular readers of my blog, I apologize for my time away. I work full-time and am trying to finish a doctoral dissertation. To do this for anyone is a challenge but figuring in my disability means my life is pretty much all work and no play. A friend of mine was lamenting the other day that he hadn’t had a vacation in over a year. I was outwardly sympathetic, but inside I didn’t know whether to scream or laugh. My rent just went up 9%, I couldn’t find a more affordable place to live that was accessible to public transportation, and my last vacation was during the previous presidential administration. I did understand my friend’s desire for time away; I often dream of stopping the clock so I can get caught up or escape to a vacation spot. Still, I have it better than many others. During these economically difficult times, we all have had our struggles, but no group of people have struggled more than those living with a disability. We are the largest minority group, the most discriminated against, and the group with the highest unemployment. For those with post-secondary education, it is extremely difficult to find a good-quality job outside the disability field. Don’t misunderstand, the disability field is filled with fulfilling work for many people with and without a disability, but it isn’t a field for every person living with a disability. This “Glass Box effect” for people with disabilities limits their job prospects, often puts their educational background at odds with the jobs they can get hired to do, and perpetuates societal stereotypes about people with disabilities. It also insures that many people with a disability never get a mental break from dealing with disability-related issues like affordable housing, accessible transportation, and managing life with a disability.

The Whole World and Your Place in It

I am continuously frustrated by the absence of disability from discussions of diversity, globalization, and civic/social engagement. I believe part of this is the fears people living without a disability have about becoming ill, having a child who isn’t “healthy”, losing some function like their vision, or becoming frail in their later years. It is generally easier for people to avoid thinking about the things that scare them, so they ignore those living with a disability. I think it is time for people to confront their fears and begin to recognize those living with a disability. If you think disability has nothing to do with you or issues of diversity, globalization, and civic/social engagement, consider these facts: • The largest minority group in the United States and worldwide is people with a disability. • A disabling condition can happen to anyone of any age, race, ethnicity, or wealth. Approximately 650 million people, 10% of the world’s population, live with a disability. • Disability can be the result of an accident/injury, genetic condition, environmental hazard/stress, and/or disease. • People living with a disability are the most at-risk for being abused, a victim of a crime, homeless, unemployed/under employed, socially isolated, and unengaged in civic life. • In the United States alone About 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder. • There are about 6.3 million adults in the world living with Parkinsons Disease. • Insufficient research is being conducted with and by people living with a disability; this demographic group is largely ignored. • Access to adequate health care, immunizations, and nutrition, along with attention to public health, education, and workplace safety, can reduce certain forms of disability. • Approximately 80% of people living with a disability reside in a developing country. • In the U.S. and throughout the world, only a small portion of people living with a disability have adequate access to the social support, transportation, life-long learning, technical assistance, care, and assistive technology or supplies they need to be fully included in society. Sources: The Centers for Disease Control Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html The European Parkinsons Disease Association http://www.parkinsonsawareness.eu.com/en/campaign-literature/prevalence-of-parkinsons-disease/ The United Nations http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/disabilities/index.shtml

Hey, You Took My Spot

We all know that local communities are continuing to feel the fiscal crunch caused by the dealings of high rollers on Wall Street and the crash they caused in 2007. Communities have had to cut back on services and raise fees to cover shortfalls, and for a majority of communities, this bight will continue into the next fiscal year. States Continue to Feel Recession’s Impact — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities States Continue to Feel Recession’s Impact — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Groups who have been disproportionately affected by cuts are those living with a serious illness or disability. The majority of families who have a disabled child or adults who have an illness or physical condition limiting daily activity are not wealthy. Budget cuts have reduced community-based services for this group of people and their families. At least one community has decided that people requiring a disabled parking spot on city property, even if just outside their home, should be charged a fee. The argument seems to be that those parking spots have to be maintained and larger than all other parking spots, so those that use them should have to pay for them. No other people parking their cars will be charged. See the Steins’ story from Passaic http://www.northjersey.com/news/Disabled_boys_mom_urges_feds_to_abolish_Passaics_new_ordinance_on_handicapped_parking_fees.html Some people hold the view that this charge is deserved, after all, those parking spots are different from all others and have to be marked and supposedly monitored to prevent misuse by the non-disabled. You may be saying to yourself that this is a good point, but is it? Stop and think about why there are disabled parking spots. There are disabled parking spots because a matter of inches can mean the difference between someone getting where they need to go, and being turned away. Years ago when people determined the size of parking spots, they didn’t think about everyone, and instead put a standard in place that not everyone could use. Federal law requires disabled parking in order to protect those who need them from the indifference of others. From what I have observed, these communities would be better off raising the fines on people who misuse disabled parking, and hold them accountable for this abuse by not allowing them to renew car registration, driver’s license, or other state licenses for their business, professional, or personal needs until they’ve paid the fine for the parking violation.

Linda’s Story: Involuntary Retirement Part I

Linda was a good friend of mine. I met her shortly after moving to the Boston area in 2004, and we hit it off. It happens sometimes like that… You just meet someone and you can tell there is a friendship waiting to grow. Linda was always quick to help me out, didn’t mind a last minute meal invitation, listened to my complaints, and she was the best cat sitter ever. Once when a family member was critically ill with cancer, she took care of my beloved pet for three weeks out of 5 when I was away. She drove over to my place twice a day to feed her, talked to her, and gave her some attention. I was so secure in my knowledge that Linda had me covered, that I didn’t worry about my 14 year old pet. How often in life do you end up with such a good friend? Fortunately for me, Linda wasn’t the only invaluable friend I had during this period in my life, but she certainly was a blessing and huge help. A few months after Linda’s cat-care kindness, she began telling me about trouble going on where she worked. She was beginning to realize that her job was not secure. She worked as a lab manager, and sure enough within a few months, she found herself forced out. Linda had been with the company long enough to collect a modest pension, but she was in her early 60s, and not in a financial position to retire. Truthfully, she hadn’t even thought of retiring. Like many people, Linda had done very little toward planning for her future. She was a single woman living south of Boston, so the majority of what she made went right back out in living expenses. At this point if I truly known the extent of Linda’s economic situation, I might have advised her differently; however, we don’t often know much about our friend’s finances. Linda looked for a new job, collected unemployment, and began to look at how she was going to survive once her unemployment benefits ran out. For the first time she started to look toward retirement and explore her pension and Social Security benefits. I knew she’d been with her most recent employer for about 12 years, and I knew a couple of the employers she’d had when she was younger. I started asking questions about the length of time she’d worked for former employers and if she recalled participating in a pension plan. Linda thought she may have had a pension at a couple of them, but she didn’t know the type of pension benefit or anything about their value. She did know she’d never cashed out a pension plan, which was good news. Many people cash out their pension benefits from a 401K when they leave a job, so this money doesn’t gain interest over time. As it became clear that she wasn’t going to find another job, Linda truly had to start asking herself if she could get buy on her pension and Social Security benefits as soon as she was eligible. She contacted one former employer and realized she had a pension in a define benefit pension, but she wasn’t getting anywhere with a third employer. I referred Linda to the Pension Action Center. I knew they helped people track down pensions from companies that had gone out of business or changed hands. Linda felt she needed a bit more information about her rights and the questions she should ask. Sure enough, with information she gained through a call to the Pension Action Center, she learned she had a third pension. It was a very small benefit in a 401K, define contribution plan, but in her case, anything would be helpful. She was able to retire with her benefits and with the help of doing odd jobs and cutting back on expenses. I recall marveling at this situation. Here was a woman who did nothing actively to plan for her retirement, but because of the time period when she’d worked and other decisions she’d made without considering retirement savings, she had enough pension coverage to supplement her Social Security income. If she collected her Social Security retirement benefit as soon as she was eligible, her monthly check would be lower than if she waited until she was 66; however, without a job, she couldn’t get by without Social Security. Employers use to offer more defined benefit pension plans, that provided people with better income security in retirement than today’s 401K pension plans. And because Linda had entered a relatively male-dominated field, she had pension coverage. Men are more likely to have pension coverage than women in large part because of the types of work men and women have traditionally done and because men have been less likely to take time away from paid employment to care for children and other relatives. Linda would have likely had more retirement income had she planned, but she said that financial stuff hadn’t ever interested her. Plus, most of her immediate relatives had died young, so she didn’t ever think she’d live long enough to truly retire. She had no way of knowing that she would lose a job at 61 and be unable to find another position. To learn about The Pension Action Center go to http://www.umb.edu/pensionaction/