Showing posts with label disability discrimination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disability discrimination. Show all posts

7 November 2012

Day 7: The Waiting Room

Day 7 – Wednesday, Nov. 7
Redesign a doctor’s office or hospital room

I'm going to redesign the waiting room, because I end up spending more time there than I do actually in the doctor's presence. And it's because of the waiting room that I end up being extra fatigued for days after seeing my GP. 

The problem with waiting rooms is that they aren't designed for sick people. The waiting room at the GP is no different than the waiting room at a government office. Both offices should be disabled accessible (but often aren't), but only one should be designed for sick people. And it isn't.

First of all, let's address accessibility. Wheelchair spots. Where the heck am I supposed to park myself when the room is so full of seating that all the open spaces will block foot traffic? What the heck is up with that? Do you think disabled people don't go to the doctor? What the hell? I expect accessibility when I see my medical professionals! Get it right! The seats are never all full. Move some of them out of the room to leave room for the disabled folks. (And hey, moms with pushchairs too, but I'm not in that category myself.)

Now let's talk about sick people. Not just sick people, but really sick and feeble patients. How about a separate room for the really feeble people who aren't really strong enough to sit up? A room full of recliners, or beds or at least some sort of ability to become horizontal. This room for the very feeble should have noise restrictions. No shouting children, though quiet children are okay. The lights should be dim and the stimulation levels low. This room would be for people with migraines, ME, flu, or any other illness that leaves you shattered and weak. Yes, I know that some of the other people in the waiting room are sick too, but there are different levels of sick, just as there are people just in to have their kids vaccinated or their smear test, and these people are not weak. It's us weak people who need a place to rest while we wait.

It's dreadful going to the GPs office these days, simply because of all the time I have to spend sitting up when my body is not healthy enough for that.  I'd love to be able to lie down while I wait. Do I expect it to happen any time soon? No. Not at all. It's just a fantasy.

30 Days, 30 Posts #NHBPM National health Blop Post Month Day 7
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5 November 2012

Day 5: Assume Good Faith

I'm going to do something different today, and actually use one of today's prompts!

Day 5 – Monday, Nov. 5
Health Activist Soapbox.
OR
Write a #ListOf3 Things that you’re thankful for / excited about / or inspired by

Dear doctors, nurses, care-givers, benefits decision makers, friends, and family members of people with invisible illnesses: I have one request to make.

Assume we are telling the truth when we describe our symptoms and capabilities. Assume that we understand our bodies better than anyone else does. Assume that we really do want help and are not just malingering. Assume that we want to know what can be done and what can't be done for us, and that we want to be full participants in our health care decisions.

Yes, there are people who fake illnesses, and people who truly do not want to get well. Assume that we are not among that minority. Start from a position of trust and belief and don't jump into suspicion and accusations unless you've actually seen evidence.

Assume good faith. 

Please.
30 Days, 30 Posts #NHBPM Day 5
#NHBPM

22 January 2012

Even good stress is stressful

Things are starting to happen towards getting us moved this summer. We need a disabled friendly flat. I have ME, my husband has arthritis. Even the dog, who is about 13 years old, struggles mightily with the 3 steps from out door up to ground level. I think her medication will need to be increased when she next sees the vet.

We started making a list of requirements for a place for us to live. So many, and it's going to be tough to find all of them along with "allows dogs". Then we started making a list of things that have to be done to prepare.

This is all good stuff, and I like to talk about it, but it uses spoons, and it's still stressful.

Then I got the ESA decision that put me in the Work Related Activity Group again. That was stress of the not-good kind. I'm appealing it, but unhappy that I have to, when I clearly can't walk 50 metres - or even 10 - without experiencing severe exhaustion and significant pain. I've been referred to the NHS wheelchair service. I have a loaner wheelchair while I wait for the appointment.

Then there was all the stuff in the Lords, and the Spartacus report, and the continued disabled bashing in the news. The latter is having the intended effect. Even my carers have started making occasional references to people faking disability, despite the evidence of fraud being 0.5%, and the expense from it less than official error.

I wish they'd just treat us with dignity and assume we're acting in good faith and telling the truth about our own experiences. I so wish that.

17 August 2011

Discrimination Against Service Dogs

A story from Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
 Dr. Priya Punjabi argues that it is her right to determine who enters the property and that a large animal could scare or upset her patients.
...
Punjabi, who said she is afraid of dogs, added that her request was polite.
“We simply asked him to step outside,” she said. “I have my rights and my phobias, too.”
We still have so far to go.

Source

14 August 2011

The Scorn of the Healthy

It happened today. In a forum that I frequent, someone reported that they had great difficulty registering at the site because the captcha image was particularly hard, and the form would reset if you got it wrong. The person concluded by saying the visually disabled would find it much more problematic.

The first response, which was from a fellow poster on the site and not site admin: "I didn't find it difficult." The OP (original poster) said "That's like telling someone in a wheelchair that because you don't find the steps difficult, they shouldn't."

That brought the recriminations on in earnest. People demanded that the OP describe their "disability" (sneer quotes included). They pointed out that if he/she could make long posts, they shouldn't have had difficulty with the registration form. I posted to say it was really nobody's business what the OP's state of health was, and was shouted down. "They made it our business. This is a vital piece of information."

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that a few people, in addition to me, did speak up in the OP's defense, and that none of the people who were being rude were affiliated with the forum's administration. The admin person was perfectly respectful and posted to say that he was somewhat limited by the forum software but that he would look into it.

It's still so discouraging though.