Presidential Politics

..Tis the season, presidential politics is upon us. The campaign season is racing up to go in full force. Last week the Democrartic candidates had there first televised debates and this weeks the Rebulicans will do the same. The question remains which candidate will have a disability policy that looks at not just healthcare issues - but how people with disabilities can gain greater access to society & more importantly what as President will each candidate do to benefit this large community. What is often lost amongst candidates is the power that the disability community has a as a voting block. Unfortunatley, this has been over looked in the past several election. However, organizations like AARP and NOD have begun to make some headway into utilizing thet power that the disability voting block possess I do feel that it is underserved.

A suggestion I have is to take a page from the playbook of AARP to show that the disperate voices of the disability community CAN have one voice & one common agenda. This will in turn create a power surge never seen in Presidential politics.

Some Musings about Universal Design

I have been thinking a lot lately about the future and the concept of universal design and livable communities. While the first thing I believe people think of are physical devices and architecture I have been prone to thinking about something different. These days I have been thinking about the philosophy of universal design should be seen beyond the physical design BUT rather as a social design model. The question has been that universal design allows for an accessible lifestyle - the question that comes to mind is what does that exactly mean? How do these physical adaptations provide a greater conduit to a social design model and create a new paradigm of disability and aging. Are they one in the same OR are they different. These are questions that I am currently exploring & will discuss later...

Oprah and Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. With the new study in 2007 from the CDC stating that 1 out 150 children will be diagnosed with some form autism this is certainly something that needs more attention. Today Oprah Winfery spent the hour discussing autism and the complexities of this type of disability. Having parents of young children, doctors and segments from a new documentary produced by Autism Speaks.

What she has done is fantastic, yet the mistake that has been made by her and many others is again doomed to repeat itself. While it is critica to look at young children, autism spectrum disorder as a disability is something that lasts throughout the lifespan. It is hard for me to continually see talk shows like Oprah and Larry King discussing autism without really delving into the 'lifespan question'. Now, what is the lifespan question you may ask. It is ostensibly stating that while early intervention is a MUST - how can we as a society (i.e those in the medical field, therapists, parents, educators and many others) look at focusing on lifecycle needs? What are the tools that we must be equipped to handle areas like being a teenager, young adulthood into older adulthood. There are many hurdles that need be tackled. It is time for major media outlets to broaden its focus and show this type of disability on a broader palette.

Disability & Business: A Book Review

I recently completed a book entitled " Disability and Business: Best Practices and Strategies for Inclusion" by City University of New York professor Charles Riley. The book itself is a wonderfully written, detailed introduction to the basic ideas of the value that people with disabilities bring to the business landscape. From the beginning Riley states that no longer should big business view the disability commmunity as just providing handouts, rather, the disability community will become a critical component in the future of good business practices. Moving beyond the traditional "hand out" model (which so often the social service organizations still cannot get past) he begins to explore areas like human resources, marketing and universal design. While ALL of these elements are critical to the overall business strategy the one draw back that I found was that the book provides a very basic overview of these themes and never really delves into case studies. Riley interviewed hundreds of people for the book - people in mangement, executive positions and so on. While the information provided was solid I often felt that there were knowledge gaps that were to broad for my taste. But in all fairness, as someone in the field who craves detailed information I know that my biases maybe unwarented.

The book itself I believe is a wonderful start to the growing ouvre of Disability Studies literature and provides readers with a greater understanding that these issues are vital - but more importantly business executives, management and scholars must begin to think about creating a paradigm shift when thinking about the relationship between business and disability.

Some Recent Thoughts & Observations...

Over the past several posts I have been discussing about the importance of the idea of livable communities. What often goes unstated is the definition of what a livale community is as it pertains to the disability and aging arena. I think that in light of recent events such as Walter Reed in particular it is critical to explain what the idea of a livable community is and the importance that this idea will have in the next decade and beyond.

I. Brief Definition

A Livable community can be defined by the enviornment (physical,social) that is accessible by all. All members of the community can feel welcome and utilize all areas of the community settings NOT limited by physical or social barriers.

II. Importance

The importance of this idea is to break down barriers so that there can be an inclusive enviornment that can serve its community on every level from healthcare, education to areas of policy. If we do not have these key pieces in place there is a continual perpetuation of discrimination.

III. Going Foward
Briefly, going foward we as a society must be aware that the concept of liviable communities and Universal Design go far beyond the traditional sense of building codes & technological advances. We as a community must incorporate the ideas of of cultural & social values as a critical element in the process of creating livable communities.

Liviable Communities

With the Walter Reed debacle in full swing it sheds light on the value of creating a livable community. Livable Communities by definition should NOT ONLY be about access to great medical care but alsothe enviornment surrounding that care. Access to areas of universal design, clean spaces and a greater understanding that care is a holistic process. A livable community should be just that - a commmunity - where people can feel a connection to one another and be able to create that link.

Walter Reed: The Value of Livable Communities

Since the Walter Reed fiasco, I have been thinking about the systemic effects of such an event. What kept resurfacing for me was the notion of livable communities. What often gets overshadowed in the healing process is looking beyond the "medical model" and seeing that enviornment plays a critical role in both rehabilitation but a sustained healthy lifestyle. For people with disabilities and those who are aging livable communities will be catch phrase that will begin to be bantered about in the coming years. But what does this mean in terms of the Walter Reed incident and more importantly what can we learn from it for future reference.

My thoughts are that what the Walter Reed staff need to comprehend and hopefully approporiate is the importance of physical space and enviornmental surrounding as part of the ongoing treatment both physically, mentally and psychologically. Functionality must be part of any treatment model but also livable conditions and the ability to feel safe in a situation where one is vunerable. The idea behind livable communities is that a person can function to the BEST of their ABILITIES and not feel hindred by the enviornment or even social barriers. While I am not disputing the medical care at Walter Reed I would suggest a larger review of treatment of people with disabilities maybe going outside the medical model.