Today I was sitting in a meeting where we were reviewing the rough cut of a video that generally addresses disability and employment. One woman, who represents a non-profit that works with people with developmental disabilities, was very critical of the video because she felt that it didn’t show enough people with that type of disability. Okay, fine. Then she said that that the video used only “upper crust” people with disabilities. For her, “upper crust” meant people with physical or invisible disabilities. My jaw dropped. In the most diplomatic language possible, I told this woman that every disability manifests differently and that we shouldn’t start playing the old game of Disability Hierarchy. The Disability Hierarchy is a concept that has plagued the disability community for years. At its crudest level, the Hierarchy is a measure of the social acceptability of various disabilities. On the top of the Hierarchy sit people with mild physical disabilities that are easily overlooked by the general public. They are followed by people with more visible physical and sensory disabilities (paraplegia, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, etc.). Below them are people with developmental disabilities. People with mental illness have historically occupied the bottom rung of the Hierarchy because of the extremely negative connotations society associates with mental illness. You can see how this is a pretty fucked-up view of disability. This bullshit Hierarchy doesn’t exist except in people’s heads and it perpetuates itself with surprising vigor. Advocates and even people with disabilities themselves ascribe to this nonsense. I’ve been in discussions where one subgroup will try to proclaim its own hardships as more worthy of attention than those of another subgroup. Different disability groups fight it out amongst themselves at state legislatures in a mad dash for a meager piece of an ever-shrinking pie. It’s so frustrating to watch and that’s what went through my head when this woman made her stupid remark. I can’t help but feel sorry for the clients who are represented by an “advocate” who views them as something less than “upper crust.”
Oh, good news! According to the oh-so-competent people at Hennepin County Economic Assistance, I’m no longer disabled! And on upon determining that I’m miraculously cured, they closed my Medical Assistance case. MA is what pays for my nursing care, equipment, meds, etc. Fortunately, my job connections helped me figure out the obscure bureaucratic snafu and things will be remedied soon. But I have a hard time imagining how the average person with no background in this stuff navigates the system without going crazy.
I love Eschaton. Apparently, the FBI has been reduced to following up on anonymous tips about an individual’s suspicious (i.e. liberal) reading habits. Guess I better not read The Guardian unless I’m absolutely certain I’m alone.
The World Bodypainting Festival is coming up and I thought I’d show a nice example of the craft. Avert your eyes if you’re offended by the naked human form:
