Point Counterpoint

One reader took issue with my criticism of the state of community integration in Europe, pointing out that Stephen Hawking isn’t in a nursing home. He’s also Stephen Hawking, an important distinction. His experience is most likely not representative of all Europeans with disabilities, maybe not even all Brits. And I’m not saying that America is all that and a bag of chips when it comes to inclusion, because it’s not. But on the whole, the States are physically and programatically accessible to a greater degree than most of Europe. Emphasis on most. The UK is getting better, from what I hear.
I had a meeting at the office of my former employer, PACER Center. It was good to reconnect with all the people I know there. I love doing policy work, but sometimes I miss being in the trenches doing direct service. When I was at PACER, I did a lot of hands-on work with teens with disabilities and their families. I’m actually incorporating some of those experiences into the narrative thread of my book.