Disabled Problems

It’s Disability Pride Month Again!

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay, I guess. We had a nice little BBQ with the Minion, his wifey, the family, and the new neighbors across the street on Saturday. Other than that, things keep going wrong for Dad and I’m dealing with government bullsheet surrounding my benefits. Because of that, I forgot July is Disability Pride Month. I’m not feeling very pride-y. Every time I finally feel like my benefits are settled and I’m coasting along, the government decides to “improve” something that screws everything up. And it doesn’t help that I have to fight for everything I need. I’m dreading the upcoming election. If Cheeto gets in and that Project 2025 gains traction, everyone is going to be screwed except maybe super rich white folks. So, even though I’m not a fan, fingers crossed for Biden and the status quo! But I’m starting to ramble. This is your yearly reminder that Disability Pride Month exists. Disabled people are worthy of all the same things “able” people are. We are not burdens or drains on society or dirty little secrets. We are human beings. And, according to WHO, approximately 1 in 6 people are significantly disabled and that number is rising. Yay for fun facts!

Anyway, I decided to share an explanation of the Disability Pride flag. I might have done this before, but I’m too lazy to check my previous post.

Ann Magill’s original idea contained bold colors and a zigzag design, but after complaints from individuals with sensory issues (the design triggered migraines and created a strobing effect when scrolling), she revamped the idea with straight lines and muted colors that were grouped differently to avoid the negative effects. Here are some of the meanings behind the flag:

Black: The black background symbolizes the mourning of disabled people who have been victimized by ableism or lost to disability-fueled violence, abuse/negligence, and death.

Diagonal stripes: The stripes cut through the darkness (i.e., barriers).

Multi-colored: The disability pride flag includes all six standard international flag colors to indicate that the disability is a global thing.

Green: Sensory disabilities (blindness, deafness, lack of smell, lack of taste, etc.).

Blue: Psychiatric disabilities (anxiety, depression, etc.).

White: Invisible disabilities and/or undiagnosed conditions.

Gold: Cognitive and intellectual disabilities. Neurodivergence.

Red: Physical disabilities.

A Little Rant

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Not a lot going on here. Just stupid government crap regarding my benefits. I can’t entirely blame the government for all my stress this time, because everything up until today was something else entirely and the people involved already know I’m not happy about how everything went down. Let’s just say stuff hasn’t been getting done in a timely manner. But today (Tuesday), I’ve spent far too much time trying to justify needing another hour of care every day. And I get it. The government doesn’t want to give just anyone benefits. They’re like giant companies that way. “You want healthcare and to be able to afford rent and food??? Damn commies.” But also, look at me. It’s pretty freaking obvious that I need care. I promise I’m not just a mooch. If they’d let me earn more than $1900 and change a month without screeching about taking my Medicaid away, I’d even try to be a productive member of society. But no. They don’t allow you to get to a stable place before they rip away the benefits that keep you alive. Just stay poor. Ugh. But that’s a different rant. Let’s get back on track.

I’m on a program called CLASS. They offer various services, but I only use the healthcare assistance service where they pay (actually Medicaid pays) for someone to take care of me. When I first got on the program at 18 after a ten year waitlist (yeah, no one even remembered signing up when we got the letter saying I was cripple enough for them), they only paid for outside help to come in. Eventually, they started paying family members, so Dad gets paid to take care of me. With all the prices on the rise and the fact that home healthcare works hadn’t gotten a raise in a ridiculous amount of time (because, you know, the Texas government), Dad requested an extra hour a day (no, he doesn’t get paid 24-hours a day because apparently the government thinks cripples are robots who just power down and require no assistance for far too many hours a day/night… as if normal human beings don’t have to pee or worse during sleep time, so cripples certainly don’t). But he’s up to 14 hours a day and the government is balking at a 15th hour. They’re forcing us to justify the request instead of just looking at my file and seeing my diagnosis (an incurable disorder that gets worse over time) and the fact that I have never asked for anything I don’t need and realizing that yeah, she needs help. It doesn’t help that they don’t reach out to me directly. There’s a middleperson. Things get lost in translation.

Anyway, it’s almost 8:00 and I’m getting hungry, so I’m going to stop ranting. But anyone who says cripples don’t work for their benefits and just get handouts have never had to deal with the government (state or federal). Fighting for shit I need is an entire job in itself. They should be paying me, but then they’d probably kick me off everything anyway. Blargh.