Trouble Is Everywhere

Via the CCD:

On 30 May 2012, the court released its decision in the Jodhan case, which seeks to secure access to Government of Canada websites by people with disabilities. CCD applauds Donna Jodhan and AEBC for their hard work on this issue.

I've been following this case for a while. I'm pleased at the court's decision, and still appalled that my government spent so much money fighting this.

We have started the process of attempting to get Don health care.

Logically, this should be simple: Canadian moves from one province to another, Canadian receives health care using Canadian's health care card from previous province until residency requirements are met for the new province's health care to kick in.

In practice, things are very different. Don's spent two days on the phone with various people about getting a doctor in the city. Ha ha, ha ha ha.

First call was to the HealthCareConnect people to find a GP that was taking patients. They will not help him because in order to use HealthCareConnect one needs to have a valid Ontario Health Care Card. Don cannot get a valid Ontario Health Care Card until October. We think. It might be longer.

HealthCareConnect refers Don to a website. The website is woefully out of date. He finally finds a GP that is taking patients and that doctor's office says "Well, awesome, but you have to register with HealthCareConnect before we can take you."

So, Don calls back HealthCareConnect and someone there feels sorry for him and kicks him up a level. That person reveals that she can give him phone numbers for some "community care centers" that are required to take him even if he doesn't have an Ontario health care card, but they're basically like walk-in clinics. There is no regular GP that you'll see (necessary for someone like Don who has a wide variety of health issues, is using a wheelchair full time, and needs careful prescription management) and they don't prescribe the medications he uses to manage pain.

Okay then. I call up our MPP's office. At first I am told that, no no, you can immediately just go into a Service Ontario office and get your health care sorted. The three month waiting period is only for newcomers to Canada. This is fascinating to me as it contradicts absolutely everything else I have ever read and would make Ontario unique amongst Canadian provinces. I ask him to confirm and he spends some time looking at websites and declares that things are "a bit unclear." He tells me that he'll call his contact at the Ministry of Health and get back to me.

So, here we are. Don has enough medication to cover him for a month. With some of his medication, if he can't get a new scrip, he will die. (Slowly, granted, so probably something could be sorted before he slipped into a coma, but who the fuck knows.) Now it's no longer a matter of "medication is expensive", it's a matter of "can we even get it?"

But gosh, if only cripples were more positive thinkers, everything would be easier.

Oh, and by the way: If Don were moving into a long-term care center, then he'd automatically get an Ontario health care card.

Over 50% of the buses that Don & I have tried to take in Toronto have refused him service because he is disabled.

Of the five bus drivers who have refused us service, only one has followed the protocol that was outlined to us by TTC Customer Service yesterday. Today, a bus driver threatened to trap Don on the bus and force him to wait for the firetruck to come rescue him if I did not stop insisting that he follow TTC protocol in situations regarding broken ramps on buses. That same bus driver was reprimanded by the bus driver that finally accepted us on his bus because apparently the TTC is deliberately putting buses with broken ramps on wheelchair-accessible routes with wheelchair-accessible stickers on the buses and just telling wheelchair users to wait for the next bus. This will obviously allow them to say they have 100% of wheelchair accessible buses on routes when those buses are not wheelchair accessible.

Two bus drivers have not strapped Don's wheelchair into the bus, as they are required to do, and one driver did this improperly. This puts Don's life at risk. Without training, I cannot strap Don into the bus for them. I am not Don's caregiver, and should not be expected to do this work without pay, and while having to pay to be on the bus. When this sort of work is required of me on airlines or trains, I get a free fare.

The TTC has been taken to court at least twice for failing to obey accessibility requirements. I had been under the mistaken impression that being required to pay a huge fine and still have to follow accessibility guidelines would cause TTC to consider that accessibility is something they are required to do. Apparently this is not the case.

Because we were kept waiting for three buses at the last stop we were at, we are unable to call TTC customer service to complain about this situation. Again, we have been in Toronto for two weeks, and have been taking buses together on two days. I do not have the time and energy to call TTC to complain about this every single day that Don and I want to go out. I do not want to have to call TTC customer service every day. But now I am considering getting a cell phone that much sooner just so we can call TTC customer service when these things happen rather than having to wait till tomorrow morning.

I wish I could say I cannot believe this is happening in the bustling metropolis of Toronto, but frankly, I am not. After years of fighting for basic accessibility requirements in Halifax, and foolishly thinking that things would be easier in a busier city with more resources, and a strong disability rights community, I am really really tired of this shit.

Hey Everyone! Let's play a fun game! Let's play "How much hatred towards people with disabilities can one location support?" A fun and exciting game that leads to wondering how many people sitting in the same room as you wish you would die.

(Exclamation Marks are Sarcasm Indicators.)

( I am a cut tag for your scrolling-by enjoyment! )

We voted! It was awesome! I love voting.

Our polling station was mostly good for accessibility issues. The door was heavy and didn't have a button, so points down for that, and the signs were difficult to see coming up to them because of the other signs in front.

But the space was wheelchair accessible, no one blinked or made faces or reacted to Don being there, they treated him like he was an adult rather than baby talking to him. (Note: baby talk in Canada is not the same thing as simple language. It's the high sing-song voice and slightly-above-babbling that parents use to their toddlers.) There was enough space for him to get his chair (which is a monster of a chair) behind the polling both for him to vote privately, and they told him openly and happily that if there were any problems they'd be happy to move things around for him. They were proactive and eager to be helpful. It was awesome.

My disappointments were the door, the sign, and that they didn't offer anyone an accessibility form to fill out. If you are looking for one, you can get an accessibility feedback form at the Elections Canada website.

But. All that aside, the voting has been accomplished, and now comes the waiting.

Yesterday did not go according to plan, so I've decided not to discuss today's plan in the hopes that this means the imp of the perverse will not hear of it and ruin everything.


marshtide wrote about how archaeologists determine the sex of a skeleton.

zingerella wrote about etiquette rules for visiting Government House, which include reminders not to molest the hat rack.

sid asked about turns of phrase in English that have survived well past the things they refer to, such as "lock stock & barrel".

licht has written Waffle Dos & Don'ts, which a) amuses me far more than perhaps is necessary (Waffles may bring about world peace!) and b) makes me think of bubusquared because of her constant assurance that Belgian Waffles do not come from Belgium. (I assure you, if you don't have a Melle in your life, you are missing out.)

adsartha wrote about migraine triggers.

marina wrote about disability-related issues in Israel, discussing accessibility legislation and universities and the IDF.

shanaqui wrote about Health Anxiety/Hypochondria.

I've really liked pretty much every episode reaction I've read to The Impossible Astronaut. Here is boji's, which I liked a lot.

pipisafoat wrote about shopping for clothing when genderqueer.

I made a post a few days ago inviting people to basically ask me to talk about disability history FOREVER. But it is also open to other people to talk about disability history forever. Please feel free to leave prompts or write responses!

[I have Dreamwidth invites if people would like them.]

pinesandmaples: A Lady in Her Bath [NSFW picture]

440 years ago, this woman let M. Clouet into her personal space to create a memento for the family. Chances are her husband hung this portrait in his study so he could admire his wife and her virtues. And by "virtues", I don't actually mean "boobs." The admiring husband of 1571 would be interested in the fruit of his wife's womb before her bust came into the picture.

berangere posted in archaeology: Legislation : preventive archaeology, which answers "I would really like to learn more about archeology in cities. They're building a new library here and they're letting the archaeologists in to do some work before they start building. What do archaeologists look for, and what's it like with a really short turn around time?" for France & Japan.

raven wrote a Cordelia-centered Vorkosigan fic which I quite liked: Fic:: Walking Away From Omelas [Vorkosigan]. There's so much good Cordelia-centered Vorkosigan fic, I'm beginning to wonder if my issues with the series were more the time & place I read it in.

nanila posted in multibeautiful (a DW community for picspams of beautiful people of colour): Tia Carrera, reminding me that I miss Relic Hunter.

adsartha is writing a series on migraines. Part Two is Migraine Myths.

crankyoldman did a post up about beginning sewing: Sewing and Cosplay Week: Beginner Sewing. I am noting this for later. (via ysabetwordsmith, for all your randomly interesting linking needs.)

I am loving silver_spotted's posts about reading history books. You can see them here.

Today I am feeling that all the energy inside of me cannot possibly be contained by my skin. This is a very uncomfortable feeling. And I am going back to the archives in the hopes that there will be fewer people on the good microfilm machines because I got quite ill yesterday from the bad ones. So many things to look at. I'm trying not to be distracted by the trespassing & the cows.

Hey so-called Progressives: Disability is not your fucking punch line and I hate you.

Wherein Wonkette dedicates a whole fucking post to mocking Trig Palin for being "r#tarded", because it's very progressive to mock children with disabilities! Seriously, it's a disgusting article. Read this description at adage instead.

(Oh, but see, they're mocking SARAH PALIN for "using her son as a political prop". Which is why they put up a post that implies that Trig is the product of incest between his father and sister, say that children with intellectual disabilities don't dream, and implied that he was born disabled because his mother drank while she was pregnant. Not, you know, just saying "This shit where Palin uses her son as a political prop is wrong." No no, they're mocking her by making him - and all children with disabilities by extension - the butt of the joke. Ha ha ha ha. ha ha. So creative. Gosh, those progressive sure are on the side of people with disabilities, right?)

And, of course:
Lady Gaga Calls Madonna Plagiarism charges r#tarded.

GOSH I'M SO GLAD THAT I HAVE PROGRESSIVES ON MY SIDE. It's been mere hours since I was last told that ableism wasn't a real thing because people with disabilities are treated with "kid gloves".