Where is the Rainbow?
Two more months to go!
Two more months to spend fighting the good fight.
Two more months to listen to people’s stories of heartache, whether it be a family member experiencing the sadness caused by a stroke, advancing dementia, disabilities after an accident, disabilities relating to bad choices in life that have caught up with them.
My entire career has been spent helping people to obtain services that hopefully will make their lives better. I have worked in services ranging from social work to education to advocacy, finally ending in an administrative position, trying to impart my belief in everyone having the right to live as independently and freely as possible to my staff.
I wish I could say that the fight has gotten easier. There is the issue of stigma where mental health disabilities are concerned. People recovering from addiction, having made bad choices in their past, cannot get appropriate housing due to a bad rental history, or a job because of not obtaining positive references. Therefore, they are forced into the cycle almost impossible from which to escape. People with physical disabilities, even though the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed over 30 years ago, still have to battle inaccessible buildings, hospitals or doctors’ offices with equipment that does not accommodate their wheelchairs. People who are deaf cannot find interpreters for critical appointments so they can get information in a manner that is understood. There is the fight to have paperwork in an accessible format so people who are blind can read confidential material without a third party or independently fill out necessary forms without depending on others to assist. School systems talk the talk where inclusion is concerned. Family members and advocates still need to push school administrators to provide the aides, specialized programs, and equipment necessary for a student to succeed, no matter what succeeding means to that individual child. This, many times, ends up in a legal battle causing stress to already stressful situations.
There is some improvement causing that black rainbow to turn a deep gray. Maybe there is a bit of color shining through when breakthroughs happen. It flickers in and out, a bit of violet, a bit of deep blue, and maybe some forest green. The brilliant yellows, reds and oranges have yet to appear.
I will be retiring from my position in two months. I need to pass the baton to others to take up the cause. I may have fight left after some time to continue the battle, searching for that pot of gold that means acceptance of all differences.
But for now, I only push through until the next chapter, finding my own brightly colored rainbow!
Two more months!
Two more months to spend fighting the good fight.
Two more months to listen to people’s stories of heartache, whether it be a family member experiencing the sadness caused by a stroke, advancing dementia, disabilities after an accident, disabilities relating to bad choices in life that have caught up with them.
My entire career has been spent helping people to obtain services that hopefully will make their lives better. I have worked in services ranging from social work to education to advocacy, finally ending in an administrative position, trying to impart my belief in everyone having the right to live as independently and freely as possible to my staff.
I wish I could say that the fight has gotten easier. There is the issue of stigma where mental health disabilities are concerned. People recovering from addiction, having made bad choices in their past, cannot get appropriate housing due to a bad rental history, or a job because of not obtaining positive references. Therefore, they are forced into the cycle almost impossible from which to escape. People with physical disabilities, even though the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed over 30 years ago, still have to battle inaccessible buildings, hospitals or doctors’ offices with equipment that does not accommodate their wheelchairs. People who are deaf cannot find interpreters for critical appointments so they can get information in a manner that is understood. There is the fight to have paperwork in an accessible format so people who are blind can read confidential material without a third party or independently fill out necessary forms without depending on others to assist. School systems talk the talk where inclusion is concerned. Family members and advocates still need to push school administrators to provide the aides, specialized programs, and equipment necessary for a student to succeed, no matter what succeeding means to that individual child. This, many times, ends up in a legal battle causing stress to already stressful situations.
There is some improvement causing that black rainbow to turn a deep gray. Maybe there is a bit of color shining through when breakthroughs happen. It flickers in and out, a bit of violet, a bit of deep blue, and maybe some forest green. The brilliant yellows, reds and oranges have yet to appear.
I will be retiring from my position in two months. I need to pass the baton to others to take up the cause. I may have fight left after some time to continue the battle, searching for that pot of gold that means acceptance of all differences.
But for now, I only push through until the next chapter, finding my own brightly colored rainbow!
Two more months!