Day: November 27, 2017

Reminded again with that last reblog and my tag commentary, it’s really no wonder that there were zero wheelchair users (and not many other obviously disabled students) the whole time I went through Toxic School System.

Sure, it was a relatively small system, with maybe 100-120 students per class year when I was there. But, as an indication, out of 600-odd people in the middle/HS complex at any given time? I remember one blind person and one with Down Syndrome, besides the handful of recognized LD/“emotionally disturbed” kids stuck in their segregated special ed classes for at least part of the day.

(Including one of my cousins. My mom wouldn’t let them park me in there in elementary school, which may have been motivated by weird-ass denial but I am still pretty glad. Everything I saw and heard was that bad.)

Anybody who could at all–and cared–took their kids to the neighboring county, which actually tried for some accessibility and useful services even before the ADA. I ended up transferring there for reasons I didn’t think were related at the time, and was struck even then by how many disabled kids I had not been encountering in school before.

While AFAIK, people who can’t get up the stairs may still be out of luck at Toxic College Town HS. That was the case years after the ADA went into effect. (But where’s the problem if you’ve already run off all the students with longer-term mobility problems, right? đŸ˜©)

When a system just dgaf about blatantly obvious barriers like that, well…

Things they don’t tell you about being a first time wheelchair user in highschool

fustianriddles:

angelkin-autie:

Literally everyone will ask if you broke your leg(s). Everyone. Even people you don’t know. Theyll ask a lot and think you’re extremely fragile.

bruises show up within the first day of rolling around, and they can really suck

people will try to grab your chair if they think you’re struggling and it can be hard not to snap at them for it

static electricity is a huge issue. You will probably either continuously shock your leg when you’re rolling around or do what I did today and zap someone so hard as you pass that both of you nearly keel over

people will call you out as a faker if you do anything even remotely fun ever on your wheelchair. Wheelies? Obviously your legs are fine lol not like you have to go down fucking curbs /s

puddles are the worst and if there’s a curb with a puddle all around and you have some ability to walk its a better idea to just stand up and navigate the chair than to fall backwards into said puddle

weird looks from people are inevitable, especially from people who don’t like you

bus drivers will often push your chair and give you advise you don’t want to hear, even if you tell them nicely you can push yourself. Its really hard not to get mad at them for it

no wheelies in school. Though if you do it in the elevator when no one else is with you you can’t really get caught.

speaking of wheelies, always be ready to throw at least one arm behind you in case you fall. They say tuck your chin in but its easier and more reliable to throw your hands back and keep your neck up so you don’t hit the floor. Sore arms are way easier to put up with than head injuries

don’t even bother to try and roll back up curbs. You will either be there for an hour or fall backwards. I managed to do both.

90% of classrooms that aren’t special ed are not very wheelchair accessible.

people will automatically assume you’re faking something if you’re not considered dumb enough in their standards to fit in with disabled students (aka high class ableism at its finest)

people are going to give you weird looks if you don’t suddenly start sitting with the other disabled kids

standard backpacks usually dangle way too much to keep on you easily, so try to pack light

built in storage on wheelchairs cannot sufficiently carry books

don’t try to hold an umbrella. Period. Especially not with your teeth. It doesn’t work.

don’t try to give the bus driver your ticket while you’re stuck on the ramp. And speaking of, its easy to start falling down the bus ramp so be careful, and when in doubt throw on the breaks

and finally if you’re like me pray to god you don’t go nonverbal when someone is trying to push you and you don’t want them to because it is hard to get them to stop if you can’t speak

able-bodied people can and should 1000% reblog this, some of these things I’ve seen on tips about using a wheelchair but a lot of these weren’t things I’ve seen

I broke my leg in high school and I had to use a wheelchair. It was then that I realized how inaccessible my school was for people in wheelchairs. I had a class on the second floor in which the elevator often broke down. There was only one elevator in the whole building and it constantly had issues. I physically could not attend class because of that. The doorways themselves were narrow and had a large bump that I could only roll across if I went backwards. Because they were so narrow I couldn’t quite keep my hands on the wheels and fit through at the same time. The only way I could get through them was if someone held the door open and another person pulled me through backwards. It was so frustrating. I was out of the wheelchair in three months. But I had no idea how anyone else could stand going to school in these conditions for 4 years. They are rebuilding a lot of the campus and I hope they will make alterations for future students in wheelchairs.

madgastronomer:

thinksnake:

catsoftheworldunite:

Gatekeeping is a trans term. Gatekeeping is not an ace term.

gatekeeping is a disabilities term. gatekeeping is a trans term. gatekeeping is an ace term. gatekeeping is a fat term. gatekeeping is a race term. gatekeeping is many many things and includes ace and trans and so many other things that I will never be able to list here.

Gatekeeping is originally an academic term, and has been adopted by various groups from there.

berniesrevolution:

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Fall behind on your student loan payments, lose your job.

Few people realize that the loans they take out to pay for their education could eventually derail their careers. But in 19 states, government agencies can seize state-issued professional licenses from residents who default on their educational debts. Another state, South Dakota, suspends driver’s licenses, making it nearly impossible for people to get to work.

As debt levels rise, creditors are taking increasingly tough actions to chase people who fall behind on student loans. Going after professional licenses stands out as especially punitive.

Firefighters, nurses, teachers, lawyers, massage therapists, barbers, psychologists and real estate brokers have all had their credentials suspended or revoked.

Determining the number of people who have lost their licenses is impossible because many state agencies and licensing boards don’t track the information. Public records requests by The New York Times identified at least 8,700 cases in which licenses were taken away or put at risk of suspension in recent years, although that tally almost certainly understates the true number.

Shannon Otto, who lives in Nashville, can pinpoint the moment that she realized she wanted to be a nurse. She was 16, shadowing her aunt who worked in an emergency room. She gaped as a doctor used a hand crank to drill a hole into a patient’s skull. She wanted to be part of the action.

It took years of school and thousands of dollars of loans, but she eventually landed her dream job, in Tennessee, a state facing a shortage of nurses.

Then, after working for more than a decade, she started having epileptic seizures. They arrived without warning, in terrifying gusts. She couldn’t care for herself, let alone anyone else. Unable to work, she defaulted on her student loans.

image

Ms. Otto eventually got her seizures under control, and prepared to go back to work and resume payments on her debt. But Tennessee’s Board of Nursing suspended her license after she defaulted. To get the license back, she said, she would have to pay more than $1,500. She couldn’t.

“I absolutely loved my job, and it seems unbelievable that I can’t do it anymore,” Ms. Otto said.

With student debt levels soaring — the loans are now the largest source of household debt outside of mortgages — so are defaults. Lenders have always pursued delinquent borrowers: by filing lawsuits, garnishing their wages, putting liens on their property and seizing tax refunds. Blocking licenses is a more aggressive weapon, and states are using it on behalf of themselves and the federal government.

Proponents of the little-known state licensing laws say they are in taxpayers’ interest. Many student loans are backed by guarantees by the state or federal government, which foot the bills if borrowers default. Faced with losing their licenses, the reasoning goes, debtors will find the money.

But critics from both parties say the laws shove some borrowers off a financial cliff.

(Continue Reading)

Source: berniesrevolution

DON’T USE BOTS TO FIGHT FOR NET NEUTRALITY!

chazzzyf:

eargod:

The FCC have already disregarded millions of emails in suspect of sent by fake bot accounts. If you want to fight, you need to call or message the FCC and your

Senators

yourself!

Ajit Pai – Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov 

202-518-7399

Mike O’Rielly – Mike.ORielly@fcc.gov 

301-657-9092

 Brendan Carr – Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov

202-719-7305

Look up and contact your Senators and inform them why you don’t want Net Neutrality repealed.

And to anyone OUTSIDE the US, Tell your US friends and followers to fight this, but DON’T get involved yourself! They won’t listen to anyone who’s not a US citizen.

We have until DECEMBER 14TH, 2017 before the final vote goes through!

This is a very well meaning post, but there’s a piece of key information missing here that would change the tone of it immensely.

Yes, the FCC discovered that millions of emails were sent to them about Net Neutrality. Yes, the FCC is disregarding those emails.

But here’s the kicker


MOST OF THE EMAILS THAT IT DISCOVERED THAT WERE SENT BY BOTS WERE AGAINST NET NEUTRALITY

Apparently, if you remove the bot accounts and petitions sent in with no signatures, the overwhelming majority of comments were in favor of net neutrality.

So, it’s possible that a lot of the fight against net neutrality is coming from a small group of people setting up bots, using the names and identities of real people to make themselves seem more credible. (And, based on some of the articles I’ve been reading about it, Russia might be doing it too)

So, yes. Do not use bots to send a massive amount of emails from one source in order to try to sway the FCC.

But at the same time
 we’re not really the ones doing that, are we?

Just keep fighting the good fight.

Foster mother cats from the Novosibirsk Zoo

littleclevercat:

Remember there was a post about a cat in the Novosibirsk Zoo that taken a lynx cub as its foster kitten and raised it alongside with her own kitten? I have news about this happen again this year!

Let me introduce two awesome mom-cats of the Novosibirsk Zoo:

The Black, who adopted and raises leopard cat kittens (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus) and serval kittens
(Felis serval)

And the White, who raises caracal kittens (Felis caracal)