[BlindTlk] For Raymond / If You Want To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown, Learn From The Disabled

Sat Apr 4 23:31:18 UTC 2020

Thanks Peter.  Just about everyone here knows how much I personally love being barefooted especially outside in warm weather.  Mind you, I don’t think one can link blindness with being barefooted necessarily but I do think going barefooted is the only way to be when possible.

Sent from the first computer with built-in screen reader access for the blind:

Sincerely,

The constantly barefooted Ray

> On Apr 4, 2020, at 3:19 PM, Peter Wolf via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Raymond,
> 
> Your writing was deeply touching to me.  Thank you for your vulnerable honesty.  It was a worthwhile perspective that is worth reading.
> 
> Peter
> 
> Connecting With the Wisdom of the Earth
> Executive & individual coaching, consultation, and nature-based facilitation
> www. Wolf Leadership Institute . com
> 707. 829 - 0776
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Apr 4, 2020, at 6:31 AM, Eric Calhoun via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Your thoughts on this article?  Stay encouraged, y'all!
>> 
>> 
>> Original Message: 
>> From: "isis feral isisferal at yahoo.com [berkeley-disabled]"
>> <berkeley-disabled-noreply at yahoogroups.com>
>> To: Bay Canary Grapevine <baycanarygrapevine at googlegroups.com>,
>> Berkeley-Disabled <berkeley-disabled at yahoogroups.com>,
>> "emfrefugee at groups.io" <emfrefugee at groups.io>
>> Subject: [berkeley-disabled] If You Want To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown,
>> Learn From The Disabled
>> Date: 
>> Sat, 4 Apr 2020 07:24:06 +0000 (UTC)
>> 
>> https://folks.pillpack.com/if-you-want-to-survive-covid-19-lockdown-learn-fr
>> om-the-disabled/
>> 
>> 
>> If You Want To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown, Learn From The Disabled  
>> 
>> Frustrated by endless weeks of self-quarantine due to coronavirus?
>> Welcome to the world of chronic illness and disability. And after all this
>> is over, remember us.
>> Angie Ebba - March 30
>> 
>> 
>> One of the things you hear a lot as a disabled person is: "You're so
>> lucky not to get to stay home and to go to the office every day!" As if not
>> being able to leave the house because of a debilitating health condition is
>> some sort of vacation.
>> 
>> Well, three weeks into shelter-in-place and state lockdown orders due to
>> the global COVID-19 pandemic, when almost anyone who is able to do so is
>> working from home and millions more are suddenly unemployed: how lucky do
>> you feel? It's not a blessing or a privilege not to be able to go to work
>> or socialize with other people, is it?
>> No. Self-quarantine-whether from coronavirus, or because you literally
>> are too sick to go out- is boring, lonely, isolating, and destructive to
>> your mental health.
>> It was early 2014 when I began getting really sick with symptoms like
>> debilitating muscle spasms, severe pain, and chronic fatigue that kept me
>> bed-bound. Doctors didn't know what was going on, and neither did I. All I
>> knew was that I'd gone from successfully navigating full-time work,
>> graduate school, and the parenting of two young children, to barely being
>> able to dress myself or move from my bed to the couch. 
>> And yet, I still heard it: "Wow, what I'd give to get to stay at home in
>> my pajamas each day!"
>> As the years progressed, I got my diagnoses, including: ankylosing
>> spondylitis, chronic migraine, fibromyalgia, and psychogenic non-epileptic
>> seizures.. It took me years of doctors, treatments, and therapies to move
>> from a place of being perpetually bed-bound to being able to leave the
>> house. But even now, while I'm doing a lot better physically than I was
>> five years ago, I still have multiple days every month that I spend in bed
>> due to my symptoms, and even more days each month that I don't leave the
>> house because of them.
>> Now, suddenly, it feels like most of the world understands what I've been
>> going through all these years. In the last few weeks as the pandemic has
>> spread and "stay at home" orders have tightened, adults who maybe have
>> never had more than a 3-day weekend at home are finding themselves cooped
>> up in their house for weeks, with weeks more ahead of them. And my social
>> feeds have filled up with tips from non-disabled friends on how to
>> 'survive' this time of isolation.
>> There's a part of me that is angry at all this. I want to snark: "But I
>> thought I was lucky I get to stay home because of my chronic illness?"
>> There is a stirring of anger that I didn't expect. But I empathize too. I
>> remember what it was like when I was newly disabled: how the days would all
>> blend together, how I mourned the presence of my friends, how desperately I
>> wanted to go out dancing or to have a meal. I remember those days I'd read
>> and binge Netflix for hours, eat way too much, called everyone I knew, and
>> still exhausted all possible ways of entertaining myself before the day was
>> even half-done. The transition from being a participating member of society
>> to being stuck at home with little connection to the outside world is hard,
>> scary, and lonely for everyone.
>> And so I empathize with those who are learning for the first time what it
>> is like to be stuck at home with limited options and very little connection
>> to the outside world. That transition is hard, and scary, and can be really
>> lonely.
>> To those able-bodied individuals reading this who may be struggling with
>> this new norm of being home, I'd suggest this is a time to learn from the
>> chronically ill and disabled people whose experience you have been
>> knowingly or unwittingly discounting all these days. Here's some of my own
>> tips:
>> Use technology to your advantage. Connect with peers on social media,
>> form group chats with your work buddies, and organize video calls for
>> virtual drinks with your friends. Now that everyone-not just disabled
>> people-need accessible ways to meet via technology, the landscape is
>> changing fast. You can participate in dance classes via Facebook Live, or
>> listen to the symphony streamed to you. Take advantage of these
>> opportunities to stay connected. If you're not as tech-savvy or prefer not
>> to use social media, call up a friend on the phone and read to each other,
>> or talk about a favorite TV show. 
>> Rest. Seriously. It's okay to rest. We are expected and socialized to be
>> go-go-go constantly, our value measured by our productivity. But this just
>> simply isn't true; our value comes from places much deeper than that, and
>> accomplishment in life is a lot more than checking things off on a to-do
>> list. This is a stressful time for a multitude of reasons, and that impacts
>> your health. Listen to your body and allow yourself to rest. 
>> Discover your joy. Use this time to find new passions or to re-discover
>> old ones. Dig out those paints that have been in the back of the closet for
>> years and find some YouTube tutorials to teach you to use them. Google new
>> recipes to use for the plethora of beans you now have. Learn a new
>> language. All those things you have been saying that you wish you had time
>> to do? Now you do. 
>> These are just some examples. The point is deeper than that, though.
>> Learn from us disabled folks and what we have been doing. And then, please,
>> remember us. When things go back to 'normal' and people can again go to
>> work, leave their houses, attend big concerts, meet up for dinner or
>> drinks,-remember us. 
>> 
>> Remember that for many of us, social distancing and self-quarantine might
>> never really end. Remember what a pain it was to have groceries delivered,
>> and offer to grab a few things for a disabled friend the next time you're
>> out shopping Remember how much fun you had in those Facebook Live dance
>> classes, and email the instructor encouraging them to continue doing them
>> after the shelter-in-place orders are lifted. When you're at the art store
>> ,grab some fun new supplies for a chronically ill family member because you
>> have experienced first-hand how boring life at home can be. 
>> When this quarantine ends for you, we will still be living it. As you
>> move about the world freely, remember us. Remember that we are still here,
>> we need you as allies, and we'd love to hang out with you via video chat
>> and share coffee with you.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -------
>> Sent from my hardwired computer with all wireless functions turned OFF
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