[nabs-l] How can NFB better include people with multiple disabilities?

Desiree Oudinot turtlepower17 at gmail.com
Tue Apr 1 21:11:23 UTC 2014


Hi,
This is definitely another area where the NFB could do more to help
for sure. I think that legislation needs to be A. taken seriously, and
B. passed that would make it less likely for the kinds of things you
describe in your messages to take place. People who have multiple
disabilities are often seen as incompetent, and a judge is much more
likely to agree with this if the person has an intellectual disability
or mental illness. I have personally seen this in action. It is
something that truly sickens me.
My current partner used to date a girl who was blind and had a mental
illness. Her parents weren't originally from this country, and
cultural clashes caused them to restrict her quite a bit, even as an
adult. The courts granted them power of attorney over her without
batting an eye, at least this is how it was explained to me. I spoke
with her once, and she seemed intelligent, if desperate to escape her
situation, but she obviously had no legal recourse. Had her parents
died, I have no doubt she would have ended up in a group home and,
therefore, probably in an even worse situation.
Why am I writing all of this in the past tense? Because, about a year
and a half ago, she killed herself. She couldn't take the way she was
living anymore.
I also knew someone who has Asperger's syndrome and is blind, and his
parents tried to claim power of attorney of him as well, but I suppose
not all judges are stupid, because they lost the case. It has,
understandably, put quite a rift in their family.
I believe that this kind of thing goes on all too often and must be
addressed. No one deserves to be chained like a pitbull when they're
perfectly aware of what's going on. It's blatant cruelty. It's one
thing if a person's disability is so debilitating or progressive that
they can't function independently. It's quite another when the person
is of sound mind, aware that they're being unfairly restricted, and
knows that the law isn't on their side.




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