Tag: Disability

Reading Update: 03-08-2024a

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

I was able to listen to two Chapters of Capitalism and Disability, earlier. I’ve been experiencing quite a bit of pain, lately. When I’m in pain, I can’t concentrate, so I didn’t even attempt to read The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Hopefully, the pain subsides some, soon.

Goodreads

In other news, I found this funny. Fairbanks Morse Defense isn’t far from me, so I liked their Facebook page to stay up-to-date. They make engines for naval vessels. The Little Crappy Ships are the only ones that I’m aware of (one reason why I’m interested in them). In fact, those ships were made at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard up North. Someday, I’ll have to look into Fairbanks Morse’s history.

Anyway, good night or morning, depending on your sleep schedule.

Disabled need help living, not help dying

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

AS NEW HAMPSHIRE considers legalizing assisted suicide, also referred to as medical aid in dying (MAID), I would like to draw attention to the potential impacts this bill could have on disabled and other marginalized residents.

I was 19 years old the second time I attempted to die by suicide. I had just been diagnosed with a chronic but not life-threatening illness, I had rapidly lost about 70% of my hearing in the middle of completing a music degree, and I was struggling with untreated anorexia that was taking a serious toll on my health.

At my intake appointment with a new therapist a few days after my attempt, I explained my situation and the hopelessness I was feeling. She nodded along, then looked me in the eyes and said something I will never forget:

“I would probably kill myself if I were you.”

She wasn’t the first person to say this to me as I started becoming more noticeably disabled, but she was probably the last person I expected to do so. Now that I work in disability policy, nothing surprises me. I hear stories from other disabled people about doctors pressuring them to sign DNRs because they are assumed to have a low quality of life due to their disability. I get messages on social media from people asking me how to advocate for appropriate pain management when their doctors don’t believe the amount of pain they’re in. I pore over story after story of people like Michael Hickson and Tinslee Lewis having treatment withdrawn, withheld, or threatened because of the pervasive view that it’s better to be dead than disabled.

Jules Good: Disabled need help living, not help dying

Watched: Disabled & The Cost of Saying I Do

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

I’m attempting to read Capitalism and Disability: Essays by Marta Russell (you can listen, here) for personal reasons. I say attempting because I easily get distracted, and am already reading The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. In Capitalism and Disability, a documentary produced by Marta is mentioned, Disabled & The Cost of Saying I Do, so I decided to watch it. It’s also on YouTube here, and in higher video quality here.

The documentary covers the unfair disincentives that those who are disabled, on Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI), and get married face. This marriage penalty doesn’t apply if you are on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) unless you’re a Disabled Adult Child (DAC) or a widow or widower of a SSDI recipient. If SSI recipients marry someone with even a small income or level of assets, they could lose their benefits and Medicaid. This is because the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers a portion of the spouse’s income and assets as belonging to the SSI recipient. SSI recipients are often deemed to have income or assets that are too high for SSI or Medicaid because of this.

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund gets funding from the Department of Education, but they cover SSI and the marriage penalty decently here and here. More resources on capitalism and disability can be found, here.