I am just back from a conference at Union College entitled Disability and Ethics Through the Life Cycle. As I have noted I am not inclined to attend conferences. In part I am simply not that social and frankly the costs of attending conferences is significant. I prefer to spend my time and energies elsewhere. Regardless, I enjoyed as much as I can enjoy any conference. Though in this case I returned rather sad. I wonder how much, if any, progress was made at the conference I attended designed to find common ground. I saw first-hand a huge divide between activists and scholars, particularly between disability activists and bioethicists, exists. What struck me was the political aim and goals of the disability activists and the contrasting focus on scholasticism on the part of bioethicists. A divide exists when one should not. Many on each side share the same goals, not all for sure, but enough for a constructive dialogue. I am not sure such a dialogue will be forthcoming any time soon. However this is not the reason I am sad. When I got home I went on line to read the many websites I surf that report disability related news. Much of what I read was strikingly bad. The reports I read could be perceived as isolated stories. Here is what I read about:
A Colorado teacher duct taped a student with a disability hand to his wheelchair. This was his only means of communication.
A bus driver was fired for bullying a 4th grade student with Asperger's Syndrome.
A mother was arrested and is accused of starving her five year old son to death who had cerebral palsy.
In Philadelphia a man with a disability had his wheelchair and dog stolen from him.
The Wall Street Journal reports that states are slashing Medicaid and people with a disability are suffering more than any other population.
Where was I when all of this happening? At an academic conference doing nothing. All these news stories appeared over the weekend. I bet they were widely read and yet I bet no one else will connected them together. To me, these stories are the norm. Abuse, isolation, unemployment, barriers to education all remain common place, every day events. How can this be almost 20 years after the ADA was passed? A bright new era of equality was supposed to emerge. Well, I am sick of waiting and outraged. People are suffering and today I wonder who cares? I do and lose sleep over such stories. I hope and want more company. I want others to get involved, rally around disability rights, and state abuses and isolation will not be tolerated. I just wish I knew how to get others involved and share my outrage.