On this day of remembrance...

Let's not forget those who were wounded in combat. Each war leaves its mark on the men and women who fight them. While many come back physically challenged, almost none escape ongoing mental trauma.

I came across this article in the Dallas Morning News regarding the recruitment and enlistment of individuals who did not pass basic physical and mental criteria for service during the Vietnam War. While the article asserts this was an anomaly during this particular conflict, I'm not so sure...

...more than 350,000 men drafted despite failing to meet the military's physical or mental requirements. The plan, created by then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, was criticized as a ploy to fill Vietnam quotas without the political risks to President Lyndon Johnson of calling up the National Guard and Reserves or canceling college deferments. The plan was called Project 100,000, in reference to the number of lower-standards men whom McNamara sought to get into the service every year. They were later dubbed 'McNamara's Morons.'

It's de ja vue all over again as we see the bar being lowered for our all-volunteer military to meet recruitment numbers. While last week's horrible tragedy at Fort Hood is still too fresh a wound to examine too objectively, it shines a light on the perils of ignoring PTSD in returning troops with the hope of future redeployment.

An LA Times article from last week noted the following:

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have generated an array of mental and behavioral problems, experts say. Besides PTSD, a high rate of traumatic brain injury has contributed to cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The wars have been long and, without a national draft in place, many troops have been subject to repeat deployment. The nature of the conflicts -- fighting insurgents who mingle among civilians -- is considered an additional, constant source of stress

Let's all take a moment today to remember those valiantly serving in war zones and fighting personal wars here at home...

Hidden Disabilites

Apologies for the delays in writing so soon after starting. It's been a busy few days.

Yesterday, I went to an orientation for new tutors at our local literacy program. I've wanted to be a literacy volunteer for years and I am now able to do so as I have some time on my hands. When I complete training, I will be teaching adults how to read. It will never cease to amaze me that there are so many people who can not read street signs, bus routes or medicine bottles. They are in danger every day as they attempt to navigate a world where reading is required and I began to think about illiteracy as a hidden disability.

Millions of people suffer from hidden disabilities that can not be seen but are no less devastating to those stricken by them. Hidden disabilities can add a layer of challenge and frustration to day-to-day living, job hunting and intimate relationships not dissimilar to more recognizable physical disabilities but not viewed as problematic by those who do not understand them or can not see them.

Statistics on this issue are generally anecdotal as so many of us are "in the closet" when it comes to being disabled. A friend once joked that he knew of a disabled lesbian couple who were fully out to the world with regard to their sexuality but were totally closeted regarding their disabilities.

Many hidden disabilities, especially mental illness, leave the sufferer without gainful employment and dependent on public assistance and family to keep them afloat. People often become so frustrated and fearful that they give up altogether and stop trying to find work suited to them as they feel there is no place for them.

We must become less punitive toward people with disabilities of all kinds and realize everyone wants to work and be productive but may not be able to do so without a bit of workplace tweaking. And when we think about all the concessions made for stupidity, bigotry, misogyny and a general sense of entitlement, is it really so much to ask?

Americans for Stable Quality Care

There's a very compelling commercial from the Americans for Stable Quality Care on our local networks here in Texas. They are a diverse, largely-bipartisan coalition of groups dedicated to the cause of healthcare reform. The ad manages to speak volumes by saying very little. There is no dialogue, only a visual narrative of a man packing his house (but keeping his wife's picture) to move to a small apartment. He then goes to his wife in her hospital bed.

The message is clear without fabricating statistics or appealing to anything more than our humanity. While one's home is a protected asset when filing bankruptcy in most states (with some exceptions), many people lose their most cherished (and valuable) asset long before they are even able to file for bankruptcy. It's a slow and insidious process and people often borrow against their homes or skip mortgage payments to cover medical bills.

Consider this:

In 2001, about 1.5 million Americans families filed for bankruptcy, half of it due to the inability to pay for healthcare. The United States spends 31% of medical expenses on administrative costs, compared to Canada’s 16.7% administrative costs.

Now imagine the numbers for the disabled who are not being allocated the resources they need to be productive (read: working) individuals, with health insurance. And ALL of them have pre-existing conditions. This "data" on this cohort is more difficult to collect but usually even more bleak.

Strong Correlation Between Disability and Poverty

In what will prove to be a surprise to precisely no one with physically challenges, there is a new study out detailing the correlation between disability and poverty. It's an excellent first post for this blog. People with physical challenges are kept in poverty by a system designed to curtail (or halt) the productivity of otherwise intelligent, hard-working individuals. You can read more here in this article from the Baltimore Sun.

According to its new study "Half in Ten," the Center for Economic and Policy Research (a DC think tank) found that "almost 50 percent of working-age adults who experience poverty for at least a 12-month period have one or more disabilities." 

Sadly, as staggering as that number is to read, it seems a bit on the low side. The financial toll of being physically challenged is staggering for the individual with the disability AND their respective caregivers. Consider this article from the Toronto Star addressing the very real (and rarely discussed) "double whammy" for households where those providing care see their incomes plummet or disappear due to the excessive demands placed on them at home. 

As we all speak in hypothetical terms regarding the "what ifs" of an overhauled healthcare system, we must realize we will ALL be disabled or caring for someone with a disability at one point or another. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of "when."