Stop The Abuse Of People With Disabilities

At last I have completed my studies to be a professional disability support worker. It has been an amazing journey and my teachers were excellent in their teaching abilities, passing on years of disability support workers experience.

One of the topics we learned about was deinstitutionalisation. The closing down of mental institutions that supposedly cared for people with mental illnesses, intellectual disabilities, ABI (acquired brain injury) etc.

The community in general felt it was better to have people with disabilities put into institutions so that they can be taken care of and put out of harms way. But whose harm were they thinking of. They weren't thinking about a persons dignity to be treated like a human being. They were thinking about the community in general of so called normal people. But what exactly is normal?

Advocacy For The Rights Of People With Disabilities

This blog site Voice For Disability attempts to be an advocate or a representative for people with disabilities.

What Is Advocacy?
The word advocacy is a term used in reference to someone standing up and speaking for the rights, needs and opinions of others.

Stand Up For Mental Health

Today was an amazing day in my studies for a Certificate III in Disability. Our teacher Jo McDougal  entered the room on crutches. She is teaching us about understanding of mental health issues and recovery.

As she explained that she had knee re-construction and that she was a nurse in a mental health ward in a hospital, I had flash backs of the time I was in the Royal Adelaide Hospital after a life threatening motor cycle accident.

Excuses Why You Can't Do Anything

Life is a real challenge when you have so many things to do in a day. What makes it worse is when you hear those negative voices ringing in our head, making excuses why you can't do things or get motivated.

What would you think if you heard someone speaking out loud those exact negative words that rattle around in your head making up excuses why:

• you can't get out of bed
• you can't go to school - YAY!!!   
• you can't go to work
• you can't go for a walk
• you can't do this
• you can't do that
• blah! blah! blah! blah!!!

You know what I'm talking about.

How can you get motivated just to get out of bed and do just the simple things that need to be done in your day?

Get into the disability services and make a big difference

Last week, there was a news item in our local paper The Chronicle, promoting CIT (Canberra Institute of Technology). Included in the news item was a photograph of myself and comments I made about the teachers and the course I'm studying, Certificate III in Disability.








 As an advocate for people with disabilities this blog site 'Voice For Disability' is  all about:

• people with disabilities
• disability support workers who have made it their career to care for those who in reality have a special gift
• the educational institutions who train individuals to become disability support workers
• community services both government and non-government organisations
• stories of individuals with disabilities and how they are changing community opinions and who are advocacy representatives for their peers.  

What is so special about this news item?

Values and Attitudes – Part 4

This is the final, Part 4 of my Values and Attitudes assignment, which is part my Certificate III in Disability studies at Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT).

I have included the Reference Links at the bottom of this article which helped me research this assignment.

I hope you enjoy the article and I look forward to any comments you may have, by posting them in the comments function at the end of this article.

Values and Attitudes – Part 3

This is Part 3 of my Values and Attitudes assignment, which is part my Certificate III in Disability studies at Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT).

I hope you enjoy the article and I look forward to any comments you may have, by posting them in the comments function at the end of this article.

Values and Attitudes – Part 2

This is Part 2 of my Values and Attitudes assignment, which is part my Certificate III in Disability studies at Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT).

I hope you enjoy the article and I look forward to any comments you may have, by posting them in the comments function at the end of this article.

Values and Attitudes – Part 1

I'm studying a Certificate III in Disability at Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT). This article is in three parts of an assignment I wrote based on Values and Attitudes. It relates to people with disabilities and my arguments against attitudes that are held by a minority of the community.

Now that I have received my grades for this assignment, I want to share with you:

• my research
• the completed assignment
• internet links that support my arguments.

I hope you enjoy the article and I look forward to any comments you may have by posting them in the comments function at the end of this article.

Is Euthanasia Or Suicide An Option For Disabilities?

I recently saw a current affairs program on television about a woman who had Cerebral Palsy. She was fed up with her disability, so much so, that she wanted to follow the path of euthanasia and end her life of suffering.

In case you don't know what Euthanasia is, it comes from the Greek word 'Good Death'.  The Wikipedia on Euthanasia defines it as 'the practice of ending a life in a manner which relieves pain and suffering'.

I was shocked that this woman who was able to talk fluently about her choices, had resigned to take an easy way out. Now that may sound harsh and judgemental on my part. But hearing this story reminded me of the time I also wanted to give up on my life because of:

• extreme pain I was suffering;
• the side effects of strong medication I was taking;
• the emotional pain and suffering my family was going through because of my disability;
• doctors saying I could end up in a wheelchair.

This woman's story has compelled me to write about my story, causing me to reflect on what I was going through at that time and how I just wanted to end it all. I'm so glad now, that I didn't end my life, whether it be termed euthanasia or suicide.