May 2007
Ramble for the day
Tuesday-15-May-2007 Filed in: Ramblings
Whilst looking for a new job, today I came across:
"work for a Metal Heath Charity'... eh hmmm Mental Health perhaps - who knows!
and "Fluent French Spkng Assnt Editor" - Fluent in what - French texting?
Perhaps the job agency are looking for someone who can data input and spell - if not then they should be!!
Crippled ancestors - equality 150 years ago.
Tuesday-01-May-2007 Filed in: Independent
Living
Last night I thought Aghhhh it's that disablism
blogging day thing tomorrow - what shall I ramble on
about.... so I thought I would combine my family tree
research with a thought for the day.
I've been searching for dead relatives (when they were hatched, matched and dispatched as the saying goes) for a year now and I have become completely addicted to all things ancestry. Not just names, dates of births etc - but finding out about how they lived, worked and spent their leisure time.
Now, I inherited something that makes me officially a 'special person' - yes hurrah I got an impairment! The fantastic genetic combination of my mum and dad brought to life - a true mutant in the family. Now, some may think I was doing this research to embark on some kind of genetic heritage trail and indeed DNA family trees are becoming increasingly popular to 'prove' or evidence a relation - but no. At first I found very few of my ancestors appeared to have any kind of deformity, were not idiots , imbeciles or deaf and dumb as defined in the census data. Surely some disabled people were around in those days - we aren't a modern day phenomena.
Then - at last I found 1 person who had a learning difficulty and a g.g (x several generations) grandfather who was "blind in one eye" .... waahey so disabled people did exist and we didn't all die at birth .... then I found a few more (and I suspect many who were maimed or injured along the way or had hidden impairments looking at the cause of death).
On a more serious note, what is enlightening is to study documents, census data and lifestyles to see how disabled people have faired over the years. If we look at census data we see:
1841 - not recorded
1851 and 1861 - Whether blind, deaf or idiot
We see disabled people being cared for by families, working along side others and generally included. Even those in workhouses later on (although some were very unpleasant when they were opened) actually offered employment and 'work for your keep' opportunities. Disabled people were pretty much valued in society and included in every day activities. We see poor people who travelled by horse and carriage for miles to 'hospitals' in the cities to get health care or the support of town dwelling relatives - or city dwellers travelling to rural areas for fresh air to 'cure' their loved ones's ills.
People still had mental health problems, older people still got dementia and arthritis type conditions - yet families helped each other out and kept going. Their wasn't the option of 'respite' or handing over their care to Social Services - you made do with what you had - patience, hard work, shared care between family members or neighbours and often a strong faith to see you through. You got no funding, charities hadn't been invented and you all pulled together to survive - and survive they did like the rest of the population. How often do you see that today?
By 1871 we see a huge change - the language now starts putting people in boxes (blind, deaf, dumb, imbecile, idiot, or lunatic). And so we have the same boxes in 'Social Care' where you have to have a sensory impairment, learning difficulty, physical impairment or mental ill health. Same boxes different language.
By 1891 imbecile and idiot had been dropped, disabled people were being bundled into institutions and asylums - hidden away from society and excluded. Good old Darwin and his cousin were telling people that disabled people must not be allowed to breed and so on. Deaf people were forbidden to sign and the Medical approach to disability was in full swing. It was to be another 90 years until the Social approach brought new definitions and ways of thinking with a more 'can do and can include' approach.
So I discovered that my ancestors with impairments, over 150 years ago, had equality of health care, equality of education, had massive family/social and community support, were included in all aspects of life, were able to work alongside their none disabled peers etc. I am not saying life was good or particularly long - but if you survived it was on a parr with non disabled people.
That is the big difference compared with today where, as a disabled person, inequality and discrimination is a daily occurrence. We might have the DDA, Equality Schemes, Employment Schemes and so on - but sometimes I think that they are not worth the paper they are written - or perhaps they are just that - pieces of paper that tick a box? Today in 2007 we make the 1840's look rosey.
I've been searching for dead relatives (when they were hatched, matched and dispatched as the saying goes) for a year now and I have become completely addicted to all things ancestry. Not just names, dates of births etc - but finding out about how they lived, worked and spent their leisure time.
Now, I inherited something that makes me officially a 'special person' - yes hurrah I got an impairment! The fantastic genetic combination of my mum and dad brought to life - a true mutant in the family. Now, some may think I was doing this research to embark on some kind of genetic heritage trail and indeed DNA family trees are becoming increasingly popular to 'prove' or evidence a relation - but no. At first I found very few of my ancestors appeared to have any kind of deformity, were not idiots , imbeciles or deaf and dumb as defined in the census data. Surely some disabled people were around in those days - we aren't a modern day phenomena.
Then - at last I found 1 person who had a learning difficulty and a g.g (x several generations) grandfather who was "blind in one eye" .... waahey so disabled people did exist and we didn't all die at birth .... then I found a few more (and I suspect many who were maimed or injured along the way or had hidden impairments looking at the cause of death).
On a more serious note, what is enlightening is to study documents, census data and lifestyles to see how disabled people have faired over the years. If we look at census data we see:
1841 - not recorded
1851 and 1861 - Whether blind, deaf or idiot
We see disabled people being cared for by families, working along side others and generally included. Even those in workhouses later on (although some were very unpleasant when they were opened) actually offered employment and 'work for your keep' opportunities. Disabled people were pretty much valued in society and included in every day activities. We see poor people who travelled by horse and carriage for miles to 'hospitals' in the cities to get health care or the support of town dwelling relatives - or city dwellers travelling to rural areas for fresh air to 'cure' their loved ones's ills.
People still had mental health problems, older people still got dementia and arthritis type conditions - yet families helped each other out and kept going. Their wasn't the option of 'respite' or handing over their care to Social Services - you made do with what you had - patience, hard work, shared care between family members or neighbours and often a strong faith to see you through. You got no funding, charities hadn't been invented and you all pulled together to survive - and survive they did like the rest of the population. How often do you see that today?
By 1871 we see a huge change - the language now starts putting people in boxes (blind, deaf, dumb, imbecile, idiot, or lunatic). And so we have the same boxes in 'Social Care' where you have to have a sensory impairment, learning difficulty, physical impairment or mental ill health. Same boxes different language.
By 1891 imbecile and idiot had been dropped, disabled people were being bundled into institutions and asylums - hidden away from society and excluded. Good old Darwin and his cousin were telling people that disabled people must not be allowed to breed and so on. Deaf people were forbidden to sign and the Medical approach to disability was in full swing. It was to be another 90 years until the Social approach brought new definitions and ways of thinking with a more 'can do and can include' approach.
So I discovered that my ancestors with impairments, over 150 years ago, had equality of health care, equality of education, had massive family/social and community support, were included in all aspects of life, were able to work alongside their none disabled peers etc. I am not saying life was good or particularly long - but if you survived it was on a parr with non disabled people.
That is the big difference compared with today where, as a disabled person, inequality and discrimination is a daily occurrence. We might have the DDA, Equality Schemes, Employment Schemes and so on - but sometimes I think that they are not worth the paper they are written - or perhaps they are just that - pieces of paper that tick a box? Today in 2007 we make the 1840's look rosey.
Door Saga - part 10
Tuesday-01-May-2007 Filed in: Independent
Living
Spoke to soon - the oil has not fixed the problem and
it's as cranky as ever.....
