Posts by Rosemary McDonald
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Hard News: RNC 2016: A literal shitshow, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
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Hard News: RNC 2016: A literal shitshow, in reply to Jason Kemp,
Trump seemed driven entirely by a need for public attention.
Another anecdote here...
I lean over as we’re talking and I realise everything he’s looking at is an article about himself. In fact at several points in the conversation Donald got so excited about what he was reading about himself that he would pick up the magazine and hold it up to me and say, ‘Look Randal, do you see that The Apprentice was number one in the ratings last week, isn’t that great?’
“Apparently somebody’s job responsibility is to find all this stuff and to organise it for him to read. I can only conclude that Donald loves reading about Donald.”
Donald loves reading about Donald. He has, according to many who know him, study him or write about him, made Donald his life’s work.
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Hard News: RNC 2016: A literal shitshow, in reply to Russell Brown,
Logic would dictate
Logic? Logic???!!!
At what point did logic sneak in???
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Speaker: Housing for the disabled is a…, in reply to Angela Hart,
what happened between 2010 and 2011 to change IHC’s income so significantly? Or is it a typo?
I have no idea...(and speaking of which, if you want to view some truly eyewatering amounts of Gummint funding, check out IHC's provider arm's page)
Someone out there in PA land might be able shed some light...
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Speaker: Housing for the disabled is a…, in reply to Moz,
it will be used for anything the government thinks is a good idea,
Judging by the calibre of government on both sides of the Tasman, we're in the shit then.
Abandon ye all hope.
Back to 'housing for the disabled'...this is not hard. From a purely practical standpoint building or modifying a residential structure for mobility access is easy, and for a new build, cheaper than a 'conventional' home.
I cannot opine with experience about housing for those with learning or behavioural impairments....though I would imagine that ensuring the same standard of safety features one would expect in residences where very young children would be living would be a start....
As for IHC....they're doing alright...
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Speaker: Housing for the disabled is a…, in reply to WaterDragon,
post-census disability survey data
....and that census would not have included data from my man and me. We refused to participate as we believe that citizenship...rights and responsibilities...is a two way street.
What is the point of compulsorily acquired data if the Gummint is either not going to use it for the general good....or even worse...use data collected against the target group?
Now, we have all known about the Baby Boomer Bump for some time. Those pesky Old People just keep on living longer and sucking up more valuable resources. And, and they are demanding to stay in their own homes as they age and require more care. When we have all those nice retirement villages they could live in, and if they need lots of care, they can transition to a nice care unit. They won't mind at all.
Of course, if they do move into a care facility, their assets will be used (eventually) to pay for their care. Less for the kids to inherit....but hey...who wants to own their own home anyway?
Same with (non-ACC) disabled home owners. If they are forced into residential care and they have assets, their assets will be commandeered by the Gummint to pay for that care. The "forcing" part comes in when The Powers That Be (MOH:DSS funded NASCs) declare that your care needs are so high that they cannot possibly be managed in your own home. (Even if a spouse/partner/parent has managed for years to provide that care, unfunded.)
This rule does not apply to ACC disabled....as they are special and are entitled to care and have the right to choose where that care is provided.
We live most of the time in a 7 metre Bus, kitted out for basic living with a cheap second hand hoist down the back to get the wheelchair in. This is way cheaper than if we lived full time in the totally accessible house we built 18 years ago....that we can no longer afford to live in.
And we're happy as a pair of pigs rolling in poo.
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Access: Disability as a wicked policy problem, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I would write to Annette.king@parliament.govt.nz about every situation. so she can gather information about how widespread and stupid it all is.
Can you hear me laughing, up here in the miserable Waikato Hilary?
Somewhere in the bowels of my old laptop are a number of begging letters with regards to funding for a 'high/low' bed....written during Labour's occupation of the Beehive.
I argued(in between popping painkillers for my trashed back) that the hundreds of thousands of dollars the Miserly had already saved with me providing all of Himself's care more than justified the expense....and would extend considerably the length of my tenure in this position. It would have been a real investment.
They (including Ruth Dyson if I recall) basically told me to eff off.
We finally did get funding....but we had already organised the Bus to better manage His cares....and we only use the funded bed for the few weeks in the year we are actually not on the road.
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Access: Disability as a wicked policy problem, in reply to Gillian Hart,
In her view, rehabilitation was fundable but preservation of existing function was not.
Hmmm...I'm confused. (Becoming an almost default state these days...)
To my mind, 'rehabilitation' encompasses maintaining function. The 'use it or lose it' mantra.
Perhaps the meaning has been changed? I have noticed that some of the big home care providers are using the term "rehabilitation" when in actual fact they are providing home and community support services....bog standard personal care and household management. Maybe "rehabilitation" sounds more positive, projects optimism that the 'person' is going to get 'better'?
I firmly believe it is part of the reason I am still alive.
This is what Peter feels about the power assist wheels for his manual chair. When the local OTs saw him beetling around the convention centre at the disability expo at Mystery Creek a decade ago in a chair with these wheels on...."just like a para", they determined they were going to get funding for them....and bless them they did. It took about 18 months, and the Miserly, via Enable, could not understand why Himself didn't opt for a power chair. "Much easier to get around" they argued....but a method of propulsion that would have required no effort on the user's behalf. The minimal, but hugely significant function in this C5 tetraplegic's chest and abdominal muscles would have been lost....and the horrible chest infection he contracted in hospital while having chemo for leukemia would have killed him.
Sometimes we wonder if that would have been the Misery's preferred outcome...
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This should be shared somewhere...
An Auckland woman suffering from multiple sclerosis is being denied funding for a new standing frame.
Susan has been using the same standing frame for 20 years and, along with her husband David, she's campaigning to get a new frame funded by Accessable, a Ministry of Health company.
In the last 10 years she has been unable to walk and the frame allows Susan to move her legs and maintain a standing transfer.
Accessable told them they only support funding for a standing hoist if it's an essential need, not a rehabilitation tool.
...because, MOH:DSS don't do rehabilitation...
Toni Atkinson, group manager of Disability Support Services, says the Ministry of Health is still considering the application.
"Funding for a standing frame is provided where it is needed to maintain a person's functional posture...where this is part of a long term plan and not limited to a period of specific rehabilitation," he says.
An Equipment and Modification Services assessor will make a clinical decision as to whether or not the person meets the criteria, Atkinson says.
(NB The "Toni Atkinson" we have dealt with is actually female....guess the reporter assumed otherwise...)
This is exactly the kind of shit that we (those dealing with physical impairments) have to deal with just about every single frigging time a piece of equipment or hands on support is needed.
Every single frigging time.
To the point where you simply expect them to say no...and prepare for battle.
The Misery of Health really does hate disabled people.
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Access: Fighting seclusion with…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Apparently other people didn’t find the Sunday doc as anti-disability as me.
I actually commandeered a telly last night to watch this particular program....(jesus wept there's no shortage of absolute crap on TV these days!)
I too found some of it portrayed Ashley as a dangerous nutbar (largely ignoring the autism), then his parents and the psychiatrist both said that the way he was being treated was making his behaviour worse. So I guess a certain balance was achieved.
Petition signed.....though Coleman may have to be hit over the head with it for it to have any effect.
Great work by Kirsty Johnston....