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Tuesday, May 4, 2004
Year V, Edition 927
Today's front section features 8 news and information
items, each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Click on the"Below the
Fold" link at the bottom of this section for 40 more news items.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"The disabled are people, not symbols. At the
same time, they represent the entire race in all its weakness, power, and
choice."
--PBS television essayist Roger Rosenblatt (Fifth story)
"Nobody else can tell you what you are or are not capable of doing
except yourself."
--Mariela Oman (Third story)
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# INSTITUTIONS / ABUSE
Amnesty International Reports
Widespread Abuse Within Romanian Institutions
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
May 4, 2004
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA--Hundreds of
Romanians are being held in deplorable conditions inside psychiatric
institutions, in violation of international human rights laws, according to a
report released Tuesday by Amnesty International.
The report, which comes as Romania prepares to join the European Union in 2007, calls on the government to make immediate reforms in its mental health system. It also calls on the EU to pressure Romania to guarantee full respect for the rights of its citizens with mental illness and intellectual disabilities.
In its "Memorandum to the Romanian Government Concerning Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment", the human rights organization criticized the government's "medieval" practice of institutionalizing individuals with such disabilities -- many against their will and without legal representation -- in several run-down, dirty, overcrowded, and unheated facilities.
Among other things, Amnesty officials who recently visited facilities found situations in which several residents had to share a room, and even share beds. In some instances this was the only way for them to keep warm during cold weather.
Personal hygiene was generally inadequate, Amnesty visitors discovered, with residents taking showers in poor facilities, usually once a week. Clothing, bedclothes, mattresses, even eating utensils were not kept clean. Some reports described residents going around naked or scantily clothed, and eating out of dishes that were soiled by other residents.
The surveyors found that institution officials had made little or no attempt to separate those with criminal histories from the general population, thereby mixing perpetrators with victims, in settings with minimal supervision. Last year, four residents died following assaults by other residents.
Eighteen patients in one facility died during January and February of this year, reportedly from malnutrition and hypothermia. Amnesty officials said they believed these deaths were "not the exception in the Romanian mental health care system".
"Restraint and seclusion practices in many psychiatric wards and hospitals were not in line with international standards and in some instances amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment," the report's authors wrote. "There were no protocols for, nor records kept, regarding the use of restraint and seclusion. Seclusion was frequently enforced as a punishment."
Medications to treat mental illnesses were not given to patients as required. In some cases, medication was handed to one patient to dispense to another. Many patients who did receive medications had no idea what they were taking, the report said.
In addition, some residents had no mental or medical diagnosis that would warrant being held in these facilities. Some had simply been moved to the institutions after being abandoned in orphanages, with no treatment or discharge plans. Several had been labeled "oligophrenic", an out-dated, catch-all phrase similar to "feeble-minded". Some would likely do well in the community, if the government were to provide supports for them, the report noted.
Amnesty International concluded its report with a list of at least 20 recommendations regarding placement in psychiatric wards and hospitals; living conditions, therapies and treatment; restraint and seclusion practices; and deaths within the facilities.
First and foremost, the organization recommended that the Romanian government establish community-based supports for people now housed in these facilities.
Related:
"Romania Memorandum to the government concerning
inpatient psychiatric treatment" (Amnesty International)
http://news.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR390032004
---
# CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Denver Cops
Angered Over Turney's Suspension
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily
Express
May 4, 2004
DENVER, COLORADO--Mayor John Hickenlooper said he
felt "pretty bruised" after his meeting Friday with hundreds of Denver Police
officers who expressed outrage at the recent suspension of Officer James
Turney.
Al LaCabe, Denver's Manager of Safety, suspended Turney for 10 months for violating the police department's "efficiency and safety" rules when Turney shot and killed 15-year-old Paul Childs III last July. When Turney is allowed to return to work, he will be assigned to a desk job.
The Childs family called 9-1-1 on July 5 in the hopes that police could help calm Paul, who had mental retardation and epilepsy, after a series of outbursts in his home. Turney arrived at the house and drew his firearm even though two other officers, who were on the scene before him, had non-lethal Tasers. Turney shot Childs four times in a doorway when the teen failed to follow police instructions to drop a kitchen knife he was clutching to his own chest.
LaCabe said that, while Turney was justified in shooting the teen under the department's use-of-force policy, the officer had created the "deadly force situation", exposing himself and others to "an immediate risk of harm."
Childs' death was the second fatal shooting by Turney since he joined the department in 1998. On January 30, 2002, he shot and killed 18-year-old Gregory Smith Jr., in the home of Smith's mother. Turney shot the partially deaf Smith after the teen failed to follow orders to drop a pocket knife.
Turney was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in both cases.
Friday's meeting had been arranged after 450 officers protested Turney's suspension. Many reportedly left the meeting early, saying they were still angry, and that the mayor was not giving them answers.
"I just want to know what was wrong with what Turney did," Officer Ray Sandoval told the Rocky Mountain News. "I'll tell you one thing, if someone is stupid enough to pull a knife on me, I'll kill them."
The Childs family has indicated that they intend to file a federal civil rights suit against the police department, led by famous trial attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.
After Friday's hour-and-a-half closed meeting, Mayor Hickenlooper said, "I'm going to go home and take a hot bath; I feel pretty bruised."
Hickenlooper added that LaCabe did not consult with him about Turney's suspension, but that he was advised of the decision.
Related:
The Death of Paul Childs III (Inclusion Daily Express
Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/childs.htm
---
# ACHIEVEMENT / EDUCATION
Student Pursues Second Degree
May 4, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH--Sunday's Deseret News included
a brief story about 21-year-old Mariela Oman.
Oman and her brother have osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly known as "brittle bone disorder".
While her disability has presented some challenges to her, it would seem that her greatest challenges have had to do with getting others to give her the chance to reach her own potential. This included convincing educators to let her attend classes with her peers who did not have disabilities.
Oman recently earned her associate's degree from the College of Eastern Utah. She plans on earning a psychology degree through a Utah State University.
"If you don't think you can do it, you'll never succeed," she said in an interview. "If you think you can, you'll be able to do it."
Related:
"Grad excels despite illness" (Deseret News)
http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595060328,00.html
---
# ACCESSIBILITY / LAWS
Town's New ADA Advisory Group Already
Sees Results
May 4, 2004
PORT CLINTON, OHIO--A newly-formed group
is looking at ways to make this small coastal town more accessible to people
with disabilities.
The town's ADA committee was formed in December to study how the city complies with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, and to make recommendations to improve accessibility, the News Herald reported Tuesday.
One change has already been made, based on suggestions by the volunteers on the panel, many of whom have physical disabilities. Last month, doors were installed at City Hall that slide open at the touch of a button.
The group's next goals include installing automatic doors at several public buildings, including a county health building that already has automatic doors -- which open onto a set of conventional doors.
"Especially with being a tourist town, we're really looking at a vision of making Port Clinton a model for accessibility," said the committee's chairman Mick Van Hoose.
"That's going to lead a group of people coming to this area who in the past haven't done so -- which will lead to creating more business for the merchants," explained Van Hoose, who uses a wheelchair and directs the local office of the Ability Center of Greater Toledo.
Plans are also in the works to create a downtown "wheelchair corridor" of curb cuts and usable sidewalks, the paper noted.
Van Hoose said that while cities are required by the federal law to establish committees to advise them on accessibility issues, "I would venture to say a lot of cities don't have them."
---
# AWARENESS
"Mind Over Matter"
May 4,
2004
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA--The following three paragraphs are excerpts
from an essay by Roger Rosenblatt, which he presented in Monday's edition of
"The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS television:
Now there are more of them, men and women grievously wounded in Iraq, who have been blinded or consigned to wheelchairs, or who walk very slowly, with a little help. They join a distinct population: The blind, the lame, and the halt.
They were once called that, in an age when those who wore their human injuries for all to see were set apart from the rest of us who were luckier. But now they move among us more readily, thanks to ramps in office buildings and special accommodations in theaters, stadiums, and other public places. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act did that. Because of Section 508 and a general advance in thinking about such things, the blind, the lame, and the halt find it easier to reenter the more mobile world.
The disabled are people, not symbols. At the same time, they represent the entire race in all its weakness, power, and choice.
Entire essay:
"Mind Over Matter" by Roger Rosenblatt
(PBS)
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/essays/jan-june04/resoneblatt_05-03.html
---
# TODAY'S FEATURED ACCESSIBILITY WEBSITE
Concrete
Change
People with Disabilities--and our Allies: Join The Work Toward An international effort to make all homes Visitable!
Here you’ll find resources to "change the things we can."
http://www.concretechange.org/
---
# EXPRESS EXTRA!!! From the Inclusion Daily Express Archives (Three years ago):
ACCESSIBILITY
Ceremony Celebrating Government's
Commitment to People with Disabilities Was Not Accessible to People with
Disabilities
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 4,
2001
PIETERSBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--During a public ceremony Thursday
morning, Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi gave brand-new wheelchairs to three citizens
with disabilities, and announced that 38 more people would be receiving new
wheelchairs from the provincial government before day's end. The government
plans to donate a total of 500 wheelchairs across Northern Province.
On the porch of his office, surrounded by government officials and journalists, the premier explained that this was proof of his government's commitment to fully integrate people with disabilities into the community. He added that the entire community, including the public and the private sector, need to become more aware of "the plight of the handicapped" and give more attention to their rights.
Unfortunately, the three people who were on hand to receive their new wheelchairs had to be lifted and carried up the stairs to the porch.
Uh-oh.
Who knows if the irony was wasted on the premier and the others attending the event.
Ramatlhodi did acknowledge that his office is not accessible, but added that the government rents the buildings. He went on to say that he is giving his attention to the issue, and that he hopes to make all government facilities accessible in time.
---
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---
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