Letter to the Editor
When the Government was booted out on May 28th, 2007 we hoped that the Disability Support Program (DSP) would begin to fulfill its mandate of helping people with disabilities be as “independent as possible and attain a satisfactory quality of life.” That has not happened. Instead we have the same people applying the same cruel policies that abuse Islanders living with disabilities.
Two cases this summer reminded me, and I don’t want to forget, how misguided the administration of the DSP is.
Bob, not his real name, has been disabled all his life but has done amazing things for a person confined to an electric wheelchair in a prone position. Bob could no longer live on his own and entered the PE Home. What did the DSP do? They cut Bob off from support. He gets about $35 – that’s it.
Imagine for a minute starting the month with $35 in you pocket. You’ve got to make that last for 31 days. Get thirsty and need a drink of water? That’s $1.40 so you can afford to be thirsty 25 times this month. Why doesn’t Bob just drink tap water? He can’t lean over to fill a glass. Want to use Pat and the Elephant to take you to the doctor, hospital, or movie? Decide which thing you want to do and that’s it but forget about the movie: not enough money.
Anne has a deteriorating neuro-muscular disability. Things are getting worse. She is losing her ability to function. She needs help to go to the bathroom and eat. Anne can’t slap peanut butter on white bread. What Anne can do is think and speak brilliantly.
She needs a chair that will lift her up – $900. The DSP worker told her to go somewhere else: she’s maxed out on support. Well maxed out only if the DSP refuses to see her real condition and needs
Why do the DSP case workers act without compassion? Because they know that if they try to help Islanders with disabilities DSP management will not allow it.
At the DSP the rules are simple: do not help Islanders with disabilities achieve a satisfactory quality of life. Our job at the DSP is to save money and people with disabilities are the easiest ones to pick on.
Someone in authority needs to give the DSP management a call and tell them Islanders with disabilities are the people they were hired to help. A serious attitude adjustment is needed before anymore weak people get hurt.
In the Gospel of John chapter 21, Jesus told Peter three times “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep”. Those who are responsible for looking after the weak, the sick and the lame need to remember those words.
Stephen Pate
PEI Disability Alert
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