Attention from the battle of improving the lives of Islanders with disabilities is being diverted by a phony war over carnivals and disability
Updated from August 24, 2009
The Liberal government is licking its lips at the thought of in-fighting between the PEI Canadian Paraplegic Association and PEI Disability Alert. Double agent Myrtle Jenkins Smith, who works for both the PEI CPA and Minister Currie, has her hand in stirring this up.
Despite two letters to the Guardian protesting how much fun it is to have people with disabilities on display at a carnival, the truth is the event was against the best authorities on disability support and a reasonable sense of propriety.
The PEI Council of the Disabled turned down this fundraiser since it was inappropriate. They said it was offensive at the event location. They were putting able body people in wheelchairs and having them wear oven mittens.
Letter writer Tony Dolan (letter below) should know better. As an advocate for the disabled for more than 20 years, Dolan was trained on the P.A.S.S. course while employed at the Council of the Disabled.
P.A.S.S. instructs disability workers not to associate the disabled with any degrading events. It contributes to the deviancy image of people with disabilities. It would be like having a potluck supper for Mi’kmaq children at one of the residential schools. We have to sensitize ourselves to the potential to denigrate people with disabilities through past and present negative associations.
The P.A.S.S course was developed by Dr. Wolf Wolsfensberger who is a world authority in helping people with disabilities maintain their feelings of normalcy in society. “Dr. Wolfensberger is the originator of Citizen Advocacy and Social Role Valorization, and he was the foremost propagator of normalization in North America.” Wikipedia
DR WOLF WOLFENSBERGER spearheaded the Normalization reform movement, Syracuse University Training Institute or Human Service Planning
I don’t want to belabour this nor to pick a fight with the PEI-CPA who are all good, well-intentioned people. However, the event was ill-advised. To vigorously defend the event in public destroys decades of public education about the proper treatment of people with disabilities.
The Letter from the Guardian is just something to make the PEI-CPA feel good about themselves but does a disservice to disability advocacy and spreads misinformation among the public.
Purpose of the event to foster understanding
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Editor:
As the volunteer chair of the Canadian Paraplegic Association – P.E.I. (CPA-PEI) I feel the need to respond to the letter to the editor titled ‘Another version of a freak show’ (The Guardian, Aug. 13, 2008).
The CPA was founded in 1945 by returning Second World War spinal cord-injured veterans whose goal was to increase the public awareness of the challenges faced by persons adapting to life in a wheelchair and to increase their independence and the lives of others facing the same challenges.
Stephen Pate’s description of the event as a “freak show” shows a complete misunderstanding and a lacking insensitivity.
The RHI wheels event was jointly coordinated by CPA-P.E.I. and the Rick Hansen Foundation and was organized to help people better understand the challenges people in wheelchairs face on a daily basis and also to raise money for the Wheels in Motion program.
The fundraising formula sees 55 percent of the gross revenue returned to the local community from which it is raised for quality-of-life projects which positively impact individuals with spinal cord injuries. Twenty-five percent of the funds are directed towards national initiatives and the remaining 20 percent goes to the Wheels in Motion program.
The date to host the Wheels in Motion event was chosen to be co-ordinated with Old Home Week to help ensure the maximum audience and to take advantage of the free extensive marketing to bring awareness to Islanders in a great indoor venue at no cost.
As CPA board member Paul Vienneau pointed out to the audience, he and several of his friends in P.E.I. have directly benefited by being able to secure specialized chairs needed to play basketball with funds raised by Wheels in Motion.
It is unfortunate that there are misinformed individuals in the community that have suggested anything other than the positive outcomes that result from having able-bodied people attempt even a few basic skills that those of us in chairs must contend with every day.
Tony Dolan chair, CPA – P.E.I.
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