Enabled/Habilitado: Thoughts on disability - Reflecciones sobre discapacidad

  I remember some time ago, reviewing my medical history with a new (to me) urologist. I mentioned my bladder stimulation treatments. I had half-expected him to recognize the treatment, and maybe even tell me how they had evolved, or had expanded to the entire country by now. Instead, he got a pensive look on his face. “Bladder stimulation”, he mused slowly, “I think I read something about that in an article on history of Spina Bifida treatments somewhere…” I was startled to the point of having to stifle a laugh. The treatment was so “cutting edge” when I went through it in the 90s, and here, nearly 30 years later, it sounded like it was being lumped in along with bloodletting or medieval potions. Fast forward to just about a month ago, I happened to find this article about three babies receiving in utero stem cell treatment for spina bifida .   In a perhaps weird way, I found myself feeling a pang of sadness, verging, irrationally perhaps, on jealousy. Here were babies who ...

  Texto en Español sigue del texto en Inglés Link to image source A few weeks ago, I watched the comedian Lee Ridley (“ Lost Voice Guy ”) perform for America’s Got Talent. One thing I noticed almost immediately was the t-shirt he was wearing (and this is the title of his book as well). I remembered a few years back on the metro when someone muttered to his friends that he should have “canes available so that someone would get up and offer him his seat.”   I also thought about how often accommodations – things to help individuals with disabilities live full and productive lives, can so often be seen as “perks”, “extras”, “advantages”, and on some level, proof that maybe persons with disabilities cannot do things “right” or “without help.” In their report “Small Organizations and Title I of the ADA: A Survey Study in Region 2”, researchers at Cornell asked small organizations in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands about employing and providing...