Coming up…

On May 1, I’ll be joining in on Blogging Against Disableism Day 2010.

Please, join in! Write about how ableism affects your life, write about the idea of ableism, write about your thoughts on the artificial border between 'ablebodied' folks and people with disabilities, anything you can add to the conversation.

The only way to defeat ableism is to take a stand against it. Join me and many fantastic bloggers in working on breaking down this barrier.

Also, May is EDS Awareness month! I'll write a special post for that, and I would very much appreciate it if you would link in your journals so that we can increase the knowledge people have of this rare illness. If it were not for people online providing me information about EDS, I probably would have never been diagnosed. Let's spread the word!

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I’m BADD! (blogging against disabilism day)

Folks, one of the contributions many of us make towards changing the world one piece at a time is Blogging Against Disabilism Day.

You are welcome to participate if you are interested in writing a post on May 1 about disability discrimination, disablism or ableism.  Whether you are non-disabled, a person with a disability, someone with a cane, crutch, or chair, disAbled, crip, gimp, differently abled or any way you want to describe it, you are welcome.

Please join me! Let your friends and anyone who reads your journal know that people with disabilities are people first!

Blogging Against Disablism Day

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Small request for help…

Guys, on reddit and digg you kind of need a critical mass for people to actually see you. On reddit I’ve been found a fair number of times, but not so on digg.

If you guys could upvote me on both, I would really appreciate it! Here’s the links:

http://digg.com/health/Help_a_disabled_girl_get_a_service_dog

Help a disabled girl get a service dog!
byu/BrokenKali inreddit.com

Thanks!

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What do you want to see?

Okay, since I now actually have readers, I’m curious about what you guys want to see.

Obviously, there are things I want to talk about – the impact my specific disability has on my life, the legal import of having a disability, and of course Hudson.

But what do you think I could talk about that you want to see?

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Good news, but hard news

I got my package from the service dog organization yesterday.

It has really brought home to me that this is ‘real’ – that Hudson and I really are going to train together this summer, and I will have this furry friend around to help me.

At the same time, it is bringing something else home – the price tag.

When I applied for the service dog, I really only thought about the price of the dog – 10% of your income or $1,000, whichever was higher.  As I am a student, and have virtually no income, I will be paying $1,000.

There are so many things that thousand dollars doesn’t cover.  There’s 3 weeks of training, where I’ll need a place to stay (I’m estimating at $2,500).  $120 of mandatory fieldtrips.  Feeding myself for 3 weeks while staying in a hotel.  Hudson’s equipment, which will be customized to us.  Bedding and toys and food and grooming supplies.

All told, I expect this to cost over $4,000.

The real kicker is this: because I will be in training for 3 weeks right in the middle of the summer, I cannot take a summer job.  I will need a significant amount of time to recover after training, and besides that, Hudson and I will need to get used to working together.

Worse yet, this news comes just a few weeks after I had to pay $2,500 to have my car repaired.  It was, unfortunately, a repair that could not wait as it would only get worse.

I am…doing the only thing I can do now.  I’m asking for help.   Please, if you can help…getting a service dog means the world to me.

Every little bit helps.

Australian button:

Canadian button:

Euro Button:

UK Button:

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