Welcome to the Medical Motherhood Games!
Welcome to the Medical Motherhood Games!
Plus: Oklahoma Senators pass ban on hitting disabled kids in school; Australia schools in turmoil with rise of ADHD and autism; Updates to the 504 make discrimination in medical settings harder
Have you ever been going about your day and wondered: Man, where’s the award for that?
You know what I’m talking about: The Vomit Catch in a Moving Train with 0.5 Seconds Warning.
Or: The 500-Yard Dash, Pulling a Gait Trainer and Pushing a Stroller
Or: The 26.2-Hour Without Sleep Co-regulation Marathon
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could get an award for those little-but-actually-huge wins in our lives as caregivers?
Now we can! Announcing: The Medical Motherhood Games!
(No relation to that sporting event happening this summer in Paris. See? The five rings in our logo aren’t even interlocking. Leave us alone, International Olympic Committee!)
All you have to do is enter with your own “event.” Think back to something you did in the last week or the last year, something you were proud of but maybe couldn’t crow about because no one else would understand what a big deal it was. We will understand!
If you enter you could win:
A year-long paid subscription to Medical Motherhood.
A small personalized charcuterie board from Live Edge Woods.
A cartoon of your family by Lenore Eklund, Medical Motherhood’s fabulous cartoonist and illustrator of the Medical Motherhood Games logo above.
An art piece from a medical parent and artist (three possible prizes).
A gift card good for one pie from Shari’s Restaurants.
A $25 gift certificate to Baker’s Mark in Portland, Oregon.
A $50 gift certificate to Boke Bowl in Portland, Oregon.
A renewal facial from Salon Moxie in Portland, Oregon.
Others?? (Please let me know if you have something to donate!)
Prizes will be awarded to completed entries at random. (I figure no one is more familiar with the luck of the draw than parents of disabled kids!) These gifts have been donated by awesome folks in our community who just want you to know how much you are appreciated this Mother’s Day.
Entries are open now and the form is quick and easy: https://forms.gle/T24kQyAJEfb7kPMB9
Entries close at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 10 and winners will be announced in the Mother’s Day newsletter, Sunday, May 12. Enter today and let us celebrate those wins with you!
Medical Motherhood’s news round up
Snippets of news and opinion from outlets around the world. Click the links for the full story.
• From The Oklahoman: “Oklahoma Senate passes bill to ban corporal punishment for students with disabilities”
The Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would ban schools from using corporal punishment on children with disabilities.
House Bill 1028 passed by a vote of 31-11 and returns to the House for consideration.
The adopted floor substitute defines corporal punishment as hitting, slapping, paddling or any other means of inflicting physical pain.
The disabilities ranged from autism and deafness to orthopedic impairment and speech or language impairment.
The debate on the floor was passionate.
Senators cited Proverbs. One called the bill “communist ideology.”
Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, said the measure removes a tool used by parents and schools to maintain discipline.
The Legislature, in doing so, is saying “we, Big Brother, the state of Oklahoma, knows what is best for your child.”
[…]Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, said it is disturbing that the state allows teachers to hit students to keep them in line.
Rosino said he has a grandson who is autistic.
Children with disabilities don’t intellectually understand why they are being hit, he said.
“They just know they are being hit,” Rosino said.[…]
• From the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (press release): “ASAN Applauds HHS Section 504 Final Rule”
[On Wednesday, May 1], the Department of Health and Human Services announced its final rule implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is an important rule that we have been waiting for for a long time. This rulemaking is the first update to the regulations implementing Section 504 in 50 years, and is all the more important due to developments in health care and disability rights over the past five decades.
The federal rule out today does several things to further protect the lives, health and rights of people with disabilities. This rule [among other things]:
• Prohibits discrimination in medical treatment decisions based on negative stereotypes or beliefs about the value of the lives of people with disabilities. Medical providers cannot refuse to give treatment to people with disabilities because they believe we won’t have a good value of life or would be a burden to others. […]
• Prohibits any value measure that values life extension for a disabled person less than life extension for a nondisabled person. […]
• Makes sure that websites and apps meet accessibility standards for people with disabilities, so that we can use these resources and services to address our health care needs. […]
• Updates the rules for 504 to make it consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including the Integration Mandate which says that all people with disabilities have a right to live, work, and receive services in the most integrated setting. This allows people to stay in their communities and avoid being institutionalized. […]
• From The Guardian: “How the rise of autism and ADHD fractured Australia’s schools”
[…]There are now almost a million school students in Australia needing extra support because of a disability, equivalent to one in four enrolments.
And while some families have given up on the system, most are attempting to make it work, with almost 90% of students with a disability still enrolled in mainstream schools.
The number of students reported to have a disability is growing at lightning speed, jumping almost 40% since 2017. Social or emotional disabilities have grown at almost 10% a year. This compares with enrolment growth of 1% a year over the same period.
In classrooms today, an estimated 4% of seven- to 14-year-olds now have a primary diagnosis of autism, while between 6% and 10% of children have ADHD.
Experts point to the national disability insurance scheme as a key driver of the growth – because formal autism diagnosis allows families to access support under the scheme – along with changes to how schools assess disability for reporting purposes.
Research from Children and Young People with Disability Australia shows that less than a third of students with a disability feel supported to learn at school. About half report feeling welcome and included, while 70% say they have been excluded from events or activities at school.
At the same time, teachers report being overwhelmed. Resources are stretched to their limits.[…]
Marita Nicholas is on the frontline for families trying to make mainstream schools work for children with a disability. Based in Mansfield in regional Victoria, Nicholas is an autism practitioner and advocate for families, and much of her time is spent trying to navigate the education system for children with high needs.
Her clients, all school-age children ranging in age from eight to 18, are categorised with level 2 autism – those needing “substantial support”.
“There is not a single person on my list who hasn’t had to change schools because it is not working out,” Nicholas says.
“The thing about kids on the spectrum is they need consistency and certainty, and their school lives are completely inconsistent and uncertain.”
Nicholas, a former teacher who has been working as a conduit between families and schools for four years, says the eligibility criteria for disability funding are “onerous” for schools in Victoria, with a two-term wait for a child who needs support.
The process involves 10 weeks of observations and record-keeping before requisite meetings with the education department to determine whether or not funding will be made available.
Nicholas also points to the lack of appropriate physical infrastructure in schools, with not enough space for children with disabilities to take breaks.
She says most of her clients have experienced suspensions and expulsions and that informal part-time schooling arrangements are commonplace. She has observed that under-resourced teachers and principals often feel they have no choice but to expel or suspend a child, often under pressure from other parents.
“The principal to make that decision to expel will make a lot of people very happy and leave one family devastated,” she says.
“So it is about the competing interests, but that brings you to the next point – if you are going to make those decisions, where are those children who are not fitting in? Where are they meant to go?”[…]
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I used to joke with my fellow warrior moms, Dads, and caregivers about Special Needs Olympics for caregivers. Glad someone else sees the humor too. Also, I think caregivers should get a badge or patch for each skill we have to learn to keep our kids safe and happy. Similar to Boy Scout and Girl Scout patches.