At a snail’s pace
I like to think that I am pretty knowledgeable about self-determination. I have been involved with it for over 20 years. I have discovered there is a big difference between […]
November 2021
Key words
In the lexicon of the community of disabled people certain words stand out with special significance. Accessibility is one such of those words. To me it means more than ramps
Elections
Self-advocates take the right to vote and elections seriously. Every two years San Diego People First holds its officer elections. We hold the elections at our November meeting. Each candidate
What do I want?
What do I want? That is a straightforward question, simple and direct. Why then do I have such difficulty answering it? Perhaps, it is because it is so broad and
Beyond my dreams
I thought my annual review went well, routine, nothing to write home about. A few weeks later I received my IPP document in the mail. It took me a couple
To Jell
Individual self-advocacy can accomplish a great deal. It can help you resolve problems with your service delivery, make your IPP more tailored to your wants, needs, and hopes, and resolve
Fulfillment
I may be expressing my biases but the greatest pleasures a person can have are fulfilling a task, assignment, or project. Some people might take this for granted and dismiss
Grace, dignity, meaning, and purpose
I hear a lot about having it all–home, career, education, spouse, family, and friends. My experience is that life can be fickle and we might not be able to have
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More than coddling
The disability system knows well how to coddle people with disabilities. They dole out SSI checks, provide them with Medi-Cal, the lucky few get Section 8 apartments. and some take
More than coddling Read More »
Ownership
Under traditional services, we didn’t own anything. We received services and hopefully they met are needs and were what we wanted. If we didn’t like them, so what if we