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Join Pushing Limits as we explore the subject of harm reduction. Advocates of these practices believe that the government should provide services to assist those to do drugs in the safest way possible. These services may include needle exchange, overdose prevention sites, and the legalization of substances. These services have been shown to be effective. However, some politicians believe that people who use drugs shouldn’t have access to services like affordable housing until they stop using drugs.
 
Alli Lazarus
Our guests include Alli Lazarus of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Shannon Knox, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Drug Users Union. They discuss the state of harm reduction in the city and beyond. Additionally, Alli who lives with a disability herself, talks about some of the challenges her clients with disabilities face, specifically whether attendants can assist people engaging in the use of drugs.  Both of our guests give their takes on the issue of whether drug users should be considered disabled under the ADA as well.
 
This program is produced by Jacob Lesner-Buxton, and hosted and edited by Denny Daughters with production assistance from Jacob Stanton.

Useful Resources:

San Francisco Drug Users Union
Harm reduction-San Francisco AIDS Foundation
A study about an overdose prevention site in San Francisco
North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN)
National Harm Reduction Coalition


The post Harm Reduction – Pushing Limits – April 26, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

Brianna Heim watches her service dog, Emily, as she bowls Jan. 30, 2019, at the bowling event held by Exceptional Family Member Program-Family Support at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. (U.S. Air Force photo by Cynthia Griggs).
Landlords still tell people with disabilities that they cannot have their service dogs or other service animals in their homes. They continue to disregard state and federal laws or — perhaps they are just plain ignorant. Michelle Uzeta joins us to talk to our resident housing expert, Eddie Ytuarte, about landlord resistance to service animals and other housing discrimination against people with disabilities.
Michelle Uzeta
Michelle Uzeta is the Deputy Legal Director at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). Michelle’s practice has focused on the litigation of high impact lawsuits and representation of individuals facing discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, Fair Housing Amendments Act and related state laws.
In addition to her role as a litigator, Michelle has lectured and written extensively on the legal rights of people with disabilities and has authored a number of amicus briefs on disability rights issues, including briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. Michelle is a graduate of Stanford University and earned her Juris Doctorate and Certification in Public Interest Law from King Hall School of Law at the University of California, Davis.
This program produced & hosted by Eddie Ytuarte.
Check out the DREDF website for resources, to sign up for their newsletter and read about their work:  https://dredf.org
Photo of service dog:
Public Use Notice of Limitations
The post Housing Discrimination with Michelle Uzeta – Pushing Limits – April 19, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

A week ago, on April 5, 61-year-old Brett Estes took his own life by moving his wheelchair in front of a BART train.  He was a quadriplegic and a member of a Quad-Squad which was active in the disability movement.  Despite the kind, long-term help of a man named John, Brett had recently struggled with finding enough attendants.
We don’t know all the reasons behind this tragedy but this death raises the issue of our current, very-inadequate attendant-care system.  Another member of our community, Brian Larsen, also took his life a few years ago when he was unable to secure adequate attendant support.  California’s IHSS, (In Home Supportive Services) system is failing severely disabled people.
Our guest, Connie Arnold sees the problems in her own life and she’s been attending state meetings, reading legal and policy regulations and generally working to improve IHSS for 35+ years. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 1984 with a degree in Social Welfare, and in 2009 from Sonoma State University (SSU) with a Master’s degree in Health Services & Public Administration Policy. With her wide range of academic and professional expertise, Ms Arnold gives specific advice on how we can each play a part in saving lives and advocate for change.  You can reach her by emailing: IHSS underscore advocate at yahoo.com.k
Connie Arnold
MORE DETAILS:  Many people with disabilities living in the community are suffering because they cannot find competent, reliable, trustworthy, and stable non-relative IHSS care provider-attendants.  Attendants who can perform paramedical services are few and far between. The State of California makes every IHSS recipient the “employer” responsible for finding their own care providers, but the recipients do not set the terms of employment for wages, health benefits, and job incentives.  Currently, IHSS wages vary from county to county and is not a living wage.
Under the IHSS program alone family members care for 72.1% of people with disabilities and they are often willing to work long hours for near minimum wages.  But when family and friends are ill, move away or age out, who takes their place?  This situation is especially obvious in the case of developmentally disabled people who live with elderly parents, but it affects people with all kinds of severe disabilities, including dementia, Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), children with severe disabilities, and many others.
If you have a severe disability you may quality for extra help through a Medi-Cal or HCBA waiver.  Here’s how to apply:

California Department of Health Care (DHCS) Medi-Cal Waivers:
https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/Pages/Medi-CalWaivers.aspx
DHCS Home and Community-Based Alternative (HCBA) Waiver and scroll down to see which local agency serves your zip code:
https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/ltc/Pages/Home-and-Community-Based-%28HCB%29-Alternatives-Waiver.aspx

 
Connie Arnold
Currently, individuals requiring multiple daily attendants are struggling to live independently in the community. People who rely primarily on non-relative providers are most at-risk of being forced into institutions. This, despite the U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision which gave people with disabilities the right to live in the least restricted environment with supportive services.  Knowing what they know about the institutions, many severely disabled individuals consider alternative actions like suicide.
Plus:  “Who’s in Charge Here?”
Commentary by Shelley Berman.
Produced and hosted by Shelley Berman and Adrienne Lauby.
With thanks to the Berkeley-Disabled E-group who sparked the attendant-shortage discussion.  To subscribe to the Berkeley Disabled e-group, send an email to:  berkeley-disabled+subscribe@googlegroups.com
——————————Want to Learn More?——————————


In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) – California State Association of Counties.  This group put a ceiling on IHSS wages so that they

Adrion Garcia & Bella Gonzalez
Love is love, whether you live with a disability or not. However, those in interabled relationships face unique challenges that stem from within the relationship as well as from outside factors. These challenges can include finding a balance between needing care and being a reliable partner, as well as dealing with the financial limitations that governmental programs such as social security place on married couples.
In this program, three people with disabilities discuss their experiences with dating, intimacy, marriage and much more.
Denny Daughters
We talk to Denny Daughters, one of the Pushing Limits’ producers, about the unique challenges of being a blind man married to a sighted woman.
Genevieve Werner
Genevieve Werner shares her high school (and beyond) dating experiences while living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  And, she details the difficulties of intimacy for those who require caregivers.
Adrion Garcia tells us how he met his fiancé and the changes they’ve stared down since he became a quadriplegic after a work accident.
This episode of Pushing Limits is produced, edited, and hosted by Dominick Trevethan.
The post Interabled Relationships – Pushing Limits – April 5, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

(Transcript below)
People with mental, emotional and cognitive disabilities face significant limitations in their daily life.  They’re considered disabled under the law.  Yet, some people with mental health conditions feel their needs are ignored by those with mobility and other physical disabilities.   And, some people with mental health issues choose not to identify as disabled due the stigma of the category.
 
We talk to Brian Hollander from Disability Rights California, who identifies himself as someone with mental health challenges.  Hollander gives his perspectives on why there seems to be division in the community and the steps both groups can take to work together.
 
Natasha Vita More at the AND Festival Salon
Also, we talk to “Megan” a community organizer from L. A. about the journey she is on in becoming comfortable with identifying as someone with a mental health disability.
 
This episode of Pushing Limits is produced by Jacob Lesner-Buxton, with editing and voicing by Dominick Trevelham.
 
Photo Credits:
“Hands Over Face” Created by Jose Luis Navarro Copyright- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 from MyRetrospect.com
“How will we decide” by Andy Miah Natasha Vita-More @ANDfestival Salon, Flicker

Transcript:  Disability Movement Tension Spots
 
Dominick Trevethan (Dominick):  Good afternoon and welcome to Pushing Limits, KPFA’s program by and about people with disabilities. We air every Friday at 2:30pm.
This is Dominick Trevethan and today I’m voicing a script written by Jacob Lesner-Buxton. In recent years, there’s been a lot of conversation about an idea known as the hierarchy of disability.
This theory suggests that people of certain races genders, and disability are treated better than others both in and outside the community. People who believe this theory suggest that white men in wheelchairs have historically monopolized leadership roles in the community. The leaders have been accused of ignoring the needs of people of color and those with non-apparent disabilities who find themselves low in the pecking order.
Often, those at the bottom of the totem pole tend to have challenges with their mental health.
Jacob has talked with others who work for disability organizations feeling like they couldn’t share about their mental health issues.  Recently, he talked to a therapist with a disability who seemed to suggest that people with mental health challenges are from separate communities.
So, on today’s show, show, we will discuss how the disability community can better accommodate its members with mental health issues.
Our first guest is Brian Hollander, a person with a mental health disability who has worked as a public policy advocate in both California and New York.
 
Brian Hollander: (Brian) My name is Brian Hollander. I am a disability rights advocate and a public policy advocate.  I work with Disability Rights California and much of my work is focused on mental health, especially the intersection of mental health and other disabilities.  And right now what I do is supervise advocates who are protecting the civil rights of people with mental health disabilities who live in state forensic psychiatric hospitals.
Dominick:  Hollander gives us some historical context as to why it seems there’s this division between people with mental health challenges and those with other disabilities.
Hollander:  Well, you know, it’s an interesting question because it sort of has two answers. I think that my philosophy, my hope is that both of those communities of advocates should be working together especially as it relates to centers for independent living and even protection and advocacy organizations to some degree. I think mental health has sort of been like, you know, left behind. not left behind, but historically it’s been the invisible disability that nobody really talks about. Now it’s getting a lot of play, but in some cases for the long reasons.
But I definitely think that more can b

Amy SP Wilson
Are you ready?  Ready for whatever comes at you?
 
No one can answer “yes” 100% of the time.  But we can take steps to be prepared.  And Pushing Limits is here to help.
 
This week, Amy SP Wilson brings a wealth of ideas about the perennial problem of strangers who are intrusive when they try to help people with disabilities.  Amy SP Wilson is the CEO and founder of the Safety Positive Foundation, a nonprofit in the business of solving the personal safety needs of the blind and visually impaired community.
 
Serra Rae
And, Serra Rea explains how emergency centers teamed up with local Independent Living Centers to help keep people with disabilities safe during the recent Southern California Floods.  Serra Rae is the Disability Disaster Access & Resources Program Manager for the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers.
 
Listen up; Stay Safe; Be Prepared!
 
Interviewers and producers: Chelsea Lesner-Buxton, Bonnie Elliot and Dominick Trevethan.
Audio editing: Denny Daughters, Dominick Trevethan and Adrienne Lauby.
Host: Adrienne Lauby
More about Amy SP Wilson:
Amy SP Wilson’s commitment to personal safety has been a lifelong pursuit. From playfully wrestling with her cousins during her early years to becoming the first female wrestler at the Missouri School for the Blind in 1996, her passion for wrestling led her to the United States Association of Blind Athletes nationals in 1997, where she discovered Judo.
In 1998, Amy proudly represented her country in the World Championships for the Blind in Judo, as a member of the inaugural women’s Judo team of the USABA, all before graduating from high school. Amy’s eye condition, Stargardt’s, diagnosed at the age of 10, prevented her from continuing her martial arts journey.
Amy earned her first bachelor’s degree in psychology, only to become a survivor of domestic violence shortly after. This was not her first experience as a survivor, and she is deeply passionate about addressing the alarming rates of mental and emotional abuse within relationships involving individuals with disabilities.
Amy’s pursuit of knowledge led her to earn a second bachelor’s degree in social work.  For the past decade, Amy has been involved in instructing and developing self-defense programs specifically designed for the blind and visually impaired.  However, she found that these programs and organizations often had limited expectations for the Blind and Visually Impaired community, which did not align with her mission.
Through the establishment of the Safety Positive Foundation, Amy shares her skills and empowers her community to embrace a safety-positive lifestyle.
 
More about Serra Rae:  While working with the County of San Bernardino in the Public Works department, Serra Rae learned a lot about wildland fires, flooding, and earthquakes.  Preparing for the next emergency and working as a Emergency Communications Specialist in the FireCorps, Serra attended American Military Academy and obtained a bachelor degree in Disaster and Emergency Management with a focus on Terrorism and Geological Disasters. Later becoming certified as an Emergency Management Specialist with California Specialized Training Institute.
Serra Rae was introduced to the DDAR program while working at Rolling Start, an Independent Living Center member with CFILC. Working with the program at the center level gave her a good foundation to help the community open up the discussion of resources available to the community before, during and after an emergency or disaster event.
The post Be Prepared – Disability – Pushing Limits – March 22, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.