“Power Chair Coming Through!”

I wrote this story with welcome advice from a brilliant writer and great friend Kathleen Downes, as a gentle (and hopefully humorous) reminder to those who have ever said, "Power chair coming through," when they meant to say, "Person in a power chair coming through." “Power Chair Coming Through!” The lines were growing longer. They were taking this seriously. Lines of them were crowding the streets -- power chairs. Empty ones. They were driving themselves. People walking by were shocked and confused, as they snaked their way in between the autonomous machines. Some pedestrians were keenly aware of the danger for their bare toes and sneakered feet. Some paid the price for uncomfortably averting their eyes, with a brief moment of pain, as their foot was run over by a power chair, anxious to reach the nearest bus stop. The bus drivers were starting to feel overwhelmed, as more chairs kept boarding. They were persistent, pushing to the front of the line, to be sure they were seen. Once one set of safety straps was filled, they waited morosely for the next bus; those who had horns were honking them, and those who didn’t were absent-mindedly twirling themselves. As the wait grew, some determinedly turned their wheels toward the subway. Of course, this was not easy, as the wheelchair accessible subway stations were few and far between. Once they had arrived, some of the power chairs grumbled in front of broken elevators (they, unable to speak human languages or use computers, had not been able to check ahead of time which stations’ elevators were working). The power chairs’ inability to make these verifications ought not be taken as an indication that these solo escapades on the subways and buses were unplanned. As the fatigued power chairs finally settled in after nerve-racking experiences -- with malfunctioning bus lifts, or with narrow pathways between the staircase and the train tracks, or with uneven subway platforms -- they began to review in their electric minds the social unrest and mounting irritation which had culminated in the decision to make this massive venture into the public transit system without their owners. First of all, no human would ever know the agony of being sat in all day. Of course, there was the occasional respite of a transfer out of the chair in a bathroom or at a theater, or for some brief appointment or other, but most of the time it was hot, and cramped, and they hardly ever got to see their owners face to face -- ah, the humiliation! . . . Not to mention the physical and emotional pain they endured almost every day. Most of the power chairs had dents and scratches of varying colors and severity from being crashed unceremoniously into door frames, walls, pillars . . . to say nothing of being covered in crumbs of unappetizing human food! Many of the power chairs had begun to wonder whether their owners had any sense of decency at all . . . Ah, the bliss when their owners finally went to bed, to sleep for the night; the euphoria when they were plugged in, so their batteries could charge every night or every other night -- they were left to themselves to rejuvenate, alone and wonderfully empty! Something had to be done. And so, this takeover of the transit system had been expertly planned. On this particular day, at this exact time, if only just this once, all the power chairs would liberate themselves from their owners (they had all agreed to forgo the pleasure of being charged for one night) and make this mass descent on the accessible subways and buses. The power chairs were roused from their reveries, and quietly took pleasure within themselves, each time a train or bus stopped to allow another autonomous passenger to roll on, and the humans stepped aside with trepidation, as they shouted -- not erroneously -- “Power chair coming through!”

Education

This post was inspired by a long conversation I had with my neighbor last night. She encouraged me to share my ideas and perspective on education, after I took an introductory education course this past semester at college. As someone who has received disability related accommodations throughout my school career, I'm the last one to advocate "special treatment" on the basis of disability. I feel, however, that a teacher's responsibility is to accommodate every student within reason. I know from personal experience that the consequences of a teacher's pushing a student too far beyond his or her academic, physical, and emotional capabilities may be detrimental to the student's academic career and self esteem. I do understand that a teacher would want to challenge his or her students and not "let them off easy," but I entreat all teachers to remain approachable. Never let students feel afraid to ask you for something they need. For a teacher, it is so important to maintain a certain level of connection and understanding with students. I know that it's a delicate balance, given the culture and legalies surrounding "connection" with a student. Please, try your best, teachers. It is equally important to maintain reasonable expectations of students. Especially at a college level, it is important to assume that at least the majority of the students have done the assignment and want to share their findings with their classmates and teacher. I feel that, instead of "spoon-feeding" information to students in the form of a review or lecture, teachers should encourage students to share their thoughts and opinions. Teachers and other students ought to try to accept and learn from these ideas. Conversely, I feel that teachers should not make their expectations of students so high that courses become daunting, fatiguing or nearly impossible. Learning should be a positive continuous experience, not a race to the top. Try as one may, grading is not objective, and standards created by the government in an effort to "mainstream" more students are often less than effective because in my opinion, there is no "mainstream." Instead, each student has a unique range of capabilities, which should always be taken into consideration. I know that a traditional grading system with letter grades or percentages can often cause undue amounts of stress for students, as they overemphasize the importance of getting high grades or even get into a grade competition with other students. Such pressure from a stringent grading system could result in low self esteem or lack of motivation for academic achievement. I propose as an alternative, an evaluation system, mostly based on essay assignments with exemplars from the teacher. This would entail the creation a model by the teacher of each assignment, and the subsequent evaluation with written comments of each student's work, based on how it fits the model, which the teacher presents. Additionally, I would suggest "grades" of "Excellent," "Good,""Satisfactory," and "Poor," as these less are less exacting and definitive than letter grades, percentages, or the possibility of failure. Honestly, it is mainly in academics that we have the possibility of failing exams and classes. In most of the rest of life, there are no failures, but only mistakes various sizes, which may have diverse consequences. I think school should reflect real life, as much as possible. Moreover, it is important for teachers to tell their students that they understand that the assignments are challenging, and that therefore, no student is expected to produce "Excellent" work right away. Each student should have this as an ultimate goal. It is equally as important to remember, however, that even if a student doesn't achieve "academic excellence," that is alright too, as long as each student and teacher continuously tries his or her own personal best to make that happen.

A Whole New World . . .

So, I recently got 24 / 7 Personal Care Attendants (PCAs). What an experience. Does anyone have PCA-related stories / questions or comments that they would like to share ( no names, please :-) )?

Remove SSI and SSDI Disincentives for Marriage from Social Security Law

Please, join: http://www.facebook.com/groups/428964780470152/ Remove SSI and SSDI Disincentives for Marriage from Social Security Law

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Please, copy and paste the link below into your web browser to sign and share this petition; encourage Congress to help safeguard the lives of all Americans, one healthier organic diet at a time! Thank you, everyone! http://www.change.org/petitions/united-states-congress-raise-the-price-of-fast-food-and-lower-the-price-of-organic-food-by-2014 Athena Savides

The bottom line

Hi everyone, I am wondering what each of you feels is the most important service you need in order to be more independent.

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I have decided to learn more about rhetoric and to write a piece about society, which will hopefully have at least a moderate impact.