UNLESS someone like you cares - wheelchair accessibility

Picnicking with McDonald’s french fries under sunny skies on a 66˚F (18.8˚C)afternoon only got better when followed by a movie and popcorn. In Patti’sworld, after two decades of Multiple Sclerosis sometimes eating for tastetrumps eating for health.

While dysphagia is always a clear and present danger at least thesecomfort foods require no assistance for self-feeding and are easy to monitor.Empowerment can also be a treat.  

"The Lorax" was 90 minutes of pure enjoyment, practicallyan animated musical. Of course there was a 'message' about protecting theenvironment but as with all Seuss stories the telling of the story is just sodarn entertaining and fun.

While we are blessed to own a wheelchair accessible van that empowersPatti’s freedom, not everyone is. Perhaps even most families caring for some needing a wheelchair do not.

With budget cuts looming, people in wheelchairs, their caregiversand families that depend on subsidized public accessible transportation orcontracted providers face an unknown tomorrow. Everything from access tomedical care to independence to access to family and friends could shrink.

Like everywhere, Pennsylvania’s budget in these economic times is createdwith scissors. Gov. Corbett is proposing $620 million in cuts to human servicesprograms; $422 million from basic education on top of the $765 million cut fromlast year’s budget, 20% cuts to colleges, 35% from State parks, and ‘zerofunding’ for public transportation.

Yet this is democracy and these are ‘proposed cuts’ it is time forall interested parties to speak up and be heard. 


MS Awareness in particular is not about one month or one week a year or glitzy ad campaigns. It's about keeping your eyes, ears, and mouth open.

That’s why I found this most disturbing for it is the double whammyof cuts to social services and zero public transportation funding that couldmost affect the lives of those needing wheelchairs. “Able-bodied people hadunfettered access to stairs and elevators that lead to Gov. Tom Corbett’soffice on Wednesday. People in wheelchairs did not.” Disability activists targeted in enforcement of Pa. State Capitol's restricted access policy

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing's going to get better: it's not."

“The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer

where sheep wear spandex / an MS outing

Whether care giving or needing care sometimesthe best thing you can do is just go have some fun.

Laughing while spandex wearing sheep tried toeat Patti’s wheelchair we began our visit to the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show.

With 24 accessible acres(approximately 24 football fields) under roof, I cannotthink of a more wheelchair friendly outing for January. (and excellent pushing and walking exercise for me) 

Enjoying two creamy chocolate milk shakes fromPA Dairyman’s Association in search of the butter sculpture we decidedto watch some honeybees in a glass observation hive at an exhibit by PABeekeepers Association. Soon we found ourselves in a conversation with abeekeeper about bee stings and medicine. While most visitors took a step backfrom the weird people talking about stinging themselves, several lingered,listened, and asked questions in a spontaneous discussion about Patti’seventually unsuccessful two years of Bee Venom Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis and the beekeeperwho had found genuine success for his Rheumatoid Arthritis through apiatherapy.

It’s hard to miss 1,000 lbs (454 kg) of butter and weeventually found the sculpture. After the week long farm show the sculpture isgiven to a selected dairy farm where it is converted into electricity.

After a couple hours of checking out and oftenvisiting up close and personal certainly every farm animal and crop in ourimagination – well, we were hungry … hey, the theme was “from the farm gate tothe dinner plate.”

Heading to the food court area we decided onLamb Stew from PA Livestock Association with frozen maple yogurt topped withmaple syrup for dessert from PA Maple Syrup Producers.

Lamb stew and frozen yogurt could not have beenmore dysphagia friendly and feeding Patti was no problem in the crowd ofhumanity, over 50,000 attend each day. Most people are shoving one thing oranother in each other’s mouth anyway under the ‘try this’ principle of fine farmshow dining.

Happy and fed Patti was ready for a longwinter’s nap.

Fortunately between MS fatigue and her memory lossshe would not have to fret about counting spandex clad sheep. 

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer