Autism – The Devil?

An American Autistic organisation called ‘Autism Speaks’ has released a very controversial video to raise awareness about Autism.

In the video which pictures real home video’s of children with Autism, a satanic sounding man is speaking as the ‘voice’ of Autism, saying things like – “I am visible in your children but if I can help it, I am invisible to you until it’s too late”, “I know where you live and guess what? I live their too”, “If you were happily married, I will make sure your marriage fails”, “Your money will fall into my hands and I will bankrupt you for my own self gain”, “I don’t sleep, so I make sure you don’t either”, “I will make sure that every day you wake up, you will cry, wondering, ‘who will take care of my child after I die?’” and “The truth is, I am still winning and you are scared and you should be. I am Autism; you ignored me, that was a mistake”.

Then it has the voices of all the parents of the children that feature in the video saying positive things like – “I am a parent riding towards you and you can push me off this horse time and time again, but I will get up, climb back on and ride on with the message (of united support)”, “Our capacity to love is greater than your capacity to overwhelm” and “We are a community of warriors”.

It’s a very powerful video and a lot of people have taken offense to it, with it’s release being protested by the Autism Community.

I think people can take this video two ways, it can either be seen as - Autism taunting everyone it affects and that there’s nothing anyone can do about it, or it can be taken as an aide to help bring people around the world together, to raise awareness to people who are unsure what effect Autism has on families, and to hopefully one day, find a cure, or at least more understanding on how to effectively treat Autism.

To view the entire video, click here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDdcDlQVYtM&feature=player_embedded

Once you've watched the video, i'd like to hear your thoughts...

The Power Of Companion Dogs

As I’ve said before, I think dogs are a very important part of a person’s life, especially if that person has a disability.

Dogs are great as a companion and a helper, at Assistance Dogs Australia, they train Labrador and Golden Retriever pups to help people with disabilities.

Each puppy takes about 2 years to train and costs around $20,000, the organization is government funded and also relies on volunteers and sponsorship.

The assistance dogs can be trained to pick up dropped mobile phones, to open and close doors, get things out of the fridge, help someone to dress or undress and paying money to cashiers at high shop counters.

They allow people with disabilities to live alone and gain independence but still feel secure enough to know that if something happens to them, the dog can get help, I read that one dog was trained by his owner that if he fell out of his chair to ring a bell to alert the neighbours.

There are also dogs that are trained to alert people with hearing impairments about when danger is nearing, warn their owners about approaching seizures and the more recognized guide dogs to assist blind people. I think the power of dogs is amazing, they have even been said to have sensed tumors and cancer in patients.

Assistance dogs are given special coats so they are acknowledged by businesses to allow them into what would normally be dog un-friendly places.

In most cases, with domestic flights, Australian airlines will let passengers on an airplane with an assistance dog and they will be allowed to travel free of charge and be able to sit next to their owner. The passenger must carry an ID card for the dog stating that it has been trained and is recognized as an assistance dog.

To view the video that Assistance Dogs Australia has put together, click here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4jXOsKUAJg. It shows the great things they can train the dogs to do for disabled people. To get more information about getting an assistance dog, go to http://www.assistancedogs.org.au/. There is currently a long wait to receive a dog but they have a waiting list and they try to match up dogs with a specific person’s needs and personality.

Every disabled child should be given a dog for companionship, they make barriers like being isolated or misunderstood because of disability such a better experience, with their unconditional love.

My mum decided to get me a dog for companionship when I was 8 years old, she was a Miniature Foxy X Chihuahua, I named her Polly.

She was like my best friend as I grew up. She used to pull me along by her lead in my wheelchair as we walked to school with my mum. We were inseparable, she escaped out of our backyard one day and ran to my primary school to find me, the office staff had to get me out of class but she was so excited when she saw me.

Not long after I got her, she broke her arm, (which was strange as I was the one with brittle bones), she was then more like me, having to get around in a plaster cast for 4 weeks. She used to follow me everywhere, we were chasing each other around the house one day and she ran into my arm accidentally breaking it.

I was in hospital when I was about 11 for leg surgery, during one of my many stays while growing up. It had been 4 weeks since I’d seen Polly, which was probably the longest time we’d spent apart from each other. Mum used to take my clothes that I’d been wearing home for her to sniff so she knew I was still around. The manager of the ward I was staying in, gave mum permission to bring Polly in to see me for a few hours, because she was so small, mum snuck her in without anyone noticing. My legs were both broken and Polly was so excited to see me but she was so careful not to bump my legs, and laid with me for about 2 hours in my hospital bed, only laying near the top half, as if she knew I was sore.

If I was ever sad or just having an emotional day, Polly used to always cheer me up, she would lick my tears away and wrap her arms around me as if she was cuddling me.

Sadly, Polly had to be put down 4 years ago due to Cancer, I had her for 12 years and they were some of the most memorable 12 years of my life. I have included a picture of her below.

Little Josh’s Battle Will Continue On

This blog talks about the little boy called Josh Koman; when he was only three years old, in February this year, he fell into his family’s backyard swimming pool and almost drowned.

He was unconscious while his dad, John, tried to revive him but he wasn’t breathing for almost 40 minutes. He was taken to hospital where he remained for weeks.

As a result, according to the media, he is now brain damaged and paralyzed. Although his mother, Wendy, says on her blog that he has moved his head, fingers and toes slightly.

To help the family out, a friend contacted 2Day FM, to tell them about the family’s ordeal and Josh’s heart wrenching story. The radio station then started a fundraiser, from this; they received offers of over $150,000 to be donated to help with Josh’s care and recovery. That was back in March and until yesterday, they had only seen just over a third of that money.

When the family went in to collect what they thought would be a cheque for $150,000, instead, they were only given a list of names and numbers of the people who donated money, they were expected to call all of those people and chase up the money themselves. 2Day FM said that they raised money and got attention to the issue and their part was over.

Kyle Sandilands said he would give the family $35,000 out of his own pocket but had only given $20,000 of it. He has said in reports yesterday that he tried to personally deliver the money three times but with all of Josh’s medical appointments, everyone was never available at the same time. Sandilands gave $20,000 to the family but then says he didn’t know where to distribute the rest of the money to best help josh, as his parents recently separated.

Since the controversial reports on the Today show, Sandilands has donated the rest of the money promised. 2Day FM has also said they have contacted the contributors with the family’s bank details so they don’t have to make those demeaning phone calls themselves.

A wonderful man by the name of Michael James of Strategic Airlines in Brisbane has said today that he would donate the rest of the money, that’s $85,000 so that the family receives the full $150,000 that was originally promised to them. Mr James has a child with a mild form of Down Syndrome, so he understands what it’s like to have a child with a disability and can relate to the trials and tribulations that come along with it. To look at the stories from all points of view, click on the links I have attached.

For Kyle Sandilands version, click on http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=851080 –

For the Today show’s version, click on - http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/850662/sandilands-short-changed-disabled-boy -

For Mr James’ version, click on - http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=851212

I think this is the case of yet another publicity stunt by 2Day FM that has backfired. It was nice enough of them to do the fundraiser but to tell the mother to be ‘more emotional’ (as shown in the Today show interview), is ridiculous, hasn’t the family been through enough? Then they were told to call the people who donated and ask for their money, how humiliating! That money could’ve really helped them at the time. At a time when this was all just new to them and they would’ve had to dramatically change their lifestyles to care for their son. They had to take care of themselves, their other children and now a severely disabled child. That would’ve been a time when $150,000 would have been a huge help but instead the promise was not fulfilled.

It’s awful when the media uses unfortunate incidents’ to boost ratings.

As for Kyle, it was nice of him to want to donate the money personally, but wasn’t the whole idea to help the family, if he really wanted to, he could’ve just deposited the money directly into their bank account. To me, it sounds as if he wanted his own publicity by being the big savior and to possibly have photos printed of him handing over the money.

To Mr James, I commend him for his generosity; it takes a strong person to live with someone who has a disability. It also takes a lot of resources and for someone like Mr James, who can afford to help, to hand over that kind of money, shows that there are people out there who don’t want to do things just to get something back, but just to help out a fellow Aussie battler who needs some assistance.

If you would like to make a donation to the Koman family, go to their website which has account details at http://joshuakoman.blogspot.com/

Landmine Victims Compete For A New Leg

I found this story at http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ and http://www.thenational.ae/ – it’s a story about a Miss Landmine Cambodia contest that was to be held in Phnom Penh in Cambodia as an exhibition showing photos of 20 contestants who are victims of landmine attacks.

Voting was to be held over the internet with the winner receiving a custom made prosthetic leg in December. The Cambodian Government wants to cancel the event saying it’s exploiting these unfortunate victims.

The organizer; Morten Traavik says he wanted to use the contest to raise awareness about landmine victims in third world countries. The same contest was held in Angola last year but it wasn’t without protest groups rallying together claiming it was discriminatory and racist.

They say that hundreds of people a year are killed, or seriously hurt by unexploded landmines that have been left behind, all over the countryside of Cambodia as a painful reminder of the Civil War.

One of the contestants; Song Kosal, who lost her leg in a landmine blast when she was five years old said she has joined the competition not just to win a new prosthetic leg but because she is trying to get landmines banned around the world. She has even been to the White House to present a petition.

I think it’s a great idea to raise awareness about landmine victims but I don’t think they should have to compete to win a new leg, this would be heartbreaking to those who lost; they’ve already been through enough. There are other ways to get international recognition.

To view the whole story, click on the heading “Landmine Victims Compete For A New Leg”
and it will take you straight to the article or click on one of the above links.

Reverse Discrimination - Part 2

This one is very funny! It's part II of the first Reverse Discrimination video I put up. It really shows how 'normal' people patronize people with disabilities, even if they don't mean to but it's very true. Have a look at it.

Reverse Discrimination

This video is really good, it's how it is for disabled people but in reverse, an able bodied man gets treated 'differently' because he's surrounded by people with disabilities. It's quite funny. Click on the Reverse Discrimination heading to view it.