I read another blogger’s post about handicapped access this week and left a comment for her. She was kind enough to visit me, and also to mention my blog in a second post. In all the writing and commenting, the topic of transport for disabled folks has worked itself into my mind. It must also be that I saw a good deal about travel companions and adapted transport, when I was searching the autism web sites for any information about the autistic girl who went missing in Montreal this week. I bookmarked a bunch of sites that I’m going to have to look into, for travelling long distance with our Bug…

Closer to home we haven’t got as much of a need for that kind of assistance, but we do have a family member who does. I’d so love to be able to gift her with one of those wheelchair accessible vans so she could get around without relying on the public transit!

I had a huge argument about this once, with a man I know. He used to be a taxi dispatcher, and he swears the taxi companies that provide service to the disabled send out their drivers immediately when they receive a call. What he didn’t know is that the transit corporation takes all the calls from the clients, and they must reserve three days in advance.

Forget about getting a phone call from a friend, and deciding to pop over for tea! And if you run out of milk you’d better hope you have someone who can run up to the grocery store for you - especially if it’s too far or too icy outside for your wheelchair.

There are no open ended reservations, either, so you’d best know exactly how long an event will be when you call to reserve. No going for a coffee with the family afterwards! If the client doesn’t guess the duration closely enough, she has to leave before the event is over - or she’ll miss her cab and end up having to pay full fare for a regular cab (adapted transport of this kind uses taxis but only costs a bus ticket, which is less expensive than just riding a single block in a cab.)

Imagine restoring someone’s freedom, when they’ve had to rely on public transit or the kindness of friends for a period of time! To be able to do one’s grocery shopping independently again (adapted transport won’t allow anything the client can’t carry on his lap.) To be able to bring the motorized wheel chair out for a trip to the mall (the taxi can only take a manual chair that will fold up for storage in the trunk.) To be the driver again! That’s priceless.

And it’s not so expensive as I thought. I saw some wheelchair accessible vans in the $40,000+ range, but was very surprised to see some for as little as $10,000. Here I was, thinking it cost almost that much just to convert an existing vehicle!

Did you know there are handicap vans available as rentals as well? And of course, we see the commercial vans on the roads more and more these days. Seniors’ residences and hospitals use these, but I’ve also known of savvy grocery stores to offer free delivery with a ride home for their elderly and disabled clients. The “greying” of North America means we’ve got more older folks than ever, these days. Unfortunately more of them have a mobility problem or chronic condition, so thinking of ways to better serve them is good for all businesses…

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For the past 18 minutes I have been completely enraptured. A man by the name of Clifford Stoll has captivated my attention; his fascinating talk was like a movie projector that replayed for me moments from his life, as well as my own.

I would like to share with you the closing words of his chaotic speech: the inscriptions on the four bells in the clock tower of Edmund Hayes Hall, SUNY Buffalo.

Mr Stoll’s recitation is just slightly different from the above, and he doesn’t mention that these are actually two of four inscriptions (both composed by Judge Pound.) The other two are Proverbs 16:16, and an excerpt from James Russel Lowell’s “Present Crisis.” The impact, however, is not lessened when he speaks.

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Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks! More on Hayes Hall and its bells can be found here. Mr Stoll’s TED Talk is here.

We have four kids. All four conceived without assistance, and we never much worried about being able to get pregnant. We were lucky. I have friends who have tried over decades to get pregnant and never did manage to have a child. I also have a friend who is newly engaged, and also happens to have a health condition that may very well prevent her from ever being able to conceive or carry her own children.

When I had my youngest I was offered screening, as I was now over 35 and more at risk. That was a tough thing to face, already having a child we by then knew was autistic. Would I make different choices if the tests revealed that the child in my womb would have Down’s Syndrome? We refused the tests, and our girls are all blessedly healthy and, yes, neurotypical.

I still worry about them. They carry an increased risk, being the sibling of an autistic child.

I was once told be a well-meaning friend that it’s too bad we couldn’t just lift the autism away from our Bug, and have a “normal” little boy. I don’t know what we’d have if we did that, but I know we wouldn’t have our Bug anymore. Despite the fact that I don’t wish on my girls the tribulations of trying to raise an autistic child in this world, I wouldn’t trade my boy for love or money.

I don’t know what choice I would have made if I’d known before he was born. When I was in high school I got very upset when a classmate in my morals class was advocating abortion for women whose babies are known to have an illness or defect. Her niece had cystic fibrosis, and she felt very strongly about the issue.

We have so many new technologies today that we didn’t when I was a teenager. I’d never heard of PGD, for example. It’s Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, a process that screens both eggs and embryos before implantation. Using these tests doctors at clinics like IVF 1 can detect a chromosomal abnormality even before implantation. They can also choose eggs and embryos that are most healthy. This can actually increase the chances of having a pregnancy, and it decreases the possibility of having a miscarriage. The tests seem to carry very low risks, too. And I would think less anxiety on the part of the mother as the tests don’t involve any extra invasive procedures, being done preimplantation.

There are days when I dream of more - of the scientists finding all the chromosomes involved in causing the particular kind of autism my son has, and of my daughters knowing that even if they carry the risk they can get help when they are ready to start their families. Dr. Randy Morris, a Chicago fertility endocrinologist, was able to help a woman who carried Hemophilia to conceive a beautiful, healthy daughter.

Is this the beginnings of designer babies? Are we going to end up with a eugenics movement in which those who have access to the technology can afford to order up a baby with a specific list of physical or intellectual traits? Dr. Morris says we’re not even able to select for things like that yet. But to know that your child won’t be needing medications or blood transfusions, or even just special adaptations in order to go to school like other kids…. Well, that can be a really big relief for some parents. And grandparents too.

Anyone looking at human reproduction as part of their homeschooling program may also want to discuss reproductive technologies, especially if you have used them in order to conceive. Here’s a brief history of in vitro fertilization (IVF) that could provide background for your explorations.

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Many thanks to Sonya, who posted this video to her blog at Montreal Homelearners. Mr Tulley’s comment about kids healing fast made me think of my girlfriend teasing the sensei a few months back when he got scratched during a demonstration at the dojo. She said, “C’est loin du coeur.” (Literally, it’s far from the heart - meaning, no great danger that he would bleed out.)

The TED Talks seem to be a very worthwhile series. If you get the opportunity to listen to others, do take advantage!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks to Sonya of Montreal Homelearners for bringing this to my attention!

I was reading an article on reducing our carbon footprint this morning, with Earth Hour coming up and all. The article actually consisted of 50+ tips for saving energy, and sometimes money.

In the technology tips, two related to computers stuck in my mind. The first was that we shouldn’t replace a fully functioning computer just because we want to have a new one with all the latest bells and whistles on it. Obvious to me. But the article went on to say that pound for pound, computers are worse polluters than cars. Now I don’t know, my computer doesn’t currently spew any carbon monoxide or greenhouse gases into the air - and I’ll panic if it starts! It’s also powered by hydroelectricity, rather than the burning of some fossil fuel like coal. So I’m not sure whether that statement holds true if we take actual operation of the device into consideration.

But I will overlook that for now, because the other mention of computers was that if you do need a new one a laptop is a more environmentally friendly option than a desktop system. Hmmmm, a new laptop….. Yeah, maybe I should be looking into that while this old beast is still functioning. I don’t want to wait until my current computer dies, after all. We’ll need time to transfer files and programs, configure the system. You know, it takes time to “move in” and get settled with a new computer.

So now the only problem is affording that lovely laptop. Next stop, coupon web sites. Maybe I can save a little cash when I buy my new personal toy family computer. Way cool! I discover that I can save oodles on an XPS 1330, and I even have the option to buy it from a company located in Canada. This is great news, because often specials are only applicable in the United States.

Hey, maybe I’ll get some new running shoes for the kids too. They’ve all grown over the winter, the Bug especially. And I keep saying we have to get out to do more nature study, after all. We do a lot of walking all year round, as we use public transit. I just don’t seem to find enough hours in the day for the nice, long rambles in the woods we used to enjoy so much as kids. (That’s because of the computer, but I have to admit I wouldn’t want to give up my internet!)

I need a new blender too. The kids love their smoothies, and berries will be in season again soon. I “cheated” this week and bought imported strawberries. I guess it’s that tail end of the winter weather cabin fever we get here in Montreal. I’m dying for fresh fruit, and all of a sudden I want to trade (one of) my cups of tea for glasses of juice. We’ve been debating getting a juicer for a while, too.

And a dehydrator. And sometimes I even hover on the edge of buying a bread making machine. No, it stops right there! If I’m going to bake bread I actually want to do the mixing and the kneading. Granted, I have a lot less time now to bake bread. But I’d rather do it less often than have a machine do it for me.

I think we do need a new kitchen scale, though. Ours seems to not be working properly after the kids dropped it on the floor - a couple times…

Oh dear, I’m turning into my mother! (No offense Mom, I know you’ll be reading this within a day or two… It’s just your love of shopping is not one of the things I ever expected to share with you!)

I’m not much of an in-person shopper, but give me a good web site and a credit card and I can easily while away a couple of hours! We’re back to computers with that one! Add some savings and coupons, and I can be quite pleased with myself (that is something I share with Mom )

For the jet setters among my readers, you can get promo codes for Travelocity. I also saw coupons for the crafters and youth leaders among you. School teachers or people planning parties for an upcoming graduation might find some goodies to distribute too. And there were coupons for a couple of popular web sites that sell second hand or rare books. You never know, you might be able to start stocking up on next year’s reading materials at a good savings!

OK I had to throw that in there. I mean, it’s end of March and I’m supposed to have my mind on homeschooling. Not shopping sprees. It’s the wind calling me, and the ankle deep puddles on the sidewalk near the grocery store. Winter has just been too long, and even though it’s technically over, we’re still tromping around in our boots. I want to be outside in my bare feet!

All right, enough! I have to take myself in hand. I’m rounding up the girls and heading out for a little retail therapy, um consumer education. We can do some price comparison, and work on our nutrition labelling project. Yeah, that’s it….

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