Making life better in disadvantaged communities - our thoughts on everything - from Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
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What do you think is the biggest issue facing people with disabilities on the reservations? Some of the things I hear a lot in the workshops are:
Not enough services. Even when services are in a child's IEP, for example, speech therapy, they don't always get them or not nearly as often as stated in the IEP
Staff who are not trained to provide services. We hear a lot of stories about people who have a person with a disability in their classroom or program and they have had no training. This is frustrating to both the staff member and the individual with a disability.
Alcohol and drug abuse - parents especially are really concerned that their children may not be able to make the best choices. A sad comment someone made is, "He may be handicapped but he can get drunk just like anyone else."
Not enough jobs or opportunities after school.
Just wondered what the rest of you thought were the biggest issues.
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I think the biggest problems facing Indian tribes has to do with not so much about opportunities, which most people will disagree with me. But, rather the inability of tribal members to take advantage of those limited opportunities available. I find many times, that there are some real low end labor jobs that most will not even consider. Don't get me wrong, I would expect more of myself in life, but whene things are bad (financially) and a person needs to put food on the table for the family, you will take any employment opportunity that you can find. That is my point. We need to change our way of thinking. Afterall, the government or others does not owe you anything. What you have or get, is something that you should feel proud to earn.
Also, tribes need to find a better way to communicate with their tribal members. In order to set priorities that affect all their lives. There should be more public forums, and each district should have meetings to review district concerns. If tribes are to better serve and represent the community needs, they should be more open and honest. I know this is sometimes impossible to ask a politician, but if we want a consistent and re-elected representaives, then this I feel needs to happen - Communicate, communicate, communicate and learn to disagree for the sake of disagreeing!
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Ann, I agree you accurately identified many of the issues regarding disabilities on Indian Reservation. The public’s perception of disabled individuals is they are disabled for reason(s) beyond their control. They do not realized how many disabilities are self-inflicted, brought on by chronic alcoholism and/or drug use, car accidents, smoking, obesity etc. Do those programs working with disabled people get this information out to the public? If so, how successful are they?
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I don't think anyone has been very effective in getting information out to the public on causes of disability. There is a great book called "Prescription for a Healthy Nation". The authors state that we are looking in the wrong direction when we talk about the health care crisis. She gives an example of a woman who has health care paid through her husband's job. She gets paid hospitalization, pays $10 for a doctor visit, $5 a month for her insulin, $5 a month for her blood pressure medicine. She is 100 pounds overweight, has diabetes and hypertension. The book says, "Gwen has excellent health care. What she doesn't have is health."
I think you and Willie are absolutely right that lifestyle factors like obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, drinking etc. are problems. I don't think it is 100% an individual problem and not a system or political problems. I can buy cigarettes or candy on the reservation at Paul's, the casino, the smoke shop, the store your cousin runs and I'll bet several other places. I can get a coke, a candy bar or a pack of Marlboros 24 hours a day seven days a week. I can buy carrots or fruits or vegetables at one or two places that are only open limited hours. There are few places to buy healthy food and fewer places to exercise. It is easier to be unhealthy and harder to be health, as far as I can see.
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As a parent, I have seen the biggest problem be tribal politics that mean people get jobs in these disability programs that are related to the people on the tribal council. Then they hire their relatives. Some of the people in these so-called disability programs don't know anything about disabilities and they don't care. don't even get me statred !
I know one person who tried to go to the voc rehab office on a Friday and the counselor told her, 'I don't want to work that hard on Fridays. Come back Monday.'
The Turtle Mountain Schools children that need special classes to get caught up in the same level as the other children they keep putting those things aside my son needed those classes and they tested him first part of the year and they were goung to test him again and now they cancel all testings till further notice and still alot of children still need to be tested