Howard Zlamal here.
I'm a part-time faculty for Arizona LEND.
LEND stands for Leadership and Education for Neuraldevelopmental Disabilities.
So I present on autism spectrum disorders.
That's one of my specialties.
I'll describe what I have more as a syndrome or
condition because I don't feel that it disables me
from too many things.
Maybe a bit of socializing but I feel like I'm...
that I'm able to close the deficits there.
At least quite a bit.
So I would say that it's a condition or a syndrome.
Medically, I don't consider it that much of a difference,
medically, except maybe just a little
different wiring in my brain. Um, and, also
I don't feel, at least at this point,
that it really affects my health.
Asperger's Syndrome - I don't think... I don't think
that they use that term as as much anymore.
Because they just mention it like as a,
as a very mild case of autism.
Um, I think in some ways is handling large crowds
because I never know where I'm supposed
to go or not supposed to go.
I feel I have gotten better about that over the years
but it still can be kind of difficult.
Or, who to trust, who not to trust.
Or when to stand my ground,
when to actually trust the person.
It's a little tough and I mean very tough I would say.
Also, recognizing nonverbal cues.
I'm still, I'm still working on that quite a bit.
I remember having a car accident in 2014
and there were several things.
But the thing that stood out to me the most
was I was in the ambulance,
and it was after a head-on collision.
And the guy in the ambulance and the
paramedics said it was a veh...single vehicle crash,
and I was like looking at him
like, "it was two vehicles you idiot" .
He didn't like what I just said. He was like,
"I corrected myself over the radio, thank you."
I mean I was just so mad.
My hands were all tied down and everything and
and I didn't want to be arrogant.
I remember that day just being very angry
and I know the doctors and everybody were helping me.
I didn't like being in that hospital.
I just wanted to get out of there
as quickly as I darn well could.
But basically, if the doctors and the officers
were all to come together to talk about me,
they probably would have noticed me as angry
maybe even slightly arrogant.
And he (my doctor) watches every single thing
about me. "Howard, your cholesterol is a little too high;
lose some weight."
You know things like that. So I know he cares.
I thank my lucky stars that I've had
no significant hospital stays.
Because I know there are good nurses and
I know there are bad nurses.
So, luckily I haven't had any
significant set of issues with any nurses.
Thank you! Bye now.
My name is Curby Sickmon.
I am a special education teacher at
Accelerated Learning Laboratories.
I, uh, require...uh, sorry.
I acquired a brain injury November 16, 2006.
And, I was in a coma for like three and a half weeks.
And when I woke up I had to relearn
how to swallow water, swallow food,
wipe my butt, do my hair,
take care of myself.
I had to relearn all that.
And, so, I thought I would apply those
since like double kind of life skills,
I thought I would take my secondary knowledge
of these life skills and
apply them to special education.
So I was my class president.
So I was always real involved with
the special education world.
And then my coma happened
and then instantly I became
a member of special education.
But it's okay because, I mean,
in a matter of three months,
the Class President goes from being
the Class President to a guy being followed by
a para-professional,
listening to headphones, and "oh yeah!"
to a Traumatic Brain Injury case, so.
The relearning of the skills
and re-, retraining myself to find...
because my brain, I'm not...
I don't think I'm on the same path, and I...
And I got all my interests and everything
are totally different now
than they used to be.
Not bad, just difficult for me,
and out there there was
there's been a series of times I've had
to go to rehabilitation clinics and...
There was this one time, um...
this rehab center over in California that,
I mean, they did wonders for me.
I came so far from
having been at that place, but I, uh,
But they ... my insurance stopped paying
and I was making such good progress, and...
especially now I look back at like
my recovery and that's where
a big, uh, like a big catapult happening
as far as like getting where
I could take care of myself.
My, my doctor from day one
for my traumatic brain injury,
Dr. Sydney Rice that's been...
full-fledged, uh, like a,
I'm not religious, but
like a guardian angel.
She's looked after to make sure that
I've been taken care of throughout this whole process.
I'm not one of those people and
I'm not gonna say like, "No, it's ability," because
I know that my thinking is not the sa...
I'm not saying it's bad.
I'm saying it's right, good, wrong.
Disability is not disabled.
It's...it just means you just
got different means to get stuff done.
Thanks
Matt Randle. Uh, I'm an attorney
here in Tucson Arizona.
I own and run my own law firm,
primarily family law.
I served in the United States Army
for just under 5 years on a 4-year contract.
I fought in Iraq during the invasion in 2003.
I was actually a combat medic.
I got to do significantly more
under the license of the doctor I practiced under
than a paramedic might normally, etc.
As a result of my service and and some of the struggles,
I have been diagnosed by the VA
as Disabled 40%,
but primarily my diagnosis is post-traumatic stress disorder
with a sort of a comorbid or sub diagnoses of
depression and anxiety.
And there are now over 2 million individuals
that have deployed and fought in Iraq
and Afghanistan since 2001.
Folks are surviving things that
they would have never survived before.
You're gonna get this big diaspora,
a bubble pop,
because of our continued conflicts.
And so I think the students are going to
in their careers be dealing with
us and these things far more.
You wouldn't necessarily,
in the stereotypical observation,
presume that I am disabled in any manner.
Much of my, when you say challenges
in the medical system, on the front end,
are or have been accessing care timely .
I'm going to give you an example that
I went to a gastro appointment,
and the doctors' staff didn't let me know
that they were running over an hour behind.
Because my PTSD is related to
practicing medicine, my anxiety is exacerbated
when in a medical setting.
The longer I waited with no answer, the more that grew.
I know my body. I know my affects.
I know what's going on for me, good or bad,
better than anybody.
I have had treating physicians or psychiatric care folks
that want to tell me what's going on for me,
and that's incredibly frustrating
and the feeling of dismissiveness is... is not enjoyable.
My wife is regularly with me at my appointments
because I don't often recognize
when I'm having challenges or my mood
and affect is starting to shift,
and she is able to provide insight
as to what her and the family are seeing, uh,
if I'm having trouble explaining or seeing it.
And, seeing her input as an equal and
acknowledging her presence, and, uh,
particularly in the veterans' world
her being treated as "just my spouse" --
boy, that makes things worse.
I identify with the word disabled
because the VA calls me
"Service-connected Disabled Veteran at 40%".
But on the back end I would say my
disability doesn't prevent me
from putting input in my care.
And so, there is a dichotomy in that,
but ultimately the short version is
the VA makes me call myself disabled.
I grew up on a farm in Iowa
and when I was 16 years old
I was unloading a trailer
with a bunch of plywood
and I unstrapped a bunch of plywood,
and it fell on top of me and
gave me a C3 spinal cord injury.
So I'm paralyzed from the shoulders down.
I have no feeling or movement below my shoulders.
You can't really see but shrugging my shoulders
is the lowest muscle that I can move.
After I was hurt I was in ICU for about 3 weeks.
And, then I went to Craig Hospital,
which is in Denver, Colorado,
for about four months to do rehab.
And while I was in rehab
I learned all the skills I needed
to learn to live life with a spinal cord injury.
From managing my tracheostomy and ventilator,
to managing my super pubic catheter
to dealing with wheelchair equipment
and other medical equipment.
And navigating the health insurance industrial complex,
and all the other parts of
dealing with, you know, with
the healthcare system and
living with a spinal cord injury.
They reimbursed about $3,000 out of $27,000.
But they basically said,
"we don't ... we're not gonna pay;
it's not a medical necessity;
we didn't have proof that it was...
your old chair was broken and,
you know, excuse after excuse.
So, that's one of the terrible stories
of the health care system.
I just tried to continue my life as planned,
as much as I could,
while living with a spinal cord injury.
So I went to Iowa State University
for about 2 years, and
studied computer engineering, and
finished law school in '08.
I practiced disability law in
Los Angeles for about 9 years.
We have...we opened a small meditation studio, and
my wife is also a mental health therapist.
So we're trying to start a little small business,
and just see what else we can do in the world.
We have a 2-1/2 year old daughter
and so that was another reason
to move was to have an easier,
simpler life in Arizona.
I do identify as person with a disability, and
I am proud of it and own it. I, uh...
It's kind of like, uh,
other people and other discriminated groups
that have decided to, you know,
reclaim the power of their identity
and reclaim their group.
Hello, I'm Delynn. I'm deaf from a deaf family,
which means that my parents are deaf, and
I'm actually the fifth generation
of coming from a deaf family.
I have three daughters one is deaf and two are hearing.
I was actually quite surprised when
my daughter was born hearing.
At first I didn't really know how to handle it.
But we were great and I am now actually
the grandmother of two deaf grandchildren.
Currently I work as a certified deaf interpreter,
here in the Tucson area.
And I will travel throughout the state to do my work,
depending on needs.
I work in various settings.
Sometimes in the health care settings.
Also mental health. Legal courthouse settings.
I also work in jails and prisons.
Part of my work takes me to ASDB, the deaf school here in town.
And I also work with the University of Arizona.
I interpret for different classes depending on the semester.
I absolutely love my work and I love seeing
communication access happen for both the
Deaf and hearing communities in the state.
It's s a two-way street.
The challenges that I have faced so far
working with the healthcare system are varied.
Sometimes when I call the doctor's office to make
an appointment for myself, they will tell me that I need
to bring my own interpreter with me.
And then it takes a moment of education that
they are actually responsible for providing that
interpreter, and that is a protection under the
American with Disabilities Act.
So I take the time to explain that it's actually
their responsibility. And quite often they just don't know.
Another problem that I run into [is that] doctor offices
actually will not provide interpreters for me.
They tell me that I must find a doctor who will.
Again this is a violation of the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act]
And having your patients, then, look around town for...
office...for doctors' offices who will provide
the interpreter, provide an interpreters, is discrimination.
Often I will call ahead of time to confirm that
my appointment has an interpreter, and
they will confirm it.
But once I arrive to the appointment,
they're actually not there. And so, then,
that means I am in the position of having to reschedule.
I don't see myself as disabled.
I am able to do whatever I please.
I can drive. I can marry, have children.
Go to school, attend university. Really anything.
The disability really comes into play
when hearing people who don't know how to sign
can't communicate with me.
They're the ones that need the interpreters.
thank you very much.
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