KPFA - Pushing Limits

By KPFANews Politics

KPFA - Pushing Limits episodes

April 10, 2020 Corona Virus & Disability, Episode 2, Pushing Limits 4/12/20
Floating on pandemic waves of news, fear, social distancing and mutual aid, Pushing Limits hosts cull from the news, blogs and articles written by disabled people, webinars & conference calls and personal experience to bring this overview.
Here's more from the resources they've plumbed:
Eight Take Aways from Listening to the National Disability Community [1]
A Spoon on the Seder Plate [2] (with thanks to Sins Invalid)
No One is Disposable [3] -- Preparing for a possible hospital stay
Homeless People Two to Three Times as Likely to Die [4]
Free Masks in the East Bay-- for you and your attendant (see below for details)
Corona Virus Proposals Leave the Disability Community Behind [5]
I Will Not Apologize for My Needs [6]
FREE COVID-19 Support Program for Chronic Disease Patients and Their Families [7]
Round Table Participants: Mark Romoser, Shelley Berman, Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Adrienne Lauby
FREE MASKS IN THE EAST BAY
Dear friends,
My wife and I have organized some out-of-work theatre costume makers to sew masks. We’d like to provide free masks to people with disabilities and their attendants for COVID. Do you want some some masks?
Good masks are important for people with disabilities since we can’t always practice the standard 6’ physical distance from our workers. In a perfect world we could all get the right protection. Since that’s not possible right now, we need to adapt and make do the best we can. This is a “harm reduction” approach, so be aware these masks don’t meet OSHA standards for virus transmission protection. You still need to wash your hands frequently, follow the other recommended precautions and maintain physical distance when you can.
As you know there is a nationwide grassroots mask making effort to assist healthcare workers and others to do their jobs or live more safely. There are many patterns and materials being developed. Elaine and I have looked closely at the various options, and I think we have arrived at three models of masks that are best suited for the needs of pwd’s at this moment. Finding a balance between breathability and protection is hard. This is all something of a work in progress, and we welcome feedback from mask users.
We expect to get some masks ready for distribution by some next week. (April 13-20) We intend to give each person two masks. So for example, if you have one attendant, then you would need 4 masks. If you have two workers then you would need six masks. We’ll try to include different color pairs so you can identify yours vs your workers masks. Having 2/person allows for one mask to be in service while the other one is either airing out, or being washed. (We think 24-36 hours on a window sill or paper bag is adequate for disinfecting fabric, but more research is needed on this)
The three options are as follows: (see attached photo, which illustrates both ties and ear loops). All masks have a metal interior nose strip for better fit, and different colors on the inside and outside.
1 layer cotton with 2 layers of NWPP (non-woven poly propylene, the same material which is used in medical grade mask; it has good properties for this application-I.e. good breathability combined with some virus protection). You put this mask on by using cloth ties. (Eg Bias tape or a ribbon like material)
Same as above but with elastic ear loops instead of ties. (Meaning that there is a short section of elastic that goes around your ears. I don’t know the material composition so the ear loops may contain latex)
Two layers of cotton with cloth ties. We think this option may be longer lasting if your preferred method of disinfecting was frequent soap washing and drying. (But we really don’t know for sure if that would degrade the NWPP or elastic loop mask).
The masks will be packaged in paper bags after being washed and dried. (Plastic should be avoided as much as possible for many reasons, including the fact that the virus lives much longer on plastic surfaces) I think all of these materials should be safe for somebody with moderate MCS, based upon my own personal and very scientific sniff test, but if you are concerned about the NWPP, you might opt for the cotton model.
Please respond (prefer by email, directly to me) if you want some masks by including the following information.
Your name and how many masks you need (based yourself + the number of attendants you have; 2 per person)
How many of each style mask you want (ie # 1, 2, or 3 above)
Whether you or your attendant can pick up the masks (will be on my porch in South Berkeley) If you can’t arrange this we’re happy to deliver them to you, so include your address and a safe location for drop off.
It’s ok to forward this message. We’ll have a limited supply of these, so if we do run out, or if you prefer, there are other options to obtain masks, such as through Disability Justice Culture Club, (910-722-9552), Mask Avengers, Make Me PPE or Theatre Bay Area. Some of these orgs are hard to access at the moment, (eg. are Facebook-based, only accept organizational applications, or are focused on recruiting the makers). If we run out I’ll help you navigate other sources, but let’s cross that bridge when we get there.
"Stayin’ alive” (a nice 20sec verse for that soapy hand washing),
Marg
[email protected]
[1] https://www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/eighttakeawayscoronaviruslisteningsessions032720accessible.pdf
[2] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G2VAIF8FbvlVzR5vUYCBoEIOZ5teJXhSiriUbh2yOv8/edit
[3] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1td5Uq2R_ivBLzPzamnq41T89nLD1UetHzS-9tGr1fsk/edit
[4] https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/naeh_covid-19_web_series_2_-_protocols.pdf
[5] https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/disability/news/2020/03/27/482378/coronavirus-proposals-leave-disability-community-behind/
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-ventilators-triage-disability.html
[7] https://www.ghlf.org/coronavirus-patient-support/
1 hr 40 min
April 10, 2020Corona Virus & Disability, Episode 2, Pushing Limits 4/12/20
Floating on pandemic waves of news, fear, social distancing and mutual aid, Pushing Limits hosts cull from the news, blogs and articles written by disabled people, webinars & conference calls and personal experience to bring this overview.
Here’s more from the resources they’ve plumbed:
Eight Take Aways from Listening to the National Disability Community
A Spoon on the Seder Plate (with thanks to Sins Invalid)
No One is Disposable — Preparing for a possible hospital stay
Homeless People Two to Three Times as Likely to Die
Free Masks in the East Bay– for you and your attendant (see below for details)
Corona Virus Proposals Leave the Disability Community Behind
I Will Not Apologize for My Needs
FREE COVID-19 Support Program for Chronic Disease Patients and Their Families
Round Table Participants: Mark Romoser, Shelley Berman, Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Adrienne Lauby
FREE MASKS IN THE EAST BAY
Dear friends,
My wife and I have organized some out-of-work theatre costume makers to sew masks. We’d like to provide free masks to people with disabilities and their attendants for COVID. Do you want some some masks?
Good masks are important for people with disabilities since we can’t always practice the standard 6’ physical distance from our workers. In a perfect world we could all get the right protection. Since that’s not possible right now, we need to adapt and make do the best we can. This is a “harm reduction” approach, so be aware these masks don’t meet OSHA standards for virus transmission protection. You still need to wash your hands frequently, follow the other recommended precautions and maintain physical distance when you can.
As you know there is a nationwide grassroots mask making effort to assist healthcare workers and others to do their jobs or live more safely. There are many patterns and materials being developed. Elaine and I have looked closely at the various options, and I think we have arrived at three models of masks that are best suited for the needs of pwd’s at this moment. Finding a balance between breathability and protection is hard. This is all something of a work in progress, and we welcome feedback from mask users.
We expect to get some masks ready for distribution by some next week. (April 13-20) We intend to give each person two masks. So for example, if you have one attendant, then you would need 4 masks. If you have two workers then you would need six masks. We’ll try to include different color pairs so you can identify yours vs your workers masks. Having 2/person allows for one mask to be in service while the other one is either airing out, or being washed. (We think 24-36 hours on a window sill or paper bag is adequate for disinfecting fabric, but more research is needed on this)
The three options are as follows: (see attached photo, which illustrates both ties and ear loops). All masks have a metal interior nose strip for better fit, and different colors on the inside and outside.
1 layer cotton with 2 layers of NWPP (non-woven poly propylene, the same material which is used in medical grade mask; it has good properties for this application-I.e. good breathability combined with some virus protection). You put this mask on by using cloth ties. (Eg Bias tape or a ribbon like material)
Same as above but with elastic ear loops instead of ties. (Meaning that there is a short section of elastic that goes around your ears. I don’t know the material composition so the ear loops may contain latex)
Two layers of cotton with cloth ties. We think this option may be longer lasting if your preferred method of disinfecting was frequent soap washing and drying. (But we really don’t know for sure if that would degrade the NWPP or elastic loop mask).
The masks will be packaged in paper bags after being washed and dried. (Plastic should be avoided as much as possible for many reasons, including the fact that the virus lives much longer on plastic surfaces) I think all of these materials should be safe for somebody with moderate MCS, based upon my own personal and very scientific sniff test, but if you are concerned about the NWPP, you might opt for the cotton model.
Please respond (prefer by email, directly to me) if you want some masks by including the following information.
Your name and how many masks you need (based yourself + the number of attendants you have; 2 per person)
How many of each style mask you want (ie # 1, 2, or 3 above)
Whether you or your attendant can pick up the masks (will be on my porch in South Berkeley) If you can’t arrange this we’re happy to deliver them to you, so include your address and a safe location for drop off.
It’s ok to forward this message. We’ll have a limited supply of these, so if we do run out, or if you prefer, there are other options to obtain masks, such as through Disability Justice Culture Club, (910-722-9552), Mask Avengers, Make Me PPE or Theatre Bay Area. Some of these orgs are hard to access at the moment, (eg. are Facebook-based, only accept organizational applications, or are focused on recruiting the makers). If we run out I’ll help you navigate other sources, but let’s cross that bridge when we get there.
“Stayin’ alive” (a nice 20sec verse for that soapy hand washing),
Marg
[email protected]
The post Corona Virus & Disability, Episode 2, Pushing Limits 4/12/20 appeared first on KPFA.
30 min
March 27, 2020 Michael Rembis on Disability History
As you shelter-in-place, take a break from strengthening your support network to spend 30 minutes contemplating the lives of the courageously ordinary amazing people with disabilities who came before us.
Lessons from past disability community movements help us move more steadily through the days ahead. You can count on it.
We’re joined by Michael Rembis, co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Disability History [1] and Director of the Center for Disability Studies [2] at the University at Buffalo (SUNY).
Mr. Rembis has worked with Kim Nielsen, a pioneer in contemporary disability history, and Catherine Kudlick of the Paul Longmore Center at S.F. State University. His studies include the histories of institutionalization, mad people, and eugenics. He is currently working on a book entitled, A Secret Worth Knowing: Living Mad Lives in the Shadow of the Asylum.
With a commentary by Mary Ann Tidwell Broussard. And, your host, Eddie Ytuarte.
Technical assistance by Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Mike Kohn.
[1] https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-disability-history-9780190234959?cc=us&lang=en&#
[2] https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/disability-studies.html
1 hr 40 min
March 27, 2020 Michael Rembis on Disability History
As you shelter-in-place, take a break from strengthening your support network to spend 30 minutes contemplating the lives of the courageously ordinary amazing people with disabilities who came before us.
Lessons from past disability community movements help us move more steadily through the days ahead. You can count on it.
We’re joined by Michael Rembis, co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Disability History and Director of the Center for Disability Studies at the University at Buffalo (SUNY).
Mr. Rembis has worked with Kim Nielsen, a pioneer in contemporary disability history, and Catherine Kudlick of the Paul Longmore Center at S.F. State University. His studies include the histories of institutionalization, mad people, and eugenics. He is currently working on a book entitled, A Secret Worth Knowing: Living Mad Lives in the Shadow of the Asylum.
With a commentary by Mary Ann Tidwell Broussard. And, your host, Eddie Ytuarte.
Technical assistance by Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Mike Kohn.
The post Michael Rembis on Disability History appeared first on KPFA.
30 min
March 20, 2020 Pushing Limits – March 20, 2020
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on odd weeks Friday 2:30pm.
1 hr 40 min
March 20, 2020 Pushing Limits – March 20, 2020
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on odd weeks Friday 2:30pm.
The post Pushing Limits – March 20, 2020 appeared first on KPFA.
30 min
March 13, 2020 The Corona Virus and People with Disabilities

[caption id="attachment_332144" align="alignright" width="326"] Graphic courtesy of CreakyJoints.org[/caption]
How is the disability community dealing with being among those constantly told they are the "most vulnerable?"
We put this question to some of our community experts, Andrew Pulrang and Shaun Cartwright.
Here's some great links for more information about these crucial questions:
Healing Justice " [1]Coronavirus: Wisdom from a Social Justice Lens",
Creaky Joints "Coronavirus Facts: What You Need to Know If You Have Chronic Illness or Are Immune-Compromised", and [2]5 Things To Know About Coronavirus And People With Disabilities [3]
And here's a Change Your Frame poem by Dori Midnight called "Wash Your Hands"
Wash your hands
like you are washing the only teacup left that your great grandmother
carried across the ocean, like you are washing the hair of a beloved who is
dying, like you are washing the feet of Grace Lee Boggs, Beyonce, Jesus,
your auntie, Audre Lorde, Mary Oliver- you get the picture.
Like this water is poured from a jug your best friend just carried for
three miles from the spring they had to climb a mountain to reach.
Like water is a precious resource
made from time and miracle
Wash your hands and cough into your elbow, they say.
Rest more, stay home, drink water, have some soup, they say.
To which I would add: burn some plants your ancestors burned when there was
fear in the air,
Boil some aromatic leaves in a pot on your stove until your windows steam up.
Open your windows
Eat a piece of garlic every day. Tie a clove around your neck.
Breathe.
My friends, it is always true, these things.
It has already been time.
It is always true that we should move with care and intention, asking
Do you want to bump elbows instead? with everyone we meet.
It is always true that people are living with one lung, with immune systems
that don't work so well, or perhaps work too hard, fighting against
themselves. It is already true that people are hoarding the things that the most vulnerable need.
It is already time that we might want to fly on airplanes less and not go
to work when we are sick.
It is already time that we might want to know who in our neighborhood has
cancer, who has a new baby, who is old, with children in another state, who
has extra water, who has a root cellar, who is a nurse, who has a garden
full of elecampane and nettles.
It is already time that temporarily non-disabled people think about people
living with chronic illness and disabled folks, that young people think
about old people.
It is already time to stop using synthetic fragrances to not smell like
bodies, to pretend like we?re all not dying. It is already time to remember
that those scents make so many of us sick.
It is already time to not take it personally when someone doesn't want to
hug you.
It is already time to slow down and feel how scared we are.
We are already afraid, we are already living in the time of fires.
When fear arises,
and it will,
let it wash over your whole body instead of staying curled up tight in your
shoulders.
If your heart tightens,
contract
and expand.
science says: compassion strengthens the immune system
We already know that, but capitalism gives us amnesia
and tricks us into thinking it's the thing that protect us
but it's the way we hold the thing.
The way we do the thing.
Those of us who have forgotten amuletic traditions,
we turn to hoarding hand sanitizer and masks.
we find someone to blame.
we think that will help.
want to blame something?
Blame capitalism. Blame patriarchy. Blame white supremacy.
It is already time to remember to hang garlic on our doors
to dip our handkerchiefs in thyme tea
to rub salt on our feet
to pray the rosary, kiss the mezuzah, cleanse with an egg.
In the middle of the night,
when you wake up with terror in your belly,
it is time to think about stardust and geological time
redwoods and dance parties and mushrooms remediating toxic soil.
it is time
to care for one another
to pray over water
to wash away fear
every time we wash our hands.
- Dori Midnight

This program hosted by Eddie Ytuarte, Adrienne Lauby and Shelley Berman with production help from Mark Romoser.
Andrew Pulrang, author of the Forbes article listed above, is freelance writer with lifelong disabilities. He has 22 years of experience as a service provider and executive in nonprofit disability services and advocacy. He also co-coordinates #CripTheVote, a Twitter-based discussion of disability issues and electoral politics.
Shaunn Cartwright has been an advocate for unhoused people for decades. She's also a low-income housing advocate and member of the disabled community.
[1] https://www.healingjustice.org/podcast/corona?fbclid=IwAR2TKPMY0ByDDVju9_X-LzKuU0ZqSR_ftJzqMws1GF5iIRiRjpX9HceDWyY
[2] https://creakyjoints.org/living-with-arthritis/coronavirus-facts-for-chronic-illness-patients/
[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/03/08/5-things-to-know-about-coronavirus-and-people-with-disabilities/#6ce4eb5c1d21
1 hr 40 min
March 13, 2020 The Corona Virus and People with Disabilities

How is the disability community dealing with being among those constantly told they are the “most vulnerable?”
We put this question to some of our community experts, Andrew Pulrang and Shaun Cartwright.
Here’s some great links for more information about these crucial questions:
Healing Justice “Coronavirus: Wisdom from a Social Justice Lens”,
Creaky Joints “Coronavirus Facts: What You Need to Know If You Have Chronic Illness or Are Immune-Compromised”, and 5 Things To Know About Coronavirus And People With Disabilities
And here’s a Change Your Frame poem by Dori Midnight called “Wash Your Hands”
Wash your hands
like you are washing the only teacup left that your great grandmother
carried across the ocean, like you are washing the hair of a beloved who is
dying, like you are washing the feet of Grace Lee Boggs, Beyonce, Jesus,
your auntie, Audre Lorde, Mary Oliver- you get the picture.
Like this water is poured from a jug your best friend just carried for
three miles from the spring they had to climb a mountain to reach.
Like water is a precious resource
made from time and miracle
Wash your hands and cough into your elbow, they say.
Rest more, stay home, drink water, have some soup, they say.
To which I would add: burn some plants your ancestors burned when there was
fear in the air,
Boil some aromatic leaves in a pot on your stove until your windows steam up.
Open your windows
Eat a piece of garlic every day. Tie a clove around your neck.
Breathe.
My friends, it is always true, these things.
It has already been time.
It is always true that we should move with care and intention, asking
Do you want to bump elbows instead? with everyone we meet.
It is always true that people are living with one lung, with immune systems
that don’t work so well, or perhaps work too hard, fighting against
themselves. It is already true that people are hoarding the things that the most vulnerable need.
It is already time that we might want to fly on airplanes less and not go
to work when we are sick.
It is already time that we might want to know who in our neighborhood has
cancer, who has a new baby, who is old, with children in another state, who
has extra water, who has a root cellar, who is a nurse, who has a garden
full of elecampane and nettles.
It is already time that temporarily non-disabled people think about people
living with chronic illness and disabled folks, that young people think
about old people.
It is already time to stop using synthetic fragrances to not smell like
bodies, to pretend like we?re all not dying. It is already time to remember
that those scents make so many of us sick.
It is already time to not take it personally when someone doesn’t want to
hug you.
It is already time to slow down and feel how scared we are.
We are already afraid, we are already living in the time of fires.
When fear arises,
and it will,
let it wash over your whole body instead of staying curled up tight in your
shoulders.
If your heart tightens,
contract
and expand.
science says: compassion strengthens the immune system
We already know that, but capitalism gives us amnesia
and tricks us into thinking it’s the thing that protect us
but it’s the way we hold the thing.
The way we do the thing.
Those of us who have forgotten amuletic traditions,
we turn to hoarding hand sanitizer and masks.
we find someone to blame.
we think that will help.
want to blame something?
Blame capitalism. Blame patriarchy. Blame white supremacy.
It is already time to remember to hang garlic on our doors
to dip our handkerchiefs in thyme tea
to rub salt on our feet
to pray the rosary, kiss the mezuzah, cleanse with an egg.
In the middle of the night,
when you wake up with terror in your belly,
it is time to think about stardust and geological time
redwoods and dance parties and mushrooms remediating toxic soil.
it is time
to care for one another
to pray over water
to wash away fear
every time we wash our hands.
– Dori Midnight

This program hosted by Eddie Ytuarte, Adrienne Lauby and Shelley Berman with production help from Mark Romoser.
Andrew Pulrang, author of the Forbes article listed above, is freelance writer with lifelong disabilities. He has 22 years of experience as a service provider and executive in nonprofit disability services and advocacy. He also co-coordinates #CripTheVote, a Twitter-based discussion of disability issues and electoral politics.
Shaunn Cartwright has been an advocate for unhoused people for decades. She’s also a low-income housing advocate and member of the disabled community.
The post The Corona Virus and People with Disabilities appeared first on KPFA.
30 min
March 06, 2020 Pushing Limits – March 6, 2020
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on odd weeks Friday 2:30pm.
1 hr 30 min
February 21, 2020 Pushing Limits – February 21, 2020
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on odd weeks Friday 2:30pm.
1 hr 40 min

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A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing insight into the grassroots disability movement to the general public. By and About People with Disabilities!