Strollerderby : disability

Pregnant Cop Denied Light Duty Sues Department

JeanneSager — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:22:00 GMT

If you're getting pregnant on your own time, is it up to your employer to provide lighter duties during your pregnancy?

In general, I think most of America (especially us mothers) would say "absolutely." But a case in a Long Island court puts a unique twist on the age-old "is pregnancy really a disability" argument between moms and their employers.

The Suffolk County Parks Police do not provide light duty to any officer who is "injured" while off duty (in other words, limited duty is provided only for officers injured on the job). The department says that extends to female officers who get pregnant - it's either work your regular duties or take leave during the pregnancy.They're claiming that means they treat the sexes exactly the same.

But Tara Germain will be in court this week, claiming her civil rights were violated. As a woman, getting pregnant, she could not apply for any form of disability payments like her male counterparts, leaving her to face her pregnancy with no income coming in unless she decided to remain on full duty with the department.

Germain's lawyers contend that the grueling duties required by her job were not appropriate for a pregnant woman, and although I'm not a police officer, I can see how running down a perp is not easily done with an eight-months-along belly. I worked up until the evening before I was induced - more than a week after my due date - and I can tell you that while being a reporter is different from being a cop, it's another non-desk job which requires a lot of flexibility (try lying on the ground to get a good shot with a camera when you're nine months along) and is hardly cushy. I speak from that experience when I say light duty of some sort is in order for pregnant women.

But I can't totally blame the police department here. I blame the federal government. What do businesses do in a country where they have to keep running with the staff they have, but the government is doing nothing to provide their employees relief? The fix to problems like Germain's doesn't seem to be in suing the employers but in making the family medical leave act stronger - providing PAID leave for mothers, providing a funding source other than disability insurance (which not every employer carries) because pregnancy is not a disability. Employers need to play a role too; jobs should be protected (which they currently are - to a point) and pregnancy should be respected as something women do not to anger their employer but to enhance the world in general.

What do you think Babble readers? In the Germain case, who is in the right?

Image: NJ Blog

Canada Nixes Parents' Request for Dual Leave At Twins Birth

JeanneSager — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:02:00 GMT

Some say twice the kids means twice the works. That's what Christian Martin and Paula Critchley are expecting anyway . . . along with twins, due to be delivered in May. To get ready, the couple both put in for the thirty-five weeks of leave afforded Canadian parents after a baby is born. They've been denied.

Well, one has anyway. The Canadian government has said its rules for twins (and ostensibly any other multiple birth) are the same as those for a single birth: thirty-five weeks of paid leave to be split between the two parents. One parent can take the full thirty-five weeks, or each can take leave periods that - when added together - are equal to that two-hundred forty-five-day allotment. According to research by Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail, the country's Employment Insurance Act spells out that one person cannot apply for additional benefits for multiple births. But, they say, it does not "specifically address multiple claimants making claims for multiple births." In other words - two parents, two paychecks, right?

Martin says he's not looking to make money off of the government because his wife is carrying two babies. But with twice the work at home, he says it's only right that two parents be there to handle the burden. That means twice the work not being done outside the home - or twice the income not coming in the doors. And with twice the number of mouths to feed . . . well, you do the math.

It's a sticky wicket. I have no doubt that multiples ARE harder than most single births. But what about premie single births that require both parents to take extensive amounts of time off to spend in the NICU? What about parents who have other children already at home and find their new baby exhausting? Or the single mom of the multiple children - however she ended up single and pregnant - should she get that extra money to hire someone to help? What about the parents of a single child who suffers from one of hundreds of disorders that require more than the usual round the clock care of the average newborn? What about the mother of a single child who is suffering from postpartum depression so severe she doesn't even want to see her baby, nonetheless care for him? Should they get extra pay for the extra parent?

Either way, I confess I'm jealous. Nothing like the U.S. where you get six weeks of "disability" payments for a vaginal birth that come nowhere near your regular salary and one of which is taken away (for some reason I could not ever get clear with my company's insurer).

Image: Twinsurance

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Boy Grows a Second Skeleton

Cole Gamble — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

What sounds like a pretty cool X-Men ability is unfortunately a debilitating disease for 4-year-old Shane Terry. The boy was born with the genetic condition fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or FOP. FOP causes ones muscles and connective tissue to ossify if damaged. In other words, they turn to bone.

This means outdoor play, running or any other physical activity common to young boys and girls are ripe with terrible consequences for Shane. Shane’s mom, Kimberly Hayes, must keep him indoors most of the time; one fall could cause a movement-inhibiting ossification. When a flare up does occur, it looks like a massive tumor on the small boy. In time the protrusions deflates, but the damage is done.

According to the International Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Association, FOP is one of the rarest, most disabling genetic conditions, with more than 600 confirmed cases across the globe. At present, the disease has no cure.

My wife and I went through a health scare with our own daughter. During a routine 9-month checkup, the doc did some measurements on Jillian’s body and then casually suggested that the girl might have Marfan’s syndrome. A rare condition, Marfan’s is a heart defect that spells out a short life for those afflicted with it.

As you can imagine, my wife and I were twisted into knots for the next wait as we waited to see a geneticist and get a final judgment. Upon visiting the genetic doctor, we were dismissed by her right away. “No way does this kid have Marfan’s.” She barely had to look at our child. I wanted to punch our pediatrician’s head off like a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot for the cavalier attitude he took in assigning a deadly disorder to our daughter.

That week we spent in limbo might be what day to day life is like for those who parent a legitimately afflicted child. We have all had health scares with our children, so we all have a sliver of an idea of what it’s like to have a heartbreaking love for a kid you can’t bear to see suffer. I’m not really going much further with this; it’s just one of those things that remind you how lucky you are to have a healthy child.

More by this author:

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7 Classic Kid's TV Shows Clearly Conceived on (Bad) Acid

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**The Sh*t List: 10 Bizarre (or Terrific?) Potty Gadgets**

In Which I Find Myself in Rare Agreement with Sarah Palin (sort of)

Shannon LC Cate — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:54:00 GMT

Researchers at Stanford University are working on a new prenatal screen for Down's Syndrome that would be based on a maternal blood test rather than amniocentesis, taking the risk to the fetus out of the process. I fully support women having as much prenatal information as they can get. I fully support a woman's right to decide whether or not to carry any pregnancy to term. So this new test is good news.

But I wish that good information about and services for people with Down's Syndrome was growing as fast as technology to test for it prenatally. I worry not that "unborn children" will be aborted, but that fear about Down's, leading to fewer Down's births will in turn lead to less exposure to people with Down's in society, leading to...less understanding about and more fear of Down's.

The easier it becomes for typically abled people to avoid getting to know people with disabilities, the less understanding there will be of them, the less accommodation will be made for them and the smaller the range of human experience society will find acceptable. While it is every woman's personal decision to raise a child with a known disability or not, I think more would probably choose to do it if we as a culture were not so filled with fear and loathing of anyone with physical or mental ability that falls outside an ever narrower range of "normal."

I may be in the minority, but I believe people with Down's Syndrome are part of a complex range of human variance and humankind would be poorer if no more people with Down's Syndrome were ever born. Medical testing is helpful. But I hope that as a society we can expand our understanding of who is fully human to include those people with Down's who end up in our midst anyway.

Image: Huffington Post

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Dogs Teach Kids to Speak

Amy Kuras — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Who can resist a dogs-and-kids story?
I am on record as not being the world's biggest fan of my dog, or dogs in general. I had the world's sweetest golden retriever mutt growing up and this convinced me I liked dogs, when in fact I have discovered as an adult that I liked Phoebe the Wonder Dog and not dogs in general. Unfortunately, I discovered this after we adopted the world's most annoying beagle mutt.
But I'll give dogs this – they are loving, loyal critters that, when treated well, seem to have a sense of empathy. And that picture, I mean, seriously, I could go all Cute Overload here.
That's why it's interesting that Canine Companions for Independence, which trains assistance dogs and their owners, now are providing dogs to children with autism. They have about 100 dogs serving autism families.
Assistance dogs can help children with autism by providing companionship, supporting independence and acting as a social bridge to others. The dogs can help them learn both responsibility and social interaction, and also signals to others that their owner has a disability.
That last is key – autism doesn’t "show" on the outside and bystanders can often think the person is being inappropriate or weird. Having the dog makes them seem more approachable to others, and can also provide a nonjudgmental and loving presence for these children.
One mom even reported that after seven years of not speaking, her son's first word was "Fetch" to the dog. Shortly thereafter, he even developed enough language to string together three-word sentences.
It's enough to make even a cat person like me thaw a little.

Pump It Up: Breastfeeding Mom Goes To Court Over Exam

Kelly Mills — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:33:00 GMT

The National Medical Board has refused to give Sophie Currier additional break time during her nine-hour clinical knowledge exams so she can pump. Currier also requested a private room for the lactatin', but the board says she can use another testing room and the 45-minute breaks everyone else gets to express herself. The rooms have big windows to ensure no cheating goes on--so while Applebees doesn't wanna see your boobs, the Medical Board practically requires it. The mom of a four-month-old is taking the board to court. Currier did get some additional test time (she can take the test over two days) because of disabilities--dyslexia and ADHD. But nursing won't cut it for the docs.

Okay, so the lawsuit is one way to go about it, and I have to say, as someone who in another career advocated for disability accommodations, I still don't get how additional break time really gives anyone an unfair edge. I mean, if you know the material, you know it, and unless Currier claims she needs to bring in a photo of her baby pasted to a medical textbook in order for her milk to let down, I doubt she'll get any real benefit from the breaks other than the one she needs: a please-don't-let-me-have-exploding-milk-ducts break. But you know what I'd like to see? Have her go in to talk to the board in person, and when they turn her down, she could whip out her boobs and spray them all Rambo-style. Take that! Now that would be in-your-face lactivism.

Photo from the New York Times.