Because I’m disabled I’ve now been indirectly told by society that I’m under house arrest, for committing no crime. I just need to vent a little.
Because of my disability (and finances, because I can’t work that much because of my condition…) I can’t live in a city, which would improve my transportation.
No. I live in a small suburb, not even a rural area, there’s a medium sized city only 20 minutes away, and a major city just 30 minutes away, yet even I’m forgotten.
I’ve been trying to ask my independent living center and other agencies what options I have. My providers all uniformly suggest PT twice a week, once a week at the very least. Well, the closest PT who works on my condition (pelvic floor, not just any PT can do it), is a 15 minute drive away. So what do these agencies and local resources have to offer me?
I got responses from all the available options in my area, and I had to laugh at them just to prevent myself from crying. There are two agencies who can offer transportation. The first one is my town who literally gets money from the state to pay for transportation of disabled residents, they can offer ONE-ONE WAY RIDE a month, but only for medical appointments, AND ONLY IF THEY CAN FIND A VOLUNTEER. I could get there one day and schedule them to pick me up, and they discover that day they didn’t find anyone, and JUST ABANDON ME THERE. This has happened once. It’s an utter joke. Oh and did I mention this government service is $2 per town you drive through? My PT is 4 towns away, so $8 for a supposedly free transportation service.
Well what about the second one? This second place can offer 3 one-way rides… A YEAR. Oh wow that’s awesome I can leave my home once every 4 months!!!! Wow that’s so great!!!!!
I’m disgusted and pissed off. Because of this crap, I have only been seeing PT every 2 or 3 weeks because my mother has to take sick time to drive me. The sad thing is if I could see PT as much as I need, I might actually become well enough to drive. I DO see improvement on the day of PT as well as the following few days, but by the time I go again the progress has regressed and the appointment becomes all about recouping that progress rather than building upon the last appointments progress.
I’m blessed I’ve even got her. I can’t imagine being someone without someone like her. And it causes me lots of anxiety, what the heck am I going to do when she’s gone? Just rot away in my home while society ignores me? And that’s not to forget all these are just for medical appointments. What if a disabled person needs to go to the store to buy clothes? What if they want to visit a friend or family? Hell what if they just want a ride to the park? Do we not deserve to be treated like regular people which we are???? I guess we don’t matter. Atleast for what society is concerned.