A dock hungry whats most important is talking to people understanding what theyre going through so that i can see the headlines in the most human way possible. Here it is either we believe everyone has a story worth hearing. I im gay and you are in the stream home edition welcome to my dining room table now today we are talking about people with disabilities and the impact that the coronavirus is having on them i have an excellent lineup of guests so i am going to get them to introduce themselves that. I am sometimes director of disability rights and Human Rights Watch. Good to have you in the stream and. Apparently. Disability rights. Campaigner and a sports activist also. All right in looking for its here bringing your expertise to our conversation and hello dr kim. Early director in our tradition and a disability rights advocate and active in. The Ability Coalition pronoun dirge she and her. Get to have a dot to camp so as always with the stream ryall an interactive called the say she knew can be in the conversation as well. Thank you very much for being here you can comment you can have questions you can push back what are your stories please send them to us and at that and also if you are on twitter at a. J. Stream is how to get in touch with us let me start with a tweet from the United Nations enable group and they say on twitter covert 1000 pandemic comes with particular challenges for the most fun including people with disabilities check the tips on how to ensure everyone receives the care they need in the current virus pandemic in as a graphic and it talks about physical barriers to access hunting facilities the need to touch things you have to touch that difficulty in electing social distancing and difficulty accessing in summation say the w. H. O. Its boiling it down not only is the current virus difficult for everybody but particularly if you have to supply a doctor came from your perspective can you give an example of where someone with disabilities from your experience is going to be struggling right now in this pandemic. Well for those of us with more severe disabilities we often need help from care providers who come into our home most of us have multiple care providers who may or may not work with other clients and so something weve been struggling about is here in the us and i understand around the world theres a shortage of personal protective equipment both to keep our. Care assistant safe and to keep us safe. As people with disabilities and so i think thats something weve really been trying to figure out solutions for im sure youve seen it in many countries people have been working on cloth masks to help cover the face and protect the spread of that iris and then we also talked about things like using even trash bags that cover your clothes so that you dont carry the virus around on your clothes or having a separate set of clothes that you wash it soon and you can and need change when you get to the persons house and then the are able to wash the clothes there with 2 different plates but of course all of that creates unique challenges or well because. Some of those resources arent available its not easy for people of this ability to get access to some of those and also just coming up with the plan well this is not stuff thats really meant to be doing that so how protective can we be and how calmly achieve that with what we have and whats available to us. And im looking at a piece quite recently. I dont get a chance a lot of ringing at the beginning as of yet john saying you know i just dont get it i. I think you raise a good point dr kim i think that thats for people who have caregivers who are still coming at home and then theres of course people who because of the quarantines dish situation the caregivers are no longer able to come and you know people who need help her daily things that we all take for granted eating meals or taking showers and even more challenges and in really doing those. Those basic those basic tasks and i think thats where you know that there are situations even more complicated for people with disabilities and i was saying a little bit earlier that theres a piece that you wrote particularly as from your perspective as a paralympian but i know that you also because your concern is about people with mental disabilities ill but also mental challenges as well can you explain that piece why did you write that. In office to heart let me start by saying back at the south what people are excluded from wants to. Leave and because of that. I think. Is so is just sort of like tekken a different scales altogether and that plays a lot on peoples Mental Wellbeing you know how do you my doing being descendant of having to rely on a caregiver for example you know on having to rely on sort of facilities in the community that leave sort of a normal life and then suddenly the government saying you know they announced my dancy and knocked down for example you know announced that you cant just go to the supermarkets and then you realize you dont like that suddenly you want to. Have you know someone who is coming to you not to give that care on thats part i sort of just realise that. Mental wellbeing is why towards us together you know as i you know as apostles and since all of this began after i saw many emails and Text Messages from people we different challenges are different obstacles telling me that. Their Mental Health is really is trying to in oh theres one person whos you know who suffers from anxiety and despite some telling me that you know and every time a switch on the news and they talk about statistics of how many people have died despite some is thinking should i just commit suicide because his anxiety has gone down the highway you know theres another one whos sort of like really strong as we. Keep cleaning and you know washing your hands but when the media is so full of wash your hands tiny towns and all back new found has south cleaning the walls of one house i think we you know you know we had getting all these good messages going out and telling has how we stay safe are we should not sad days hygiene and stuff like that but then we also need to realize that theyre all you know theres a group of people who are struggling mom from from everything. You know and you know thats why i wrote back piece i said how do we learn to. On trial on our head on Mental Health on mental am i have our own Mental Health and in a well being this particular time you talk like mining Different Things and just dont let anyone in to really think of number one and number one is yourself behind those closed doors what is happening right how are you im going to appoint how are you. And i just want to just jump in just a little bit because you tube is talking to you as well talking to i guess is a thanks for being part of the show today who will n. Y. C. Says yes the disability a regime people often talk about the elderly and the vulnerable so vague but not always disabled and or clinically ill its not new but its frightening it almost feels like chances that the prejudice is that already out there and by this pandemic whats your experience been shatha. I dont really weve heard a lot about the situation in Nursing Homes and its staggering the number of deaths that are taking place but one of the most invisible groups at least from my experience is the were going to mean rights watch as people who are living behind these closed. Doors these institutions Mental Health facilities where you really no one is know no one really knows whats going on and these are hundreds of people who are living in many countries in unsanitary conditions laying on the dirty floor dont have clothes on or very raggedy clothes who dont have access to nutritious food and in some cases in many countries we even found people who are changed because they have Mental Health conditions and these kind of circumstances you can just imagine if the komen pandemic reaches these institutions. Just what kind of devastation will happen there and yet theyre invisible and what we hope to do in along with a lot of our partners is make sure that were telling their stories and making sure that a cogent response doesnt exclude them. You know shannon i you know i really i dont i dont think you know i guess. I just i dont get says made up that he comes in 2nd i just feel like chantal is really talking about you know about africa are you not and especially if i may speak of east africa because im originally from kenya and you know can give us and you know are unable to keep that social distance and because they have to carry on assisting you know peasants living with disabilities but at the same time they have the breadwinner as they have to go out in the community go and do the small jobs they do so that they can bring food back you know at home and when you talk about that could be possible Protection Equipment that isnt how do its not in the vocabulary of any passed on in east africa at the moment and that is where my feel at ease you know what is really going to happen when this pandemic heats this developing nations. And even here in the us. Here in the u. S. And a lot of Skilled Nursing facilities are Nursing Homes we talk about older people that are living in the Nursing Homes but again the invisible population is there a lot to younger people even with disabilities that are nursing some of my friends grew up in children and Nursing Homes and only were able to get out with the assistance of a lot of programs that weve started to work to establish here in the u. S. And the problem with that is that being an invisible population they are just as much if not more so at risk than the rest of us who have disabilities the kobe as and was saying about especially nursing assistants here in the u. S. They often have to work at multiple Nursing Homes because their pay is significantly lower than a lot of the other people they are staff that work in the Nursing Homes and they dont arent they dont have their personal protective equipment to use to keep them and their patients safe and i actually just went to a web in on friday and we talked a little bit just about online and how were all learning to be more online. This is an online webinars i went to and they said one of the biggest Infection Control problems was simply hand washing and that really nursing assistant stack they have 8 or 9 patients that they have to see they may all be trying to get showered it once and so its really hard to wash your hands between each patient and so a lot of news Nursing Homes have become huge incubators of coded with very large numbers of deaths because there are unsanitary conditions there are unsafe conditions and so i think we we worked a lot so that we dont have the level of abuse that they have and some places and certainly i mean Nursing Homes are better than others but we still have a lot of these problems here and theyre not talked about in terms of disability theyre talked about in terms of older adults. Yes im a lawyer i would tell you that brewing a fine man is going to bring in another comment here come right back. And ayla brunis an author and on twitter she was discussing disability in the car in a virus with us she says im in a wheelchair i dont drive my housemate has severe visual impairment and cannot easily tell if shes keeping social distance my m. P. Told me to go to a local charity but food parcels dont cater for dietary needs and it was such an important conversation that we actually then called her up and asked her to explain a little bit more the u. K. Government is neglecting its disabled people with the vulnerable less that is given to the supermarket is ignoring those of us with mobility issues who are autistic and you have other issues that think it should be expanded to meet the needs of all disabled people within the u. K. Not just those with susceptibility to the virus there are those of us who cant get out and who dont have support who need it and not with finding in this situation is that all of the provisions are being made for lock downs all around the world theyre not you see thinking about people with disabilities. I know exactly where i was going to make a similar point when weve done work on the situation for refugees in many countries and weve actually looked at the situation for refugees with disabilities now you can just imagine how difficult it is to do social distancing and keep your hands clean and have hand washing in refugee camps but when you add a layer that youre a person with a disability i mean one of our close partners is an amazing young woman named eugene moustapha shes. From syria and she traveled all the way from syria to germany in her wheelchair a few years ago and she. Had been working with asked and tell the story of the situation of refugees with disabilities she told us how when she was a refugee increased she wasnt even able to wash her hands at the tap and thats in a normal circumstance let alone now because the tap was too high for someone in a wheelchair to reach and then. Weve heard stories from there and in other conflicts in africa in the middle east where people with physical disabilities in particular are literally crawling into the toilets because the toilets are not accessible and so when you when you think about the health risks that are associated you add code on top of that mean that its an impossible situation where in many cases people with disabilities have been overlooked. Yeah you know the center you are you are you dont really rate you know i give you an example of what is happening in kenya you know there is there is increasing in violence at the moment and you know there is a coffee that has been rolled out in the whole of kenya i think the problem is the police dont know how to enforce us years on people with disabilities so theyre actually mishandling on really really treating these episodes with disability homes so bad ways and im sort of just wondering when them you know like the human and the Human Rights Watch youre going to be looking at these because its terrible for example when oh man we just somebody too was found outside and you know outside not house and sending some you know some you know some stuff on the point using instead of helping this woman they took everything that she was sending and point that all over her you know the women are being grant that women are being. You know i mean people are stealing from from this women. It just really breaks my heart and im sort of wondering is there while watching everybody is talking about on the 19 and now its affecting the elderly you know that nobody is really talking about how its affecting their december people you want to believe in that here in the u. K. Many people with disabilities are so afraid of what will happen to them when we when they go to hospitals because. You know and then there are all of that now you know what was wrong about 2 weeks ago is that ostomy with a disability contracts on a virus on cost of the hospital that doctor has a choice on whether the employer body possum who looks healthy and strong should be given priority getting the specialist treatment and. Not and if i want you to pray or example and if i make i want to show i want to illustrate this a little bit where is it with a letter that has been circulated and it has basically been very frank and it says that you know this is a very hard letter to write to you but it also says people with these conditions are also unlikely to be offered hospital admission these are conditions conditions disability. Yes that helps my message and they become unwell and certainly will not be afoot and then too late to bed so hes basically having a hierarchy of who is worthy of treatment who is not was he has treatment dr kim its quite shocking that this hierarchy should come from the medical profession itself can you explain to us why thats happening. Yes and i would actually say that if you know what. Tradition can be like and what it can be like to be a physician it actually not that shocking one of them but is that i was looking at they did a survey of emergency or providers and 18 percent said they would be glad to be alive after final cord injury but when you actually interviewed a spinal cord injury survivors 92 percent report i quality white and when i was in medical school we had an end of life where were talking about end of life option and the general can come to many of my choir may not myself and this was before i even had the disability that im dealing with now they would rather be dead than in a wheelchair or they would rather be dead than have to pay for their of their life to help with nutrition and you know. Irony 2 is that i ended up both in a wheelchair and i have feeding tubes and i need help with my nutrition and beauty and all of that but what im trying to say is just that as providers many providers be old that disability is the end of your life your life is over theres no good that can come out of it and so that been get translated to well this person has a disability they must be nodes or goal so why should they get care anyway because their life really not that meaningful and when you talk to a no ability of god not at all were very happy to be alive and were very happy to continue to live our lives be even though we have very unique challenges that we have to learn to navigate these 2 as i can really get a client to tip to printing guess is do excuse me for one second to bring in a very well known american disability activist court alice wang and alice one feels that a lot of these strategies to be made in these provisions that have the mate doing lockdowns and the current virus strategies for the communities around the well have been done without disabled people because they havent been thinking about disabled people the state did a chinese system to try. It get your treatment room down. South korea says you sitter steinberger archers such as write your. Order and to see her. Live this is your tip if there isnt we are desperately. Gauging as he sits there and spirits to trace county trash. Practices to get past. This it is sheer pleasure in every situation and sensitivity should get those intercepted Decision Makers to cashier is sent to nationalize people and situation he says it is. And thats the key. And i look at how it has made our decision. Well exactly i think they havent been talking with people with disabilities i think thats the other element of thats missing is that there needs to be consultation with people with disabilities when it comes to these medical protocol when it comes to how to support them to live on their own in their or in their own homes and thats where there needs to be a lot more outreach and in honor of that principle that you just mentioned nothing about us without us and i got ash and it comes to these trash protocols just once and i just want to tell it like kim you just mentioned you know people judge your quality you know the quality of life of a person with disabilities when youre a you both are living testament that people are disposed to have very high quality lives and then the idea that you know i am in so much of the research that ive done especially on people with Mental Health conditions or people with a certain disability they have told me again and again people say to them you know youre less than human they feel less than human and they feel that like their people dont see them as equal human beings and that their leg is not worthy and i think. We need to listen to people with disabilities and consult them and actually you know have more examples of people like you who are. Out there advocating that people with disabilities should be treated equally. Suggestion of things that we havent spoken about excuse me one second is it that one says in kates and pradeep diva is a dad with a young state who is autistic and he had until the current of i was set pandemic he had an amazing one to one care is in special care is an Amazing School and now hes trying to do that when i have south because of the shelter in place corinth my son especially with autism is no longer receiving one on one therapy that he really needs and hes not going to sit behind a screen a video chat or a digital chat room its just not working for him so really feels like repressing pozen his Mental Development to protect the safety of other people and i just dont understand why the Washington State government says it has there is an essential service but as a family were doing the best we can where trying to make this work or making it a makeshift classroom but were not professional caregivers so its really taken a toll on us so what im thinking is disagree did the disabled communities around the world are incredibly resilient and incredibly adaptable i want to just go very quickly around you all and give us one thing that hes a supposed of about what can be done in this situation if you have a disability your loved one has disability and you start. You know i think if you have a disability you sort of just really trying to fight back born tsunami you know listening to to talk to dr king its not just proves that you know when you have a disability you can still have quality life and that is what we want but also you know last night you might want to probably say is that raising farms you know raising more awareness i am so happy that i am from tampa or new york granby united are going to be working with me you know with my foundation to make sure that we equip as many. People as possible with masks and sanitise us and you know day has and you know sanitary pads that get in we need so i dont know what we have resilient and we have to stand together were in this together you know to really try to bring the government on board. Just and we need to have the information thats available in ways that people with disabilities can can get idle information about coded and how to prevent it theres easy to recent plain language examples that are out there and but there are few and far between we need governments and hospitals for mine more information so people with all types of disability needs can actually find out about who will help protect themselves a doctor came bring us have. I think you we can also be amazing resources many of us with disabilities actually more severe disabilities are used to social isolation so we know how to stay connected and we know how we can get involved here mostly and we know how to fight or being stuck at home and so a lot of people think about the people who need to be taken care of but i think we can also be role models and people that can teach a lot about skills that are useful during the pandemic. Well to can. Really appreciate your wisdom one more place to visit and that takes us to you tube and the game of the game thank you the game only if we had spent or if those trillions of dollars we spent on militaries on improving health and development we would be in a much better situation wisdom from you tube comments when does that ever happen thank you so much everybody. They say to really know someone you must walk a mile in their shoes. Aljazeera shares personal journeys of people following their chosen false witness on aljazeera. In the case but you have. To act as the. Number of different ways. For the computer to get wrong. Those officers who commit those data entry is wrong to be saying that your son is wrong to. Kill becoming a suspect before the actual crime and indepth examination into preventative policing precrime on aljazeera. Of arrests in hong kong as police step in to break up antigovernment protests. Planned fully backed or youre watching aljazeera live from our World Headquarters in doha also ahead a special tribute begins in spain for thousands of people d who have died from coronavirus. Tanzanias government is accused of sending out the wrong messages about the pandemic and covering up
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