Advocating against Sheltered Workshops

Once again, I got arrested when I was in Washington DC, this time I had the pleasure of getting arrested with Daniel.  People have been asking me why I keep getting arrested when I go to Washington DC. Even though I usually have a smile on my face in the pictures, I am not doing this for the fun or to get attention, I get arrested for issues that I am very passionate about. I believe getting arrested sends a strong message about the importance of the issue. Last year’s issue was saving Medicaid for millions of people around the country, and it worked. 

The other reason I get arrested, is because it brings the issue to light. This year, I got arrested because I was fighting against “Sheltered Workshops”. Before getting arrested, many people did not know what a “sheltered workshop” was, but now people are starting to ask the questions. Sheltered Workshops are employment centers where  people with disabilities work and get paid pennies on the dollar. Some of these jobs includes tasks, such making plastic binders, making office supplies, etc.These companies makes millions of dollars while paying their workers sub-minimum wages. There was a Program, called ACCESS (ironically enough), that actually promotes the independence of people with disabilities by working in their sheltered workshops. I have a question...how is anyone going to achieve independence while making $2 or $3 a day??? This was the agency we were fighting against, obviously. 

The sad part of this whole issue, is not only that this is still happening in 2018, but that the families of the workers actually truly believe that these workshops are the best places for their children, siblings, etc. When asked, “Don’t you want more for your family member?” Their response “This is the most they can do. They’re happy.” Really???  They don’t believe their family member can do anymore?  Well, I may not know everything, but I can bet their self esteem would increase if they were given the opportunity to making more money and have the freedom to buy what they want, which would make them even happier. That is where our advocacy stops... in the home. The only way we can make change in the home is by changing the attitude in the community. This is why I got arrested, the community’s already talking about it, which will turn into education, which will turn I into advocacy. Advocacy is opening one mind at a time.

Our Right to Free Speech!

I have been asked by many people why I decided to get arrested last month. I, along with many people with disabilities, often feel like we are not heard by society. Often, we feel as though our needs don't matter. Is it because we are hard to understand? Is it because we don't have money? Oftentimes, society equates money with power. Since many people with disabilities do not have money, we have no power. People may think we are powerless. 

Well, I wanted to show that we are anything but powerless!  I am not scared to fight for my human right!! 

As a human being, I have the same right to equality of health care, transportation, housing, education, employment, marriage, parenthood and freedom of speech! Sometimes I get tired of fighting for our most fundamental rights, which are challenged by society, social economic systems and dictated by politicians. I know that with each battle that is won I become stronger and more aware of the needs of my community.

As a mom, I teach my 11-year-old son, Brandon, to treat people with the same respect that he would like to receive from others. If we, as a society, does not know how to respect each other, then why have I been drilling this concept into his head? When Brandon has been bullied or picked on at school, I have always taught him to speak up and defend himself. Never physically, always through his words. 

In regard to the previous proposed Health Care Bill, I did not feel like we were being treated with the respect that we as human beings should be treated. So like I have taught my son, it was my turn to speak up; defending myself and anybody else who would have been negatively impacted if this proposed Health Care Bill passed. Some people said, getting arrested was pretty extreme. Well, not if the Bill had passed. Like we were chanting in Washington D.C., before the cops took us away..."We would rather go to jail, than die without Medicaid."

As an American, a woman with a disability and a mom, I felt it was my time to scream and let my voice be heard!! As I sat there screaming, I looked around at the many passionate faces fighting for their lives and dignity, and all of sudden I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself. I got a surge of adrenaline, like our voices were reaching across the country...  and they did!! The next morning, the Bill died. If you ever think you are just one voice, think again. People with disabilities may feel powerless sometimes, but we are the largest minority, 20% of Americans have a disability. I am a proud Jewish American, woman with a disability and a Mom, and I will not go down without a fight!!

Crawling across the Tracks

Every morning, we wake up with many things on our minds. On April 22nd, my main concern was getting on an 8:25 a.m. flight to Sacramento for a business trip. My power wheelchair had been giving me problems, which I thought had been fixed the day before, but something still did not feel right.

I told myself to put it out of my mind because I needed to get to the airport. I guess I should have done what my mom has always advised me, listen to my gut.

I kissed my husband, Daniel, goodbye as I left the house at 6:18 for the 6:26 train, it only takes me 3 minutes to get to the train station from my house. When I first left, I was still apprehensive about my wheelchair, but once I turned the corner, I was feeling better, enjoying the early morning breeze blowing my hair.

I have been taking the train to and from work for more than two years. Yet every time I ride my wheelchair over the train tracks, I hold my breath and get a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach over the fear that my wheelchair will decide to stop working when I reach the tracks, an horrendous nightmare.

There are two sets of tracks I need to pass over to get to the station. After going over the first set, I usually look to the left to see if I can spot the white lights of the train. That tells me how much time I have before it arrives at the station. On that morning, as I passed the first set of tracks, I saw the bright train lights looking at me in the early morning sky.

As my chair drove over the first rail of the second set of tracks, I felt the usual rattle of my chair, then nothing. My worst fear had just became my reality! It felt like someone had just turned off my motor, my wheelchair coming to a dead stop right in the middle of the tracks. For a split second, I looked around, not believing this was happening.

I could see the lights of the train heading my way. Beginning to panic, I started screaming for help. Cars were driving by, but nobody was stopping or even slowing down to help me. I could see that the train had stopped at the Chatsworth station, so I knew I had two or three minutes before it would reach me.

While looking at that train, I saw my son, Brandon's, little face flash before my eyes and I knew I had to get out of there. I climbed out of my wheelchair and crawled on all fours across the tracks. At that point, I knew I was safe, but I still needed to my wheelchair off the tracks. I looked around and saw a Metro bus at a nearby corner. I locked eyes with the driver and screamed "HELP!!" at the top of my lungs as tears came down my eyes. He left his bus, came running over to me and asked how he could help. He pulled my wheelchair off the tracks just as the train went by. Since I am a regular rider of Metrolink, the conductor recognized me and opened the door to ask me if I was alright as they slowly passed me.

After I had called Daniel to tell him what had happened, I sat there in amazement about how I had just saved my own life. Once Daniel brought me my other wheelchair, I got in it and got on the next train to continue my journey to Sacramento.

In a moment of survival, it's amazing how much strength we find. Life is very precious, I appreciate every moment I have and every person in my life!

Educating Young Minds

In October, I spoke to Brandon's 3rd Grade Class about people with disabilities. Brandon read an age appropriate "First Look at Disability" book to the class. Afterwards, Brandon's peers asked questions. Not only was I blown away by number of questions I received, but also the level of intelligence of the questions. The question I usually get, "Were you born in the wheelchair", but instead, they asked "Were you born with a disability"? Also, I did not only get questions about the disability, they asked about me. I got "What is your favorite color" and "What is your favorite holiday"? The kids were so enthusiastic about asking questions, the teacher had to stop them off after 30 minutes.

After a number of questions about me, I turned the direction towards Brandon. I wanted to kids to have the opportunity to see disability from his perspective. Brandon's peers asked him questions like, "Does it bother you that your parents have disabilities", "Do you like riding on their wheelchairs", "Who helps you with your homework?" Then to normalize our life for them, I told the students that I am pretty mobile, so when I wake Brandon up in the morning I get out of my wheelchair, crawl to his bed, sing to him, then we roll on the floor with the dog and laugh. With  Brandon and I laughing together during most of our talk, the kids could tell with have a lot of fun together.

When Brandon and I finished, I felt inspired that we opened these bright minds. My inspiration only multiplied when I received an e-mail from Brandon's teacher thanking me for coming to speak, then she told me some of the things the kids were saying after I left, such as:

"That was fun!" , "At first I was nervous to ask questions, but then I felt really comfortable." "At first I had a hard time understanding, but by the end I could understand."  

Then Brandon's teacher finished by telling me "This really left a positive impression on the class, and they so enjoyed you and Brandon."

Well, my goal as a Mom and a Motivational Speaker was accomplished. As a Mom, I wanted to break down any barriers between Brandon and his friends at his new school. As a Motivational Speaker, I wanted to break down ignorance and fears about people with disabilities through education.  I know this was achieved because when I come to Brandon's school now, the kids smile and wave at me.

My motto is: If I can inspire one person a day, I have achieved my goal.

Making a difference through Volunteering

I have never took interest in volunteering until recently.  My recent experience changed my attitude and my life. I saw how my involvement could make an impact in people's lives.
When Brandon started his new school, I knew I wanted to get involved, but I didn't know how. Then I saw the advertisement looking for volunteers in the library. My first instinct was, "What can I do in the library?" and "I can't read to the kids, they will not understand my speech." Well, anybody who knows me, knows the words "I can't" do not exist in my vocabulary.  Ok, so let's try it. After signing up, I soon received an email announcing a "library volunteer" meeting. I was hoping the meeting would calm my fears

I arrived at the meeting a little late, which did not help my anxiety. After sitting in the meeting for a few minutes listening to the librarian, Mrs. Forbes, I began to feel more relaxed. She had a very bubbly personality, and she gave me a warm smile when I rolled in late. As I was sitting in the meeting, I began to think, "I still do not know what I can do in the library, but Mrs. Forbes seemed like someone I could figure this out with".

The first day of my volunteering I was really nervous. I felt awkward and I did not want to go, but I knew if I wanted to get past my fear I had to confront it. As I opened the door to go into library, I saw about 20 kindergarteners staring back at me. Mrs. Forbes introduced me as "Ms. Dina", and said I would be helping them in the library. She said it in such a "happy go lucky" tone, it looked as though the kids did not give it a second thought. Mrs. Forbes continued reading the Halloween story. When Mrs Forbes finished the story, she dismissed the kids by rows to go pick out books. After they found their book, the kids were to sit at the round tables and read.

As the kids were gathering their books and sitting around the tables, Mrs Forbes announced that I was there if anybody wanted me to read to them. My first instinct was "Oh, I have nothing to worry about, none of these kids are going to want me to read to them."

Then it happened. A tiny little girl's hand bolted into the air. As I saw her hand go up, I figured she wanted to ask Mrs. Forbes a question. Mrs. Forbes asked, "Would you like Ms. Dina to read to you"? She nodded, with a big smile across her face. Since I can not remember the little girl's name, I will name her "Maria". After she nodded, I rolled over to where she was sitting.  As I approached, Maria greeted me with a bright smile. She looked adorable in her black and pink outfit and her black hair pulled back in pig tails. I also admired her pink & black nail polish.

When Maria showed me the book she wanted me to read, I began laughing to myself wondering if this was a joke. The book was about "The Day of the Dead", it was written in Spanish.  I did not know if this was a blessing or a curse. At least I would not have to worry about her understanding me, or not understanding me. I began reading the story not knowing if she was understanding me, in English or Spanish. Regardless, she obviously enjoyed my presence, smiling at me adoringly as she was turning the pages. As I was reading, all 6 or 7 kids at the table were staring at me. I looked at the boy sitting next to me and asked him his name. Instead of letting him tell me, Maria proceeded to tell me his name along with all names of the other kids at the table.

At the end of reading time, Mrs. Forbes told all the kids to put their books away and line up by the door. After helping to put the books away, I look up and I see little sweet Maria smiling at me and waving. She totally melted my heart.

After that day, I realized the power of volunteering. Since then, Mrs. Forbes discovered that reading was not something I generally felt comfortable with, so after we talked about my interests and abilities, I assisted with filing, data entry and running errands. Even though I was not directly working with the kids, I still felt like I was making an impact because the kids would see me come in and out of their classrooms as I ran errands, and Mrs Forbes would introduce me when they came into the library.  The kids started getting to know me and began saying Hi to me on their own.

Another powerful tool to combat fear is through education. With Brandon going to a new school, I feared the kids would give Brandon a tough time because his parents were different. Instead of holding on to my fear, I decided to nip it in the butt by speaking to his class. Since my speech can be hard to understand, I found an age appropriate book, that I let the teacher read, explaining disability, then I answered questions. Also, throughout the story, I would interject my own experience. I found the one part that captivated the audience, I asked them, "how many of you play soccer?". More than half of the kids raised their hands. Then I asked them if they thought I could play soccer. All of them said, "No"! All jaws dropped when I told that I play wheelchair soccer and that I am on a team. Knowing this was probably beyond their comprehension, I brought pictures and explained how I move the ball around field and get it into the goal. The kids were really receptive and asked a lot of questions. Since then, the kids smile and say Hi to me when they see me.

I have never shown an interest in volunteering until I experienced the profound effect it can have on me and others. More importantly, being involved in your community, could make a difference and an impact  in someone's life, and you may not even know it. Thank you Mrs. Forbes and Maria for making a difference in my attitude and an impact in my life!

Persistence and Patience

Lately, I have been working with Brandon on the power of persistence through dialogue as well as daily demonstrations. My young 5 1/2 son has been playing chess with Daniel for over a year already. Often times, Brandon loses his patience because Daniel wins the game or makes a move that Brandon didn't see coming.

Then, last week, Brandon won the game! I am always looking for ways to educate Brandon through life's examples. I found this to be the perfect time to teach persistence. I asked Brandon how it felt to win the game. He said, "good!" I told him to keep that feeling because it is the result of patience & persistence. 

Another educational example of persistence & perseverance occurred a couple days later when I decided I wanted to get Brandon ready and take him to school myself. I warned Brandon beforehand that we were going to have to get dressed, brush teeth & hair, eat breakfast, pack lunch & be ready for our ride, Access Services, and be ready by 7:10am. He did not mind because Brandon loves working, with mommy, as a team. 

When I was picking out my clothes, I had a hard getting my shirt off the hanger. I kept pulling at the shirt, but it would not slide off the hanger. Brandon said, "Mommy, do you need help?" Knowing that he would not be able to reach it, I said, "No thank you sweetie, I can do it. Persistence is the key." I had pulled myself up on the bar, in my closet,  into a standing position. Brandon said, "Be careful mommy, please don't fall." I assured him that I was fine. After 3 or 4 attempts of my pulling, the shirt fell off the hanger. At this point, I looked at Brandon and said, "That is the result of persistence."

A few minutes later I noticed that Brandon's pants was too loose, so I told him to go to his closet to get his belt. History was repeating itself, Brandon was struggling, he was trying to get his belt off the nail in his closet. I asked him if I could help him. He said, "No mom, persistence!" I smiled, that's my boy. He struggled for a minute and each time he pulled on the belt, he counted 1...2...3, "Got it mommy!" He ran over to me, showed me the belt and I gave him a big hug. As if this wasn't enough of a lesson for one day, then we learned teamwork. 

At this point, it was time to move into the kitchen to make breakfast & lunch. I get the food out of the refrigerator, Brandon puts the food on the plates & pops the food in the microwave to keep the food from flying off plates and landing on the floor. It's a good system! 

When we were putting his lunch together I realized the salami was in a new/unopened package. For any other mother, just open the package & put the salami in her child's lunch. As you have probably figured out, I am not any other mother. I told Brandon "if mommy cannot get the package open, you will have to eat a bagel and cream cheese. Ok bud?" He was disappointed, but he understood. So, Brandon went to brush his teeth and his hair, when he got back he saw that I got the salami open.

Most kids wouldn't even notice, but as Brandon came back in the kitchen, he immediately said, "Mom, how did you get the salami open?" I looked at him, smiled and said, "Persistence!" With persistence and beautiful teamwork, together Brandon & I got everything done just as our transportation arrived. After getting the car seat, the bag that hangs on the back of my wheelchair to carry the car seat and we got  in the Paratransit van, I looked at Brandon, gave him a high five and said, "We did it Buddy!" With persistence & patience, anything is achievable! 

There is no feeling in the world like a Mother with a Disability being able to take care of her child

There is no feeling in the world like a mother being able to take care of her child, whether it be feeding them, clothing them, giving them a healing hand when they are sick or just being there to listen when they need to talk, however, the feeling is even more intense when the mother has a physical disability and these otherwise simple tasks may not be so simple. There is no greater gift than being a mother.

Often times the mother needs more assistance than the child, however, when the mother and child can work together to meet the needs of the child, magic happens! That magic happened tonight. My name is Dina Garcia, I have Cerebral Palsy, I am married to Daniel and we have a 5-year-old son, Brandon.

Brandon is sick with a fever right now. For any mother, that would be worrisome enough, however, since I do not have very good coordination, I am not able to take Brandon’s temperature or give him his medication.

The key to independence is good assistance! As a mom, I do not want things done for me, I want the tools to be the most hands on mother and be interactive with Brandon.

I have an assistant who gave me the key to unlock the door to more independence when she taught Brandon how to take his own temperature. So now, he takes his temperature and reads it. The other barrier for me was how do I give my son his medication. Well, by me thinking out of the box and Brandon’s willingness to help mommy, he poured his medication and I told him when to stop. We are an awesome team!