Beyond 'right to die'There's been too much talk about the "right to die" without talking about what a crip might need in order to avoid coming to such a pass. Is it merely that people don't want to think about things like attendant services? Or is it that we don't know how to talk about them as a society? Those thoughts were on our minds as we put together this issue.If you're an average Josie or Joe, without the Christopher Reeve megabucks and celeb status, it seems our society really doesn't seem to care if we live or die. Bill Bolt discovers there's not even any basic data on how we're faring; no data like that collected for other groups. There is still no good data on the number of us. Nobody even agrees what constitutes "disabled," as Celia Henderson discovered. An official told her most folks on disability cost too much in the first two years for the government to want to help, anyway. The system is callous and capricious, Henderson learned trying to get "on disability." Sally Rosenthal learns it too: there's a new treatment, but her insurance won't cover it -- or anything else that might happen to her if the treatment backfires! With all this going for you as a gimp, it's no wonder ... We think Valerie Brew-Parrish is onto something when she says Disability Awareness Days are a big problem; how folks look at us is at the root of all this stuff. And Chet Mottershead has something to say about that, too.
Maybe. Not everyone among the old Disability Rag subscribers has taken advantage of our Charter Subscription offer and renewed. Be sure to renew before your subscription ends if you want to receive our Print Edition at the special price. Just check on the back of this magazine. There, up above your name and address, there's a line that reads: Your subscription ends ... followed by a 4-digit number. The first two numbers are the year; the last two are the month. So if it reads, Your subscription ends 9704 that means your subscription ends with the April, 1997 issue. That's this issue! Oops! Better renew right away! If you don't, you won't be getting any more issues of Ragged Edge. It's best of course to renew a couple of issues ahead of time. That gives time for your check to get to us, time for us to process it and to update your subscription in the computer before your subscription runs out. Yes, we will start sending out renewal notices pretty soon. But in the meantime, better check on your renewal for yourself!
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