International Women’s Day Hero of Invisible Disability Rights – Elaine Wilson:

In celebration of International Women's Day, OutOfExile_IDR honors Elaine Wilson, champion of invisible disability rights and the Olmstead Act.  It seems germane, as March is also Developmental Disabilities Month.

During Martin Luther King week, I posted about Lois Curtis, a champion for Invisible Disability Rights (link below).  Lois, togather with another woman, Elaine Wilson, fought all the way to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for the right to live in the community, rather than being institutionalized.  Fighting courageously for their freedom, they won the right to freedom for all people with invisible disabilities.  The case is often refered to as the “Brown v. Board of Education” for people with (Invisible) disabilities.

Excerpt below & image of Elaine from:
https://www.olmsteadrights.org/iamolmstead/history/

[“Elaine Wilson became seriously ill when she was one years old. She was hospitalized with a raging fever and it was unclear whether she would survive... When the fever finally broke and Elaine was …sent home, ….Elaine had lost some of her early motor function abilities, such as crawling or even sitting up by herself. The doctors assured Elaine's mother that (it) was only a lingering effect of the illness…. Elaine eventually did recover, but very slowly”.[]

In school, Elaine lagged behind other students having difficulties with focus and learning , eventually being diagnosed with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) attributed to the prolonged high fever as an infant.  Likley, this was the correct diagnosis.

She was reevaluated as a teen upon enrollment at “Gracewood State School and Hospitol” in Georgia.  There, she was diagnosed with an ableist slur containing the “R" word, once used in reference to PEOPLE living with Down Syndrome. Providers believed the only recourse was institutionalization. (I am bitting my tongue and holding back my opinions on the lot of it.)

She would spend about a decade living in institutions (State hospitals) against her will.  Following that, in the 1980s, she would be “ping-ponged" from care homes to hospitals, back and forth for nearly two decades of her life.

“When I was in an institution, I didn't like myself," Elaine says. "I was trapped. . . . I had no hope. I thought, Oh God, Oh God - When am I ever going to leave here?"

Another hero deserving mention on IWD is Sue Jamieson, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society Attorney who brought the case.  Sue and Lois Curtis were joined by co-plaintiff Elaine Wilson, to blaze the path of freedom for countless individuals with disabilities in their wake.

After more than 30 years and 36 psychiatric institutions, at times living homelessness and in varous “care homes", Elaine along with Lois Curtis, were victorious and finally free.

The 1997 ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob said that “… denying the women a community-based life amounted to segregation of people covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act.”  Judge Shoob later remarked “They were both so articulate” in regard to the testimony of Elaine Wilson and Lois Curitis.

Elaine passed in 2004 at the age of 53 but, will be forever remembered as a Disability Rights Legend for her resilience, strength and courage.  As part of her testimony, she told the court: “When I was in an institution, I felt like I was in a little box and there was no way out”.

Thanks to Elaine Wilson and Lois Curtis, people with invisible disabilities are afforded the right to live in freedom at home, instead of confinement in a “box", cage or institution, merely because of a health issue.  Thanks and honor to Elaine, Lois and Sue on this International Women’s Day.

“The Brave and the Strong” Lois Curitis – OutOfExile_ID:
https://kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_IDR_Voice/109690867328587920

Elaine’s story continued:
http://www.olmsteadrights.org/iamolmstead/history/item.5405-Elaine_Wilsons_Story_Continued

More on Olmstead and Elaine’s impact:
https://olmsteadrights.wordpress.com/tag/elaine-wilson/

More from disabilityjustice.org:
https://disabilityjustice.org/olmstead-v-lc/

ADA – Community Intergration for Everyone:
https://archive.ada.gov/olmstead/olmstead_about.htm

International Women’s Day Image from:
https://www.desicomments.com/womens-day/international-womens-day-5/

IMAGE CW - (eye contact)
Don't forget the ALT text.

#InternationalWomensDay #ElaineWilson #LoisCurtis #Hero #OlmsteadAct #SueJamieson #SCOTUS #freedom #home #gratitude #CommunityIntergration #DevelopmentalDisabilities #IntellectualDisabilities #BrainInjury #TBI #ABI #AcquiredBrainInjury #MentalHealth #disability #InvisibleDisabilityRights #Hero #DisabilityJustice #EmbraceEquity

@disabilityjustice
@disability

[Automatic repost https://twitter.com/dystobot/status/1619081623848230930]

RT @amazing_margot: Week two of additional physio, conductive education and Hippotherapy and we have more use of the right hand! 🥹👏🏻

#avmwarrior #avmsurvivor #rightsidedhemiplegia #dystonia #childhoodstroke #acquiredbraininjury #braininjury #strokephysio #conductiveeducation #hippotherapy https://t.co/8OqVLPgkCR

RT @FalshawLawson@twitter.com

❗️Research alert❗️

We are still looking for people in a relationship with someone who has experienced an #acquiredbraininjury to complete an online survey via this link: https://psychiatryoxford.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a4XRDVuMI4a77pA

Please send any questions to lawson.falshaw@hmc.ox.ac.uk

Thank you

Please Retweet!

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/FalshawLawson/status/1612426604533129218

RT @pipp100@twitter.com

@Nurseborisbash@twitter.com Jim But- Dim -Not -Very -Clever -Lees announcement makes me think it's not only me who is " Away With the Fairies' as I'm often told. I have an ABI #AcquiredBrainInjury caused by #Encephalitis Inflammation of the Brain. He is one of the thick as mince #ToriesUnfitToGovern

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/pipp100/status/1601983726304493568

So pleased this is now published & it's #OpenAccess!

Co-authored with
Dr Rachael Rietdijk (I need to convince her & Prof Leanne Togher to join us here!)
& team 🙌

'It gives you encouragement because you're not alone’: A pilot study of a multi-component social media skills intervention for people with #AcquiredBrainInjury

https://t.co/7zgnKAjxLK

Delighted to see this important work published. The paper can be accessed here https://frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.958194/full…

#memory #emotion #psychotherapy #psychoanalysis #neuropsychoanalysis #acquiredbraininjury #amnesia #papezcircuit

Upcoming issue of Neuropsychoanalysis - Clinical case reports, empirical and theoretical approaches in Neuropsychoanalysis - open access editorial here: https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15294145.2022.2144936…
#neuropsychoanalysis
#affectiveneuroscience
#psychoanalysis
#TrinityCollegeDublin
#acquiredbraininjury

First Mastodon post….
Intro - I’m a #seriousinjurylawyer based near #brighton uk - acting only for claimants with #catastrophicinjury, often #acquiredbraininjury, and also victims of #sexualassault
Also #mumofthree, owner of #portuguesewaterdog and into #photography, #music, #books, #wildlife.
Passionate about women’s rights and ending violence against women and girls.

#intro Hi, I'm a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and assistant prof at #tcd Dept of Psychiatry. I'm also a PhD candidate in #neuroscience focusing on #memory.
Interested in:
#psychoanalysis
#neuropsychoanalysis
#acquiredbraininjury
#autism
#brain
#consciousness
#artificalintelligence #AI
#Ireland
#neuro
#art
#literature
#science