Vacation Week 2020

Well, we were supposed to have four days last week at the Dreamore Resort and check out Dollywood. I cancelled that early on during the pandemic 😢

And you know what you do for vacation during a pandemic with two kids? Not much. 

Monday morning last week we hit the Cincinnati Nature Center down the road. It was beautiful and in the upper 60s. Tim, Nora and I wore our masks and pulled them up whenever passing someone on the trail. Hannah has a mask, but we haven’t practiced with her yet. 

Finally lost some more! Two in three days.

I got my haircut for the first time in 3 months. Those with short hair understand how long that is. I typically get it cut on average every 7/8 weeks. It was amazing taking a drive and being on my own for about an hour or so. The salon was taking all precautions and I everyone wears a mask at all time. No hairwashing and very little blowdrying. The hardest part were the hair clippings that were stuck in my mask. It does feel great to have a fresh cut again. 

We met up with another pandemic-conservative family at a park and creek-stomped with them. 

We visited both Grandparents and did enter homes - it has just become too hot. 

We also spent a lot of time outdoors - we are now the owners of four - yes four - blow up pools and one large splashpad. Hannah now stays pretty occupied with the water table and pool by simple transferring water from Point A to Point B. And Tim and I can sit! That’s pretty nice. 

We accomplished a LOT of painting; the entryway had been a “Tuscan Gold” and we went medium gray from the entry, up the stairwell, and into the 2nd floor hall. We still have enough paint to do the stairwell to the 3rd floor! 

We bought paint from Sherwin Williams because I refuse to go into Lowes - too crowded and too many people flexing their “freedom” to not wear a mask. I knew we would pay more for the paint, but it was worth being the only person in the shop. 

I had a friend over whose son has DS - we had a drink on the back deck. It was so nice to see a friend face-to-face.  

My friend made a good point - with a pandemic in place and many vacations cancelled, there’s nothing to look forward to! I’m already looking at cabins for Fall Break (in October) just to have some sort of getaway this year. 

Law Enforcement & Disabilities

One third to a half of those who die at the hands of law enforcement have some type of disability (Runderman Foundation, 2016).

Ethan Saylor was a 26 year old man with Down syndrome who died by asphyxiation after an encounter with law enforcement in 2013. His mother, Patti, still fights to change the way law enforcement personnel are trained when encountering people like Ethan.

Law enforcement often encounters people with developmental disabilities - like autism or Down syndrome - in high-stress situations, with little or no training at all. 

Police training programs nationwide spend, on average, 168 hours teaching officers about use of force, weapons and defensive tactics, according to the most recent statistics from the Justice Department. That compares with only 10 hours spent on mental illness, for example.

People with intellectual disabilities may have trouble processing orders. They may struggle to follow directions or manage emotions. I should know, I’m raising a child with Ds who is extremely stubborn and doesn’t always want to follow directions.

“It's not always noncompliance. It's not always resistance. Sometimes it's inability. The officer very often will perceive that inability as a refusal.”

My local Miami Township Police take part in a program called Take Me Home - residents registered their loved on who has a developmental or cognitive disability. While this program is mainly to help those who may be lost or in an emergency situation, I have goals to follow up to see what steps are being taken locally to train officers in mental health & disability encounters.

One Mother’s Battle to Change Police Training on Disabilities

Half of people Killed Police Have A Disability