Service Animals and Familiars

May 25, 2012 By masery 2 Comments

One of my best friends is only three years old. I’ve watched her grow from a small thing that couldn’t even climb up into bed. Rosie, is a Pyrenees and Jack Russel Terrier mix which means she’s a medium sized dog who thinks she’s a puppy. Her favorite place is on the coach with her head on someone’s lap and her feet on the other person.

My husband and I both have epilepsy. We’ve discovered that when one of us is going to have a major seizure, she comes up to us whining and prancing. Rosie is by our side after a seizure laying down by our feet or on the floor within reach. After being through the muscle and head pain of an episode, it’s nice to run my toes or fingers through her fur.

Service dogs can be trained to aid people with epilepsy. Rosie isn’t trained and I wonder if she’s too old now. These animals aren’t trained to detect seizures though families and individuals have reported this behavior, it isn’t proven. Roger Reep, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Physiological Sciences at the University surveyed epileptics in 1998. 31 of the 77 participants owned dogs. He asked how the dogs responded before and after seizures. “three out of the 31 felt that their dogs seemed to know when they were going to have a seizure (10 percent). Another 28 percent said their dogs stayed with them when they had a seizure.” (Epilepsy Foundation) I would like to see more research done on this. Can some dogs detect seizures? Is is a behavior change in their compassion or a difference in their smell? Mike and I learning the warning signs so we can aid each other and sit or lie down before we are affected. Such warnings are disorientation, flashing lights, halos, slurred speech, or vertigo. It’s different from time to time and each person experiences seizures differently. Companion animals that aid epileptics are sometimes called seizure dogs. The Epilepsy Foundation offers more information on how these dogs assist

If we used the definition of a familiar as an animal attuned to their human’s magic ability, Rosie isn’t my familiar. We don’t hang out at the altar or do circles together. I’m not sure if we have a psychic bond through there’s been a couple times I was in the bedroom screaming in my mind and she ran in with her ears perked. Mainly we’re friends.

I’m interested in other people’s stories about their animal companions and service dogs.

Filed Under: Health and Wellness, Magick and Spirituality Tagged With: , , , , , , 2 Comments

Blogging Against Disablism

May 7, 2012 By masery 1 Comment

Diary of a Goldfish blog hosted a Blogging Against Disablism Day. I’ve been reading through the blogs that participated and found that I can relate to many of the writer’s experiences.

College and Disability blog “Why are so many people with disabilities unemployed?”

The author notes that according to the US Department of Labor 15.2% of people with disabilities are unemployed and 8.1% of people without disabilities are unemployed. They write about how there are three main things making it difficult for people with disabilities to find employment: academic barriers, place of employment barriers (meaning physical accessibility), and societal attitude barriers. Of course, the greatest barrier is the societal one.

From personal experience social attitudes, is the biggest one my husband and I have faced. He scored so high on his GED exam that he was offered one year paid tuition to a university. However, because of ADD he had trouble concentrating in a large classroom environment. He tried tutors and still had trouble in class. His academic adviser suggested he quit instead of finding some accomodation.

Most of the jobs I’ve lost were do to excessive sick days. I’m really not sure if the ADA protects people with disabilities for that. America does have some of the tightest sick day policies in the western world. At my mother’s job it’s just seven days. Since I have a weak immune system I got bronchitis for a couple of weeks every few months for a long time. My doctor now suspects I have asthma due to the constant infections. I was missing a lot of work. When I had an understanding manager/supervisor they advocated for me tirelessly to keep upper management from firing me. They knew that when I wasn’t ill I was damn good at my job. Other times I would just get fired.

Voodoodoll writes about working while coping with depression and anxiety as I do. “The Irony of Coping”

Out of all the participants my favorite blog title is Benefit Scrounging Scum. I see the humor in it since I’ve read or heard so many comments about lazy Americans on welfare and I would technically be in that category. There is a similar attitude going on in across the pond. This blogger is in the UK. They tell the story of how they were feeling extremely ill and forced themselves to drive to work because they wanted to do their job. They became sick all over the interior of the car. That’s when they realized they had to quit work. Something similar happened to me except I was at work. I wasn’t coping well with an increase in blood sugar medication. A couple of hours after a company lunch I had to rinse out my dress in the bathroom sink. I went to a female supervisor sobbing. She didn’t care how I smelled, or maybe I had cleaned up well enough with just dispenser soap and paper towels. She put her arms around me and said she’d let the main supervisor know I had gone home. The next day when I came in, the main sup told me it was my last because I had missed too many days.

However humiliating the experience was for me and the blogger of Benefit Scrounging Scum, we both started out paths toward better health. They became an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.

There are other bloggers that participated in Blogging Against Disablism Day. Go browse and share them with others so they can gain some understanding of what it’s like to have a disability.

Filed Under: Health and Wellness, Protecting Your Rights Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

You’ll Survive if your Stem and Roots are Strong

May 2, 2012 By masery Leave a Comment

This month I’ve been like the pumpkin vine I’ve nurtured from a seed.

When a seed is grown indoors, it sprouts up into a life of luxury with ample water, light, and controlled temperature. Once it’s outside it has to survive bugs and spring time extremes of frost and heat. To help the plant “harden” meaning toughen up it’s stem and roots, you set it outside for a few hours a day. Apparently I didn’t quite do that enough for my young pumpkin. It’s two main leaves have withered and yellowed but the main stem and top leaves are strong.

It reminds me of myself. I was strong enough to work some and earn extra money which was a real relief. But my attitude/leaves withered when I kept seeing postings for jobs I would be perfect at and enjoy but they were full time. Then as an infection set in and I quickly wilted, becoming unmotivated, sleeping twelve hours a night and taking a couple of two hour naps a day. What I call my black mood of being bi-polar crept in. It’s hard to explain and I’ll try with another plant analogy. It’s as if a oozing mold gets into your brain and you are more of an animated sack with uncontrolled sad thoughts.

I had to prune myself by writing in my journal and doing my breathing. Controlling the negative thoughts and trying to find something positive each day.

Each of us will have times when a part of us will falter but if our roots and stem are strong, we’ll make it.

Filed Under: Magick and Spirituality, Uncategorized Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
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