Last Friday night a family member of mine was hit by a car while the driver was talking on a cell phone. A witness claims the driver was losing control as she was attempting to manipulate her car and her cell phone; ultimately hitting my family member.
Unfortunately she hit a man who is mentally ill. He lives in a boarding home which isn’t a suitable living arrangement for him because there are no personal residential beds available for a mentally ill person.
He sustained a fractured vertebra in the neck, several broken bones on his cheeks and nose, and a large gash on his forehead which caused a concussion.
I was an advocate for my son for many years helping him to get the best services available. Fortunately for me, services for the developmentally delayed/physically challenged was available, requiring a lot of knocking down barriers, but accessible. I advocated for my family member, trying to get him the best services. I faced one barrier after another only to be forced to place him in an unsupervised boarding home.
Our family member was acclimating to his unsatisfactory environment the best he could before he was brutally run down. He is scheduled to be discharged from the hospital and should be placed in a rehab facility but he isn’t eligible to be admitted to one because he is mentally ill. This sucks!!
This is real discrimination. It isn’t his fault he is mentally ill. He isn’t violent. He is a 55 year old man who deserves the right to receive appropriate care after a very traumatic injury. He also needs residential personal care in an appropriate facility. His mental capacity is worsening as he is getting older and he needs supervision to protect him from himself.
Judith Iris Quate, CZT, CAP 