Sotomayor Enjoys Wide Support from Disability Groups

US-- Disability Scoop reports that more than 24 disability rights and advocacy groups such as the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Autism Society of America, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the National Council on Independent Living, and others have asked the US Senate to support Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court appointment.

Sonia Sotomayor has adjudicated cases involving the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Social Security, and Medicaid while serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Robert Bernstein, executive director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, says “Judge Sotomayor has repeatedly demonstrated a thorough understanding and a deep respect for the laws that protect the rights of Americans with physical and mental disabilities…”

SOURCE:
Disability Groups Unite Behind Sotomayor Confirmation
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/07/08/sotomayor-support/4039/

Sotomayor Diabetes Debate Heats Up- For the Wrong Reasons

President Obama’s pick for the US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, has Type I (Insulin Dependent) Diabetes. Sotomayor’s health and medical fitness for the top court position, along with diabetes more generally, is now the topic of hot political debate. The debate is likely to continue for weeks if not months, as Sotomayor’s diabetes becomes a national dinner table topic. Ominously, Time Magazine notes, “the potential for a catastrophic complication—by no means unique to her situation—highlights a serious deficiency in the nation's oversight of Supreme Court justices”.

It is difficult to read the increasingly alarmist coverage of Sotomayor’s health without catching strong whiffs of existential angst—that free-floating (and prejudicial) feeling of “discomfort, anxiety, defensiveness… experienced because of the fear of acquiring a disability”—so well described by Smart & Smart (2007). Clearly and regrettably the medical model of disability is alive, well, and being advanced by politicians and pundits of all sorts! What a shame so few of our opinion leaders and public figures are taking Sotomayor’s nomination as an opportunity to positively reframe not only diabetes, but also disability.

Come on, pols and pundits! Sotomayor gives us a great opportunity to discuss what people with chronic illness CAN do. Accurately and fairly reported, her experiences may reduce some myths about diabetes and insulin, and put positive, hopeful, and realistic information about Type I diabetes in the public eye. Hmm... a discussion of job accommodations and the ADA would be appropriate right about now, too.

RELATED:
Sotomayor’s Medical History Sparks Wider Debate
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/13/sotomayors-medical-histor_n_203032.html
Sotomayor’s Diabetes: Will It Be a Handicap?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1900962,00.html
Sweet Justice: Why Judge Sotomayor's diabetes shouldn't be ignored.
http://www.slate.com/id/2219373/
Don't Worry About Sonia Sotomayor's Diabetes
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/05/26/should-we-care-about-sonia-sotomayor-s-diabetes.aspx