-----Original Message-----
From: pahmd@yahoogroups.com [mailto:pahmd@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Claudia Glenn
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 2:45 PM
To: pahmd@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PAHMD] forwarded with permission



(Chicago) Hey Doctors, Listen Up! Time to Partner with Deaf and Dis
Posted by: "Amber Smock" asmock@accessliving
<mailto:asmock%40accessliving.org> .org
Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:57 am (PST)
Dear Deaf IL Community,

Over the past six months, the disability community has been advocating
for the creation of a Disability Advisory Committee at the American
Medical Association (AMA). The main groups that have worked on this
campaign are Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA), ADAPT,
and Not Dead Yet. We are proud to say that members of the Deaf
community have helped us in this campaign.

Here's the story: until now, no major medical professional organization
has ever had an advisory committee on disabled and Deaf issues. The AMA
has a new LGBT Advisory Committee, but nothing on Deaf and disabled
people. This is really unfair when you consider that right now, medical
services are not fully accessible to us everywhere and our point of view
is not taken into consideration most of the time. We want to see Deaf
and disabled people ACROSS AMERICA have input on hospital services
access, disability/Deaf awareness, legislative policy on medicine that
affects us, ethics committees that understand our point of view and so
on. We need to have a voice on this stuff and not just let doctors and
hospitals decide what is best for us by themselves.

We need your help to advocate for Deaf and disabled representation at
the highest levels of the AMA. I know that there are doctors out there
who do good work for the Deaf community, and I applaud their work, but
we need to make sure we can have that quality EVERYWHERE. Let's ally to
make that happen.

This week, the AMA is coming to Chicago. Because of our advocacy, we
have a foot in the door. But we need to show that people across America
support the idea of a Disability Advisory Committee. FRIDA has set up
an online petition at
http://www.gopetiti
<http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/creation-of-an-ama-disability-advis
o> on.com/petitions/creation-of-an-ama-disability-adviso
ry-committee.html. Please take a minute to sign it.

We are also going to be fliering outside the AMA convention at the
Chicago Hilton on Sunday June 24 from 11:30 to 3:30 at 720 S. Michigan.
If anyone wants to help, please let me know.

If you have questions about this campaign, please e-mail me back or
check out http://fridanow. <http://fridanow.blogspot.com.> blogspot.com.
If we can just get the AMA to
take the lead on having a committee like this, other organizations may
follow.

Thank you for reading.

Amber Smock
Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA)






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