PLAY BALL!

LISTEN 29 min.

One-handed big league pitcher, Jim Abbott,(1989-1999) joins us for a discussion of disability in professional baseball.

Also, current Oakland A's stars Mark Ellis and
Eric Chavez talk about the reality of playing baseball with disabilities. A few managers take a swing at discussing disability on the field as well.

Grab a bag of peanuts. . .



Abbott photos
courtesy Jim Abbott

Leah Gardner &
Shelley Berman host.

(Our broadcast of excerpts from Blind Man's Bluff has been postponed due to producer illness. Watch for a new broadcast date soon.)

Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington talks to
A's 2nd baseman, Mark Ellis

Eric Chavez comes up to bat in Phoenix spring training. Notice his back, which has been a problem since high school and recently was the focus of two surgeries. Now, notice the photo of Eric Chavez coming in after another home run.

Spring training photos by Shelley Berman

Smell hot dogs on the wind,
feel the sun on your face in the bleachers and
know magic might be made
with the next pitch. . .

Original Air Date: March 12, 2010

Haiti’s Disaster & Oakland’s Disaster Plan

Listen: 28 min

In a natural disaster like the Haitian earthquake, people with disabilities suffer the highest death rate. Moreover, for every person killed, three more are likely to become disabled.

We talk to Portlight Strategies, a grassroots group providing supplies and support for disabled Haitians.

Paul Timmons & friend with hospital beds

& other supplies ready to load.

We also talk to Karla Gilbride,

an attorney from

Disability Rights Advocates,

whose settlement* with the

City of Oakland brings

people with disabilities

firmly into Oakland's

planning for disasters.

What helps prevent death and injury to those who live

disability during an emergency? How can we support Haitian people with disabilities after an earthquake that killed two hundred thousand people?

Adrienne Lauby and Shelley Berman

pose the questions.

wheelchair with seat

repaired with a lawnchair

photo from: hishandsforhaiti.org

DRA Logo

Local shoe drive for Haiti:

A shoe drive for Haiti is accepting new and “almost new” shoes for the next two months. Askanez will collect them at 1317 San Pablo, any evening except Monday. The HUP Foundation (with local help) will ship and distribute them.

For Better or Worse:

The National Health Care Bill

Listen 28 minutes

Will people with disabilities, seniors and low-income
folks benefit if the health care bill is passed?

After nine months of political wrangling and back door
deals, the US congress was set to put a universal national
system for health care insurance in place. Then,
Massachusetts’ voters sent a Republican to congress --
and everything changed.

As we linger in the morass
of Congressional uncertainty,
we talk with BOB KAFKA,
a national organizer for the
grassroots disability organization, ADAPT.

He’ll tell us what to celebrate
if the bill is passed,
and why we can be happy
if it is not.

With an essay by Shelley Berman.
Hosted by Adrienne Lauby and Ruthanne Shpiner.

Original air date: 1-29-10

(If you know the cartoonist who did the picture above, please tell us.)

Sticks and Stones

Listen (28 min)

Shocking Statistics: Teenagers and middle aged people with disabilities suffer criminal violence twice as often as the able-bodied. Women are two time more likely to experience violence if they live with a disability. And, there is more. . .

Horrific Social Context:
People with disabilities
not served well or at all
by domestic violence agencies.

Cover art by Carli Scales

Little or no attention to abuse and violence
by traditional disability non-profit agencies.
Widespread perception of disability as a weakness,
dependency and less-than-human condition.
Centuries of documented mistreatment.

Moving Past
Shock and Horror
to Defiance and Resilience:
The stories from a new book,
Sticks and Stones,
edited by Marsha Saxton,
lay out the problems and offer strategies
to confront this multi-pronged beast.

Editor, Marsha Saxton

CAPE: Curriculum on
Abuse Prevention and Empowerment

Hosted by
Adrienne Lauby and Leah Gardner.

original air date: Jan 15, 2010

It's The Attitude

Listen 28 min

If you are one of these people, you should listen to this show:

Do you often know more than your doctor?

Do you freeze up when someone says, ”How are you?”

Have you ever done something

you know will make you sick?

Do you believe you personally

caused your own illness

or other problem?

Do you believe your disability

or other problems were caused

by the Great Sea Monkey?

Do you have cancer or know someone with cancer?

Do you hate chess?

Have you ever had to fight

with a drug or insurance company?

Do you like to laugh?

Carolyn's book recommendations:

Illness as a Metaphor

Susan Sontag

A Spot of Bother

Mark Hadden

Carolyn Epple, who lives

with bladder cancer and

chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

(and happens to be a cultural anthropologist)

joins Shelley Berman &

Adrienne Lauby, the Asthmatic Amazon,

in the studio.

Halloween photos courtesy of

Redwood Rainbow Square Dance Club

The Reckoned and the Reckoning

Listen 28 min.

Drawing by Neil Marcus

We celebrate Winter Solstice,
the day the earth turns back to the light.

George Louie

one of the plaintiffs in the Contra Costa pedestrian access lawsuit,
speaks frankly about his role
in this controversial case.

In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) activists

Tom Ross
Carman Rivera-Hendrickson
Kenneth C. Johnson
Cheryl Powell Smith

Plus,
Shelley Berman, Eddie Ytuarte, Leah Gardner, and Adrienne Lauby
send out year-end honors,
raspberries to the inexcusable,
blueberries to the indestructible.

Janus (or Ianus), the Roman god of gates, doorways, beginnings and endings

Archives Return
Want to hear a past program from Pushing Limits? Just click on the title to the right! (This is part of our effort to revive the archives we lost early this year.)