Life Threatening Public Policy Series Registration
A Spring Series on
Life-Threatening
Public Policy
Seven Friday Mornings
April 11 through June 27, 2008
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Lunch Included
Institute of Technology and Business Development
Central Connecticut State University
185 Main Street
New Britain, CT
sponsored by:
Council on Developmental Disabilities
460 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 418-6160 (voice); 418-6172 (TTY)
1-800-653-1134
http://www.ct.gov/ctcdd
http://www.ctcdd.org
Life Threatening Public Policy
Public policy that threatens the lives of people with disabilities is not new, or even a modern, concept. However, the legitimization of policies and methods that end up killing people in today’s world is unprecedented. We hope that our seven-part series will generate a nucleus of people in Connecticut who will be able to recognize public policy which threatens the lives of people with disabilities and who will be prepared to challenge such policy.
The Life-Threatening Public Policy series is scheduled for seven Friday mornings, from April 11 through June 27, at the Institute of Technology and Business Development, New Britain. Sessions are from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each session, with lunch and parking provided.
During 2008 there will also be several additional part- and full-day workshops on specific topics to enhance the Series.
The program of speakers will be organized by the Social Role Valorization (SRV) Implementation Project of Massachusetts, with the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities providing funding and handling arrangements for registration, meals and meeting site.
A class of 40 people will be selected for the entire program, with an additional ten permitted to audit each session. The Series is designed for members of hospital ethics committees and patient advocates but self-advocates, parents, providers and the public are invited to participate.
The workshops are FREE but registration is required so that we can plan lunch.
Program
April 11: A Lesson From History: The German Euthanasia Program And Its Echoes In
Our Own Day
Presenters: Jack Yates
Jack Yates, Associate Trainer, Social Role Valorization Implementation Project, Worcester, MA. Jack will focus on the systematic killing of people with impairments by the medical establishment in Germany during World War II. Participants will examine the origins of the German euthanasia program, it opponents, and its parallels today in genetic testing and selective abortion.
April 25: Social Devaluation And The Killing Thought
Presenter: Jo Massarelli, Director, Social Role Valorization Implementation Project, Worcester, MA. Jo will explore why people treat each other so poorly, even to the point of wishing the other dead.
May 2: Common Life Experiences Of Human Service Recipients And How They Contribute
To Their Deaths
Presenter: Jo Massarelli. Jo will trace the common “wounding” life experiences of people who are recipients of human services. If one is devalued in our society, one is likely to be a recipient of human services, which tends to bring with it patterns of life experiences that are limiting, wounding and even life threatening. Issues raised will include how segregation and congregation can threaten lives and the lethal effects of negative imagery, social isolation, and life-wasting activity.
May 16: An Exploration Of Some Fundamental Issues Of Restraint As A Human Service
Technique
Presenter: Marc Tumeinski, Trainer, Social Role Valorization Implementation Project, Worcester, MA. Marc will explore the reality of extreme vulnerability of those likely to be restrained and the troubling moral questions raised by the use of restraints in human services. Deaths from the use of restraints has been widely publicized at the same time that restraint is increasingly being accepted, taught and used in a wide variety of fields.
May 30: Quality Of Life And Medical Deathmaking
Presenter: Jo Massarelli. Jo will analyze the concept of “quality of life” and the ways in which current medical practice has used it to endanger the lives of people with disabilities. Modern medicine has become a paradox. On one hand, medicine is heralded for life saving treatments and, on the other hand, it is complicit in abbreviating the lives of those whom it deems to have a poor “quality of life.”
June 13: Euthanasia And Physician-Assisted Suicide
Presenter: Stephen Drake, Not Dead Yet. Stephen will address the growing climate of acceptance for self-inflicted death, especially if it is done with the help of a medical professional, death brought about through surrogate decision-makers on the basis of “she/he would have wanted,” and how redefining personhood, humanness, futile care, medical treatment, death and end-of-life heighten dangers to people with disabilities.
June 27: Constructive Responses To Life Threatening Public Policy
Presenter: Jo Massarelli and Jack Yates. Jo and Jack will draw together the themes of the Life Threatening Public Policy topics and look for patterns among the patterns. Suggestions will be made for constructive responses and ways of standing in the way of life threatening public policies with examples of organizations which have taken stands.
Participants will be encouraged to keep a private journal on the series. Each
session will conclude with lunch discussion period and offering some points
for writing and reflection.
Life Threatening Public Policy: Registration Form
Please mail or fax your registration form to:
Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities
460 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 418-6003 (FAX)
Deadlines
For an individual session: We must receive your registration no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Friday before the program you plan to attend.
Name: _______________________________________________________
Organization (If Applicable): _____________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________ E-mail: ________________________
Please check here _____ if a personal assistant will attend the program with you.
Please check below to indicate which dates you plan attend:
___ April 11 ___ May 30
___ April 25 ___ June 13
___ May 2 ___ June 27
___ May 16
Meals
Each session will end with lunch to be served at 1:00 p.m. Examples of the
types of sandwiches are: assorted 6” hard roll and wraps; turkey, ham, roast
beef, veggie and tuna; American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard
packets; bag of chips and cookies; assorted cans of cold soda and bottled
water. If you need to request an alternate menu, please indicate your dietary
request below:
Accommodations
Please check here _____ to request a American Sign Language (ASL)
Interpreter, or contact the Council’s office by phone, TTY or e-mail. Please
make your request by March 20t if you plan to attend the entire series or two
weeks before the session you plan to attend.
Please use the space below to request additional accommodations to make
the series accessible to you.
For additional information, please contact:
Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities
460 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 418-6160 (voice), 418-6172 (TTY)
1-800-653-1134 (toll-free in CT)
e-mail: Ed.Preneta@ct.gov
Directions
Institute of Technology and Business Development
Central Connecticut State University
185 Main Street
New Britain, CT 06051
From Hartford:
I-84 heading West ( toward Waterbury)
Exit 35 (left lane exit) onto Route 72 East. Take third exit, marked Main Street. At the end of the exit take a right and travel one block to Chestnut Street. Turn right onto Chestnut Street (Municipal Parking Garage will be on your right) and travel one block to Main Street. Turn right onto Main Street and ITBD is one block on the right, but park in the Municipal Garage.
From Waterbury:
I-84 heading East (toward Hartford)
Exit 39A onto Route 9 South. Take Exit 27 – Chestnut Street (left lane exit). At the end of the exit, take a right onto Chestnut Street (Municipal Parking Garage will be on your right) and proceed through the second light to Main Street. Turn right onto Main Street and ITBD is one block on the right, but park in the Municipal Garage.
From New Haven:
I-91, Route 15 or Route 9 North (toward Hartford)
Travel North on Route 9 to Exit 26 (Downtown New Britain exit). Go straight at the end of the exit and left at the second traffic light onto Chestnut Street (Municipal Parking Garage will be on your right). Go through one traffic light to Main Street. Turn right onto Main Street and ITBD is one block on the right, but park in the Municipal Garage.
FREE PARKING: Bring your parking ticket to the meeting where it will be stamped for FREE PARKING.
From the Municipal Parking Garage back to the highways:
At the exit of the garage, left onto Chestnut Street.
To I-91 North and South and Route 9 South:
At 1st light go left onto the overpass.
At next light, at top of overpass, turn right to enter Route 9 South. There are exits for I-91 North and South from Route 9 South.
To I-84 East and Route 9 North:
Go through 2 traffic lights on Chestnut Street.
Route 9 North is a left turn past the shopping plaza. There is an exit for I-84 East from Route 9 North.
To I-84 East and West:
At 2nd light at bottom of overpass, turn left onto East Main Street.
At next light, go left onto Route 72. There are exits for I-84 East and West from Route 72.