Disability dos and don'ts.

I have been a subscriber to The Progressive for more than ten years. I have been disabled (spinal cord injured) and a disability rights activist for more than twenty.

The Progressive has faithfully covered disability rights protests in its On the Line section, but I was thrilled to see a full-length feature article that addressed disability rights ("Medicaid Loses Out and the Disabled Take the Hit," by Kai Wright, August issue). Unfortunately, progressives often do not see the civil rights struggle for people with disabilities in the same way as people of color, women, and gays and lesbians are viewed.

Wright's piece hit the mark. So many people with disabilities are forced to choose not to work so they can receive health care, necessary equipment, and at-home care. The descriptions in the article I know only too well.

My only criticism of the piece is Wright's description of Dorothy Bishop as being "wheelchair bound." Most in the disability rights movement find this term offensive and inaccurate. No one is "bound" to his or her wheelchair. We use them to assist us in not being restricted to a bed. I know no one who uses a wheelchair who does not get out of it to go to bed, take a shower, or get into or out of a motor vehicle. Wright should know better than to use such offensive terminology.

Ruthanne Shpiner

El Cerrito, California