I had not set out to be a radical for anything other than mental health, but as of today I am forced to become a radical for something called “handicapped inclusion.” I walk with a cane because I have what I have come to realize is a familial peripheral neuropathy. It is quite benign and won’t kill me. I know it is possible to avoid a wheelchair because my mother and grandmother did that I do fight tooth and nail to move around the best I can, and build strength and such with both exercise and nutrition.

When a doctor told me once I needed disability and a wheelchair, I yelled Holy Hell at him and explained that I practice medicine with my head and not with my feet. I am still practicing, but I have no plans for competitive athletics in the near future. I do dance every chance I get, as you may have seen a video on one of my social media sites. Today I am at the DMV where they put me in the “handicapped” line, thus rushing me to an area with “standing desks,” where my husband had to fill out my application for an ID card because the ONE thing that is sometimes hard for me to do is-standing.

I see the instructions for “handicapped inclusion” are written by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Government). I am worried because after my research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I found the CDC write-up and it seemed to me that that with their new criteria, less people had the problem so it sounded like a less serious one. Was this propaganda? Who can tell? There is lots of stuff available about including students with disabilities in the classroom.

A classroom has got to be one of the most controlled human environments on earth. Contrary-wise (as Humpty Dumpty told Alice), the Department of Motor Vehicles office has got to be one of the poorest-controlled human environments on earth. I suggest neophytes (which some people I have known in the field call “TABS” or “Temporary Able-bodies,” since we all start as babies and end as needing some kind of care) start by directing some of the obviously confused people if you know how (not all handicaps are visible) or at least smiling at people in walkers or wheelchairs. Or with a cane, like me.