Author Archives: Peter Sanford Kahrmann

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About Peter Sanford Kahrmann

Writer, disability rights advocate, civil rights advocate.

The Trust Given Me

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I recently told New York State Department of Health Officials they can trust me, and they can. I told them what I have told others.  I will stand against anyone or anything that denies people their equal rights, and I will stand with anyone or anything that supports equal rights – for all people. It’s that simple.

In early 2008 I was pretty much tossed out of the Belvedere Brain Injury Program because I would not remain silent when I saw program participants denied their equal rights by the leadership of Belvedere’s substance abuse program. The owner of the program, John Mccooey said, in front of witnesses I might add, that while my financial relationship would not change, my relationship with Belvedere would change, meaning I had to leave. Mccooey continued to pay me for awhile short time later he said I’d told someone that he was paying me for my silence which is about as absurd as it gets given the reason I was tossed from the program in the first place was my very lack of silence. So, he used a lie as an excuse to stop paying me.

While I hear mixed reviews of Belvedere today, it is worth noting that Belvedere is the only brain injury waiver provider in the state that will not allow the Kahrmann Advocacy Coalition, founded by brain injury survivors and their loved ones, to meet with program participants. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

Anyway, there I was, from weekly paycheck to no income at all. I’d been an independent contractor so unemployment was not an option. Given that I had not been working a full-time schedule because of my brain injury, I sought public assistance, received a rush of help from friends, began monthly trips to a food pantry, and went back on disability and my state’s TBI Waiver which, while it has its problems, is a blessing to nearly 3,000 people.

Back then some of the people who love me said things like, We know you care and we know you don’t like it when people are being denied their rights, but you’ve got to keep your mouth shut sometimes so you can keep your job, a roof over your head.  I can’t. Not then. Not now. Not ever. Who am I to put my income over another person’s right to their equality? I look at the sacrifices made by others in the battle for civil rights and when all is said and done, losing a job or a home is not that high on the trauma scale, not when others have paid for their work with their lives.

Not long after the Belvedere blow, I met up with my friend Eric Mitchell. Eric and I worked together at Belvedere and had become close friends. I told him what happened with Belvedere and said, “At least I wasn’t assassinated.” Eric paused, said, “In a way you were,” and gave me a hug.

There are quite a few brain injury survivors along with their loved ones who trust me to stay loyal to them, to not fold when their equal rights are threatened, no matter the cost.  I will not betray their trust. Their trust is one of life’s greatest gifts to me; the fact the above referenced coalition is now the largest survivor-led coalition in the state is testimony to this gift.

I was recently asked if, as a human rights advocate, I ever get scared. Yes,  I do. All the time. But I agree with Nelson Mandela’s take on courage. He said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

So yes, the DOH and others can trust me. They can trust that I will always stand up for equal rights and stand against any force that seeks to deny equal rights.

A Filibuster Against Equal Rights

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It is sad but not surprising that Congressional Republicans are planning a filibuster against equal rights, something my country says  it stands for. 

With President Obama now pushing for the repeal of the U.S. military’s don’t ask don’t tell policy, a policy title that is nothing more than kindergarten vernacular in the best light and an underpinning for bigotry in the most accurate light. Whether we are talking about the right to serve as who you are or, for that matter, the right to marry as who you are, bigotry never deserves to win the day.

There are tragic truths in this. One is simple and direct: human beings who happen to be Gay or Lesbian continue to be denied equal rights in the United States of America. Another is there are members of Congress who will actually get more votes because they deny people their equal rights. If you’ve ever watched the remarkable documentary Outrage you will learn that some of the most vociferous anti- gay voices are, well, gay! Among them are current Florida Governor Gary Crist and former Idaho senator Larry Craig of airport bathroom fame.

As Washington Post staff writer Dan Zak pointed out, the film “has a dreadful logic to it: If our leaders aren’t true to themselves, how can they possibly be true to us?”  True that.

And so here we are in the 21st Century once again watching many of the nation’s lackaleaders fight for bigotry, fight for the denial of equal rights, and claim the high ground while doing so, which kind of like running people over with your car on purpose and claiming you are teaching safe driving at the same time. This analogy is no stretch. Republican leadership is doing exactly that, running over the equal rights of fellow Americans while claiming to support equal rights at the same time.

There is only one appropriate time for equal rights: now.

 

 

Dear Lindsay Lohan – Sobriety First

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In the life of an alcoholic-addict, there is  only one person who is responsible for drinking or using, the alcoholic-addict. Why? because they are sick. Not bad, but sick. How do I know this, separate and apart from the data that says this, because I am a recovering alcoholic-addict. A wonderful friend of mine who died last year used to say, “You’re not responsible for your addiction, you’re responsible for your recovery.” This is true for me and all others grappling with this deadly disease, including Lindsay Lohan. A fact her father, Michael Lohan, and her mother, Dina Lohan, clearly don’t get; more proof that addiction is a family disease.

Dina Lohan has complained that her daughter’s life is too much in the media spotlight; an accurate claim though a somewhat bizarre one coming from Dina Lohan because she’s voiced her too-much-media complaint on talk shows as well as to television and print reporters.

Michael Lohan’s judgment is equally off the beaten path. In response to the fact his daughter recently failed two drug tests, she testing positive for cocaine in one of them, he reportedly said, “…all I can say is ‘watch out’ to the person(s) who allowed this to happen in their presence and sold or gave her the cocaine or alcohol.”  Fine, Michael. But the fact of the matter is it was your daughter who chose to use the drugs.

The bottom line is Lindsay Lohan is a 24-year-old woman who is in a fight for her life. Addiction itself doesn’t give a damn whether she is an actress or famous or attractive or unattractive. Addiction has one goal and one goal only – to demolish everything and everyone in its path until it achieves its ultimate goal – kill.

Addiction is trying its level best to kill Lindsay Lohan just as it is trying its level best to kill every other addict-alcoholic. And until Ms. Lohan and those around her fully digest that her entire life needs to be about getting sober before it is about anything else, she doesn’t stand a chance.

Battling addiction is a tough but winnable fight, all the more so when those waging the fight realize that anything they put before sobriety will be lost, including life itself.

 

Truth and Advocacy

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In a Merriam Webster Dictionary I was reading recently truth is defined as “sincerity in action, character, and utterance” and as “(1) : the state of being the case : fact (2) : the body of real things, events, and facts”.

Advocates, civil rights activists, work for a truth that says all people are created equal, and therefore deserve equal rights, equal treatment under the law. Essentially, all people deserve equal treatment in the world they live in. It is the advocate’s role to shed light on things when equality is being denied, either unwittingly or purposefully. I do not think it is possible to knowingly deny someone their rights, do nothing about it, and then claim your actions aren’t purposeful.

One of the difficult things for me, and other advocates I’m sure,  is when the facts of the matter, the truth as it were, leads down a path we’d rather not travel. A path that is unsettling, scary, heartbreaking, or deeply disappointing. Moments  when we discover people or groups we believed in, and liked, and in some cases still like, were not entirely who they said they were. However, I cannot, nor should any other advocate, spare another their reality, not if that reality denies others their equality.

Recently I was asked why I make audio recording of certain meetings. Before I explain let me say that participants are always aware the meeting is being recorded. There are several answers to why they are recorded and while they will continue to be recorded:

  • the recordings serve as a reasonable accommodation for those of us with certain disabilities.
  • the recordings provide an accurate record of the meeting itself.
  • the recordings contribute to a desperately needed transparency.
  • the recordings help keep the light shined on the truth of what is being said and, for that matter, not said.
  • the recordings keep the fire of accountability well lit.

It was somewhat amusing recently when someone told me that when I write my blog about meetings I am using my interpretation. Well, yes, that’s true, and, when you think about it, rather unavoidable. After all, whose interpretation would I use but my own? However,  this person’s smile-producing observation does have relevance. My blog pieces are my perspective for sure. Which is why recordings of meetings will be made available to other meeting participants upon request. I can’t get fairer than that.

And that’s the truth.

TBI Waiver’s New Beginning Maybe – Part II

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The New York State Department of Health deserves enormous credit for its consistent willingness to interact with the Kahrmann Advocacy Coalition. Any notion some of us  may have had that there would be resistance to interacting with us was quickly erased by DOH officials, and in  discussions with KAC members subsequent to my  recent meeting with DOH officials, the gratitude is very real.

Assurances that Timothy J. Feeney’s will not have the contractual authority he had under previous contracts (there were three five-year contracts, one with STIC who subcontracted the work to Feeney and two directly with Feeney’s company)  were deeply appreciated, especially since DOH officials fully acknowledge that two of Feeney’s college degrees are not valid (he does not have a valid masters degree or a valid PhD).

There are some things that need to kept front and center and in focus. While it is true that the DOH is entering into a contract with STIC (Southern Tier Independence Center in Binghamton, NY) and not with Timothy J. Feeney’s companies, School and Community Support Services Inc. and School and Community Support Services (one is for profit, one is not-for-profit), the DOH entered into the agreement knowing full well STIC would be giving  Feeney they work and that Feeney will be misrepresenting his credentials when he does the work the contract calls for.

One of the things that has been again made clear to me over the past 24 hours is this. Survivors of brain injuries and their families and quite a few providers are disgusted that anyone would knowingly enter into a contract knowing the contract’s deliverables will be provided by someone who will be clinically misleading the very people he is supposed to be helping.

What would officials say when  the mother of a brain injury survivor who asks, “Why is it okay for my son to be treated by someone who says he’s a doctor when he’s not?” Would anyone actually say, That’s not the point, his educational credentials are not the point, the contract deliverables don’t involve that.

What would they say to the wife who asks, “How is it that the state pays a couple of hundred thousand dollars to someone knowing that Feeney does have the credentials he says he does? Would they be okay if he was treating their husband?”

What would they say to the Vietnam Veteran who said, “I’ve been through enough shit in life, they expect me to listen to this fraud and they’re paying him?”

These are real questions from real people. They deserve answers. The answer they feel they are getting is that they do not deserve the best. Giving someone clinical power in the lives of others knowing that he or she is willfully misleading them is inexcusable.

However, it is in a very real way reassuring to all to hear that Feeney will not have the power he did before. And, it was clear to me that all the officials that I met with will not tolerate any intimidation tactics whether they be aimed at consumers, families or providers. Officials made a good point too when they said people have to report these tactics, file complaints. They were clear about this, and I believe them.