Wishing you all some Happiness during the Holidays!
May all beings have clean air, clean water, healthy organic food, and safe and healthy shelter! All that and love, lots and lots of love!
Wishing you all some Happiness during the Holidays!
May all beings have clean air, clean water, healthy organic food, and safe and healthy shelter! All that and love, lots and lots of love!
♥ Christmas, Birthdays, and Other Holidays with MCS/ES ♥
For most people, these special occasions are times of joy and celebration in the company of friends and loved ones, but for people with invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses like MCS/ES, they can be sad reminders of the lives that we no longer have access to.
We are still seldom included in the festivities and are usually left alone to fend for ourselves. Unfortunately, since human beings are social beings, not everyone is well equipped to self occupy, and some people become seriously depressed and even suicidal because of this.
To realize it’s because some friends, family, neighbours, and co-workers prefer to keep using certain products instead of using other products so we can safely be around them and enjoy their company, makes it even harder for us, knowing they care more about the products they buy than they care about us. It’s a heart breaking thing to have to live with.
♥ Thankfully, not everyone chooses products over people ♥
Before I became too chemically injured to socialize in crowds, I had a wonderful friend who happily made the effort to make her place and parties safe for me!
In 2005 her invites were all sent out with these words:
Posted in Accessibility, Community, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Fragrance, Friendship, Gifts, Support
Tagged allergies, chemical sensitivity, chronic illness, coping, environmental sensitivities, fragrance-free, Gifts, holidays, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS/ES, toxic chemicals, visiting
The ARCH Disability Law Centre and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) announced in September of 2016 that they were working on a report about the challenges faced by people with multiple chemical and/or environmental sensitivities.
“ARCH, in collaboration with the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), has been working on a report about the challenges faced by people with multiple chemical and/or environmental sensitivities. Our report was informed by consultations with persons who experience these disabilities.
One of our major findings is the significant extent of attitudinal barriers faced by this group of people. Often, they find that they are not believed when they ask that scents, fragrances or other products not be worn in the workplace, educational settings, health care settings or places where services are received. We believe that a large awareness campaign is needed to educate the public about the impact of these disabilities on all aspects of a person’s life.”
The release of their report has been delayed because they want to respond to the Ontario Task Force on Environmental Health’s Interim Report, which came out just when their own report was intended for release.
In the November 2017 issue of Arch Alert, both ARCH and CELA urge the Task Force to do more consultations with those of us who are living the experience:
Posted in Accessibility, Environment, Environmental Health, Human Rights, Policy
Tagged ARCH, autism, CELA, CFS, CFS/ME, chemical sensitivity, children, EHS, environmental sensitivities, FM, Housing, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivities, Ontario, Research, wireless