Is being fat a disability??
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At 560 lbs. and being home bound for over 2 years and unable to walk from one room to other without sitting on a rolling computer chair to get to the bathroom and kitchen and at my lowest point sitting in a chair with a loaded handgun in my mouth with the hammer back begging and pleading (but no one was in the room cause I was all alone) to give me the strength to end my pain I can honestly say being fat is debilitating, certainly it is all about choice at any point before I got into that state I was a contributing member of society and paid my taxes so when I was at my lowest no matter how I got there, I needed assistance to help get me out so when I finally had enough and wanted that help, I am Damn sure glad the people on the other end were more sympathetic to my position than the mind set you have (not knocking you in particular just people in general that think this way).
I had over 300 pounds to lose, was willing to give in to the process, but needed the help to get there. So my insurance backed me up and got me the things needed to atleast attempt to dig myself out of the hole that I put myself in.. Medical doctors to address my health issues, mental therapist to address my depression and eating disorders, physical therapy to help be exercise to build up my strength to be able to walk again and continue to improve my strength, a dietician to show me what I had been doing and to point me in the right direction to regain my relationship with all foods, etc, etc this list goes on and on. Had I not been afforded those things based on the diagnosis of being disabled at that time I would not have been offered the help and more than likely at the rate I was going would have been dead by now, either by my own hand or do to complication due to my severe morbid obesity. Sometimes it isn't as easy as just calling Bullcrap and saying suck it up buttercup, I am living proof if given the assistance when I was disabled that one can totally change there lives and become productive members of society again and in my opinion that is what it was intended for in the first place not a means to go on and live out your days on it..... Just my 2 cents...
You've been an inspration to me since the first time I saw you in these forums when I joined over a year ago. Classy posts like this are why. You, sir, are awesomesauce and this was the best possible response. Anything I have to say would pale in comparison.0 -
I work at Vocational Rehabilitation, and I can tell you that as a state agency that works with people with disabilities, it CAN BE considered a disability. We use it for eligibility when it is related to diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, etc. and when a person is considered morbidly obese. A disability is defined as a condition that impacts a persons ability to perform a job, so you cannot possibly tell me that a person who has diabetes that is not controlled and weight 350 lbs does not have limitations. In these cases, it is my job to help the person get their diagnoses under control, including healthy weight loss.
Right...but the weight is not the disability...I am fully aware that there are people who have weight issues because of medical issues, but if there is no medical issue should weight ALONE be a reason to be able to receive disablity? I think that was kind of my point when all this started...
Ohhhh, that's different. In that case....
It IS Friday after all0 -
Fat is the bridge to actual disability problems (blood clots, high blood pressure, diabetes, joint pain, inability to walk/breathe, etc). There is people working without limbs or moving only a part of their body and you are requesting medical leaves and special benefits because you are shoving pizza down your throat? Nope. No excuses.
I am 259 pounds and 24 years old, I have caused this to myself and I am accepting it. I am trying to change it. As to depression, I'm there and I am doing my best to overcome it.
How are you going about overcoming your depression?0 -
I work at Vocational Rehabilitation, and I can tell you that as a state agency that works with people with disabilities, it CAN BE considered a disability. We use it for eligibility when it is related to diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, etc. and when a person is considered morbidly obese. A disability is defined as a condition that impacts a persons ability to perform a job, so you cannot possibly tell me that a person who has diabetes that is not controlled and weight 350 lbs does not have limitations. In these cases, it is my job to help the person get their diagnoses under control, including healthy weight loss.
Right...but the weight is not the disability...I am fully aware that there are people who have weight issues because of medical issues, but if there is no medical issue should weight ALONE be a reason to be able to receive disablity? I think that was kind of my point when all this started...
The weight IS a disability, as it has a negative impact on a person's mobility, can cause orthopedic conditions, physical debilitation, etc. However, it is a disability that can be managed or significantly improved with the right rehabilitative process. Now, am I talking about someone who has 20# to lose? No, I am speaking of people who are considered medically morbidly obese. And there is ALWAYS something else happening there: depression, abuse, thyroid...so many things.0 -
I work at Vocational Rehabilitation, and I can tell you that as a state agency that works with people with disabilities, it CAN BE considered a disability. We use it for eligibility when it is related to diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, etc. and when a person is considered morbidly obese. A disability is defined as a condition that impacts a persons ability to perform a job, so you cannot possibly tell me that a person who has diabetes that is not controlled and weight 350 lbs does not have limitations. In these cases, it is my job to help the person get their diagnoses under control, including healthy weight loss.
Right...but the weight is not the disability...I am fully aware that there are people who have weight issues because of medical issues, but if there is no medical issue should weight ALONE be a reason to be able to receive disablity? I think that was kind of my point when all this started...
Just keep on judging... and since you're still in your halloween costume maybe this year you should go as judge judy
I like you.0 -
Judgment of others is often confused with prejudice. They are very similar in nature. Prejudice is defined as
"having an adverse opinion or making a decision without just grounds or sufficient knowledge". Judgment of the items in shopping carts, others' children, and people's disabilities fall into this category. I think probably this post went in a direction you didn't anticipate. If you sincerely stand by your original comments, I will just wish you good luck in your goals in life.
Oh, snap!0 -
I was in Walmart a couple of months ago and this young girl came in and I would say she probably has cerebral palsy...she was walking with crutches and she had that kind of sideways walk if you know what I mean...hard to explain. I was walking out as she came in, and she walked over to where they kept the riding carts and there werent any.....I had seen two of them in the store with those massive people in them. It just broke my heart that this sweet girl who had no control over her issue, was going to have to struggle around that store....
One of our neighbors, who is friends with my wife, has to be close to 400lbs. She's not this way because of any underlying medical condition; she's like this because she's lazy and stuffs 5 cheeseburgers into her yap at neighborhood BBQ's. From time to time, my kids have helped her unload her groceries, and it's nothing but junk food. I don't have an issue with this though.....if a person wants to live that way and not make it to 50, it's their life. What I take issue with her is the fact that she will use those disability scooters at stores because she's too lazy. She went out and got a handicap tag for her car because she's lazy, and apparently this state gives those tags out to the lazy like water. She has zero issue with any of this; in fact, she's quite proud of it and brags that there's always a close parking spot for her.
I tried to go for a walk one day around the block with my wife and mother. We got about a mile away from the house and my back gave out, I tried to make it back and couldn't. I wanted more than anything in the world to make it there, but infront of my mother and wife I had to sit down on the side of the road and wait for them to go get the car and pick me up. Until YOU have a day like that try not to assume people are just being lazy.
I had been fit most of my life. Started playing baseball when I was 8, football when I was 10; played both through high school. Spent 6 years in the military after high school. Started working construction after the military, so all that time I was pretty active. Then I had an accident on the job where I messed up my back; two cracked vertebrae and a disc so messed up that I had to have those two vertebrae fused. There were days where I couldn't get out of the bed to go to the bathroom because of the pain, where I had to get my wife to bring me a jug that I could pee in. I have had those days.
Anyway, after a while, my back got somewhat better; not to the point where I could go back to construction, so I had to find another career path. I was a computer geek ever since I got an Atari 400 in the late 70's, and during the time that I was laid up with my back, I started playing around with making web pages in GeoCities. Well, a friend of mine told me of a job opening for an entry level web guy at a local company which I applied for and got. Now, I was no longer active AND I sat behind a desk all day for work. At this job, eating a sensible lunch became going out to some place for all kinds of fried food (New Orleans be that way) and dinner became more of the same. My routine became sitting in a chair at home or work, and stuffing my face, and what seemed like a blink of the eye, I was more than 100lbs overweight. I wouldn't even go bowling with friends because I would get too winded. I have had those days.
While my wife was giving birth to our second son, the Ob/Gyn noticed I was flush and sweating and made me sit down so she could take my blood pressure. Turns out, it was dangerously high, high enough for her to give me two ACE inhibitors on the spot so I didn't stroke out. I just assumed my BP was that high because I was "pumped" about the birth of our child, but my wife wanted me to go see the doctor anyway. I went into see my regular doctor (I use the term 'regular' loosely, because I wasn't seeing him all that regular) four days later, and as it turns out, it wasn't the excitement of my son being born, it was because I was fat and my BP was still dangerously high. I took a long, hard look at myself in the mirror that night, and the 300 plus pound guy looking back disgusted me. I have had those days.
Like you, I got help and decided to do something about it. My knees are shot from football and all the ladder climbing I did in the Navy and as an electrician. My back still gives me problems from time to time, but I do what I can. I watch what I eat, and I'm as active as I can be. I'm not all the way there, but that will change. If I die young, it won't be because I'm lazy and fat.
As for my neighbor, I can safely say it is because she's lazy. I've know the woman for about 13 years and back then she was under 200lbs. It's not just her weight, she's a sack of s**t. I won't make assumptions about people I don't know, but I know her.0 -
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I was in Walmart a couple of months ago and this young girl came in and I would say she probably has cerebral palsy...she was walking with crutches and she had that kind of sideways walk if you know what I mean...hard to explain. I was walking out as she came in, and she walked over to where they kept the riding carts and there werent any.....I had seen two of them in the store with those massive people in them. It just broke my heart that this sweet girl who had no control over her issue, was going to have to struggle around that store....
One of our neighbors, who is friends with my wife, has to be close to 400lbs. She's not this way because of any underlying medical condition; she's like this because she's lazy and stuffs 5 cheeseburgers into her yap at neighborhood BBQ's. From time to time, my kids have helped her unload her groceries, and it's nothing but junk food. I don't have an issue with this though.....if a person wants to live that way and not make it to 50, it's their life. What I take issue with her is the fact that she will use those disability scooters at stores because she's too lazy. She went out and got a handicap tag for her car because she's lazy, and apparently this state gives those tags out to the lazy like water. She has zero issue with any of this; in fact, she's quite proud of it and brags that there's always a close parking spot for her.
I tried to go for a walk one day around the block with my wife and mother. We got about a mile away from the house and my back gave out, I tried to make it back and couldn't. I wanted more than anything in the world to make it there, but infront of my mother and wife I had to sit down on the side of the road and wait for them to go get the car and pick me up. Until YOU have a day like that try not to assume people are just being lazy.
I had been fit most of my life. Started playing baseball when I was 8, football when I was 10; played both through high school. Spent 6 years in the military after high school. Started working construction after the military, so all that time I was pretty active. Then I had an accident on the job where I messed up my back; two cracked vertebrae and a disc so messed up that I had to have those two vertebrae fused. There were days where I couldn't get out of the bed to go to the bathroom because of the pain, where I had to get my wife to bring me a jug that I could pee in. I have had those days.
Anyway, after a while, my back got somewhat better; not to the point where I could go back to construction, so I had to find another career path. I was a computer geek ever since I got an Atari 400 in the late 70's, and during the time that I was laid up with my back, I started playing around with making web pages in GeoCities. Well, a friend of mine told me of a job opening for an entry level web guy at a local company which I applied for and got. Now, I was no longer active AND I sat behind a desk all day for work. At this job, eating a sensible lunch became going out to some place for all kinds of fried food (New Orleans be that way) and dinner became more of the same. My routine became sitting in a chair at home or work, and stuffing my face, and what seemed like a blink of the eye, I was more than 100lbs overweight. I wouldn't even go bowling with friends because I would get too winded. I have had those days.
While my wife was giving birth to our second son, the Ob/Gyn noticed I was flush and sweating and made me sit down so she could take my blood pressure. Turns out, it was dangerously high, high enough for her to give me two ACE inhibitors on the spot so I didn't stroke out. I just assumed my BP was that high because I was "pumped" about the birth of our child, but my wife wanted me to go see the doctor anyway. I went into see my regular doctor (I use the term 'regular' loosely, because I wasn't seeing him all that regular) four days later, and as it turns out, it wasn't the excitement of my son being born, it was because I was fat and my BP was still dangerously high. I took a long, hard look at myself in the mirror that night, and the 300 plus pound guy looking back disgusted me. I have had those days.
Like you, I got help and decided to do something about it. My knees are shot from football and all the ladder climbing I did in the Navy and as an electrician. My back still gives me problems from time to time, but I do what I can. I watch what I eat, and I'm as active as I can be. I'm not all the way there, but that will change. If I die young, it won't be because I'm lazy and fat.
As for my neighbor, I can safely say it is because she's lazy. I've know the woman for about 13 years and back then she was under 200lbs. It's not just her weight, she's a sack of s**t. I won't make assumptions about people I don't know, but I know her.
Fair enough, thank you for your time in the Navy. Those days you and I know are the reason threads like this boil my blood, not many people know what it is like to be that far down.0 -
I was in Walmart a couple of months ago and this young girl came in and I would say she probably has cerebral palsy...she was walking with crutches and she had that kind of sideways walk if you know what I mean...hard to explain. I was walking out as she came in, and she walked over to where they kept the riding carts and there werent any.....I had seen two of them in the store with those massive people in them. It just broke my heart that this sweet girl who had no control over her issue, was going to have to struggle around that store....
One of our neighbors, who is friends with my wife, has to be close to 400lbs. She's not this way because of any underlying medical condition; she's like this because she's lazy and stuffs 5 cheeseburgers into her yap at neighborhood BBQ's. From time to time, my kids have helped her unload her groceries, and it's nothing but junk food. I don't have an issue with this though.....if a person wants to live that way and not make it to 50, it's their life. What I take issue with her is the fact that she will use those disability scooters at stores because she's too lazy. She went out and got a handicap tag for her car because she's lazy, and apparently this state gives those tags out to the lazy like water. She has zero issue with any of this; in fact, she's quite proud of it and brags that there's always a close parking spot for her.
You do realize that you can't just waltz down to the DMV and tell them you want one of those cute little handicapped placards, right? You have to have proof of your disability or you don't get one.0 -
All I am moved to say is....
15 yards! Unnecessary holding!
Challenging the ruling! Review the tapes!
Not to mention the fact that holding (unnecessary or other wise) is only 10 yards. Damn replacement refs. :laugh:0 -
[Picks up can. Quickly drops it like it's a hot iron.]I picked up that can marked worms and broke it wide *kitten* open!!0 -
Typical obesity, as is the case for the majority of most obese people, is a self-inflicted wound.
There are true disabilities/disorders, etc that slow down or stop people who try to lose weight, but there are people who, with these issues, overcome them. They are the type of people that instead of finding their diagnosis as an excuse to just stay fat, find it as a challenge to make themselves better. These are people with extreme cases of Lupus, or who have had brain surgery, or who have a nerve disorder that's so bad they pass out going up a flight of steps. These same people, who through sheer strength of character, choose to make a difference for themselves. These people are my heroes. They don't say "oh, I don't have enough time to work out, so I'm going to stay 350lbs."
By this logic, they make people with legitimate disabilities look bad? My problem with this sort of thing is that you can't tell any of this just by looking at someone.
Oh. you're special. :flowerforyou:0 -
I can see where some have a hard time maneuvering being Obese (as I did at almost 400lbs), but I don't see it as being a reason to go get yourself a handicap placard. I had to make myself get out and walk. and after a while I was just fine and dandy!!! So it is a disability only if you allow yourself to give into it...0
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I think that true obesity that is out of the control of the obese person is rare.
A very large percentage of fat people can make lifestyle changes that can reverse this condition. I am not precluding myself.
I am against giving people special privileges for poor lifestyle choices.0 -
I think being fat can be a contributing factor for other disabilities...foot issues, bad knees, bad hips, back problems, heart conditions, diabetes, depression...things that are covered by FMLA. Obesity, I don't think, is a medical condition...but those other things are. Those are covered by FMLA. Being a smoker, for another example, isn't a medical condition, but COPD is...
As evidenced by the numerous success stories here, losing weight and getting healthy can result in these problems reversing themselves.0 -
Lots of things can make you disabled. For instance lacking empathy and compassion can stunt your ability to see how horrendously to behave to other human beings. I am sure special modifications are made to accommodate people with these disabilities.
Heavy eye rolling and such.0 -
Lots of things can make you disabled. For instance lacking empathy and compassion can stunt your ability to see how horrendously to behave to other human beings. I am sure special modifications are made to accommodate people with these disabilities.
Heavy eye rolling and such.
:drinker:0 -
your post seems mean spirited and angry.0
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I am 34 and 5’10”. I am disabled, obese (have lost 40 out of 157 lb. goal), and I have a rare thyroid condition and PCOS (both of which make it a struggle to lose weight).
After not working for 6 years, I got myself together and rejoined the workforce over 2 years ago. About a year after that, I was feeling back to myself and started my journey to lose all the weight I've gained. I lost 35 lbs. last year, and now I am a bit stuck; but, I exercise at least 5 days a week and log over 30 miles weekly.
I have a rare thyroid condition that has made my life difficult, and PCOS which makes it very hard for me to lose weight on top of that. But, ultimately, I control my thyroid and PCOS negative side-effects by making better choices. I didn't get fat (obese, 324 lbs. at the heaviest) by exercising and making good choice; I got fat by eating fast food 2 or 3 times a day (easily 3-4,000 Calories), even when going to the gym for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. I did it by not taking care of myself; and, yes, at times, there were other factors, but most people do not become obese by eating a healthy, balanced diet.
As to my disability, I could tell you that there is nothing I can do to control it, but I would be lying to myself and to you. There are a lot of people who suffer the same condition, some worse. In my case, I can't control it completely, but I can reduce the effects by being self-aware. It's a full-time job just to make it through each day, to keep track of myself in every way. But I do it! Because the alternative it to crawl under a rock and die, which is exactly what those 6 years of fighting against it felt like - even when I was fighting with all I had.
This is my take on the issue: "The EEOC claims that basic obesity, without any other underlying condition, sufficiently impacts the life activities of bending, walking, digestion, cell growth, etc., to qualify as a disability or perceived disability [under the ADAAA (2008)]. EEOC v. Resources for Human Development (E.D. LA.2010)." In some cases, I would have to agree with this. If you weigh 500 lbs., then you are probably disabled by virtue of the fact that you probably can't move much, if at all. That may certainly limit employment, especially if you do not have a skill set that could facilitate earning a living from your couch/bed. However, one does not have to remain at 500 lbs.
Of course, obesity is defined at 100 lbs. or more overweight. My mom is 5'2" and 219 lbs. She is obese; but, she spends all day on her feet, walking at the store she’s worked at for the last 9 years. She also has lupus and RA, two painful and disabling diseases; but she will not quit working until her body quits letting her - which means until she lets her body quit on her, which is not going to happen.
So, no, in my opinion, being fat or obese is not in itself a disability, until you let it make you disabled; and, if you are trying to remedy that, then more power to you. It is easy to give up, stop fighting, and let someone else take care of it. Unfortunately, some people abuse the system with little things like "I'm obese; I can't work" when they are well within the range of being able to remedy their circumstances. Tell a person who can't talk, walk, has lost a limb or more, can't function normally, through no fault of their own that you are disabled because you are overweight, and I am sure you will reconsider after hearing what kind of selfish, self-centered person you are. Most disabled people who can take care of themselves, do; because we all want to feel useful and fulfilled regards of the hand we've been dealt.0
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