I’ve been blind since childhood, but any of us could become part of my community of disabled Americans at any time. You could be diagnosed with a debilitating condition tomorrow or age into a wheelchair a decade from now. It doesn’t take much to start needing assistance — just an accident or an unexpected hearing loss.
What does take effort and energy is getting our politicians to take our needs seriously. It is important that they remember there are more than 61 million disabled Americans, or more than one in four adults. The numbers, not surprisingly, are highest among older Americans, who are also the likeliest voters.
The disabled community includes every kind of American: Black, white, brown, Hispanic, Asian. We’re rich, poor, middle class, and reside in every state. That makes us a significant voting bloc and it’s time politicians at every level of government understood the collective power we represent.
This is especially true in this presidential election year. But, the concerns of disabled Americans are largely being ignored by the presumptive nominees of each major party. That is surprising and disappointing given that disability rights were front and center in 2020, with most Democratic candidates, but especially Sen. Elizabeth Warren, not just promising to protect our rights and demand progress on our behalf but Warren crafting her plans with input from actual disabled people.
Unfortunately, this kind of inclusion on policy matters is still rare. Too often we aren’t asked what we need or how we think things can be improved. We’re getting justifiably angry. It shouldn’t be an afterthought to work us into their platforms.
Here are six issues that politicians should address now to improve the lives of people with disabilities:
- Outlaw the sub-minimum wage. It’s flat-out unfair and insulting that employers can petition to pay people with disabilities less than other workers who are doing the same job. We aren’t pets, and we want to carry our own weight. Pay us accordingly.
- Reform Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) as it pertains to the disabled. It’s too hard to qualify, with too many hoops, and it pays too little when you do — and sometimes forces people into poverty to keep their benefits, a catch-22 the Savings Penalty Elimination Act is attempting to address.
- Create a universal paratransit pass. It’s not an overstatement to say this would be profound for people with disabilities. Imagine being able to go from one city to another, state to state, and have eligibility for transportation services already available in each one. It is a burden that should be removed.
- Mandate digital accessibility. This would include everything from buying groceries online to reading high school textbooks or taking a job placement test to moving around smart cities centered around technology. Think of how many times a day you look at your phone, and then imagine not being able to access that information easily. But right now, Americans with disabilities can’t access nearly half of the federal government’s most popular websites, a shortcoming that cuts off access to potentially life-saving information and programs and that the Biden administration has promised to improve. We need the technology companies to eliminate barriers for the disabled on their platforms and with their products.
- Provide access not just to health care but to meaningful, affordable health care. This, of course, is an issue for many Americans. But it can literally mean the difference between living a relatively full life and being trapped at home for people who require mobility devices, or hearing aids, or a dozen or more pills a day to keep seizures at bay. Also, just accessibility to care. Believe it or not, there are doctors who refuse to treat patients who use guide dogs or service animals in their offices.
- Treat disabled prisoners with dignity. I realize this might not be the most popular agenda item, but consider that the disabled are wildly overrepresented in state prisons: 40% of prisoners have some sort of disability. Also, and this is no small thing, their disabilities are the reason some people are in prison at all. For instance, they couldn’t hear or see well enough to respond to police, or their rapid movements due to autism or seizure alarmed police.
The candidates in the upcoming presidential election are focused on what they likely consider bigger issues than the rights of the disabled. But democracy is about equal representation, and if equity is being invited to the party, inclusion wants to be there, too.
Whether we are in wheelchairs or holding onto walkers, whether we can hear the music or see the decorations, disabled people want to dance the same as everyone else and we’re done waiting to be asked.
Claudia Folska, of Denver, holds a dual Ph.D. in architecture planning and cognitive science and is a longtime advocate for the disabled, particularly regarding issues of transportation. She is the founder and CEO of All-Access Transit Solutions, a Denver-based company.
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