Do Politicians Take the Disabled Vote Seriously?

Part I
By Javier Robles

Am I invisible?  Is the group of people that I belong too a mere mirage?  Are we as people with disabilities only good for photo ops and feel-good stories?  How can it be that we do not seem to count when counting votes.  We as a group become non-existent.  So much so that when Barack Obama won the Presidency and mentioned people with disabilities in his speech; it caused a stir with people with disabilities. Amazing! Yet, not surprising.  Why?

Here is what I think.  There are two simultaneous issues going on between politicians and people with disabilities.  The first issue, concerns a historical struggle for survival by individuals who to this day are second class citizens.  The second issue,  surrounds political strategist and their clients (politicians) who are unable or unwilling to realize the potential of this group.  Let me explain.

Historically, the “struggle” has been about housing, institutionalization, discrimination, access and more recently jobs.  While this list is not exhaustive it offers a glimpse of some major struggles. The point is that we as a group are in a constant battle with society to maintain our independence. We push for laws to de-institutionalize (Olmstead) and laws for greater Access (Americans with Disabilities Act) and we fight for every dollar.  We are in an eternal state of chaos.  Fighting so hard to be free that we forgot all about the politicians we put in office.  Not that politicians have done nothing.  There has been progress in the last 100 years for people with disabilities.  However, as a group we progressed with  small victories, and many times specific to our particular disability. Like the Randolph-Sheppard Act of 1936 which was passed to allow blind vendors access to Federal buildings.  There have been numerous registry laws state to state on Autism, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, etc.  But at the end of the day we continue to be ignored on a global scale.  Our power is reduced to statistics which point to one thing; people with disabilities do not vote.  Therefore, their overall needs are unimportant during election time.  Or are they?

Part II Next Week

ROLLING PROUD by Andrew Levinson

When Is the Economic Boom for People with Disabilities Going to Arrive?

14.1%? Come on, you’ve got to be joking.

Yes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced not too long ago that in “November 2009, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability was 14.1 percent, compared with 9.2 percent for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted.” Even during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the unemployment rate for people without disabilities is still only in the single digits, while people with disabilities suffer from double-digit unemployment. Yeah, people can talk about the economic expansion of the 90s and say that the good days are long behind us. However, just ask the contributors to a project that ended in 2004 called The Center for an Accessible Society. It doesn’t seem that there ever were “good days” for people with disabilities.

2010 will bring the ADA’s 20^th birthday, with the ADA, of course, being the principal example of federal disability rights legislation. It’s time to celebrate that birthday with true health care reform. It’s time to end a dependence, for a lot of us, on Social Security. (If you have a “preexisting condition,” you are left with Medicaid, by way of SSI, as your only option. Also, Medicaid is far from a universal health care program with its restrictive eligibility standards). Here’s to Josie Byzek of New Mobility for talking about this dependence and the fear of leaving one’s job over health care coverage. I think it’s only fair that we allow entrepreneurs with disabilities to buy affordable health care coverage and allow workers with disabilities to find the job that provides them with the highest standard of living and not the best health care insurance.