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We've Come a Long Way, or Have We?
In July of 1990, the American Disability Act was passed, as the culmination of many years, many people fighting to gain rights just as others before them had fought for civil rights of Negroes. It was another bitter fight, and perhaps few if any lives were lost, but the causes were universal; people wanting to be treated as equals in their access to schooling, to jobs, to entry into public places they often could not go because their wheelchairs were not accommodated by those places, or there were no places if they did manage to get in where they could sit comfortably without being stared at, or having people say things that they could hear about their challenges. And there were barriers of curbs and bumps that these people had to try to maneuver around without falling or otherwise being injured.
Today, the situation has reverted in large part to the way it was BEFORE the American Disability Act. Children who have developmental and/or physical challenges are still bullied, and adults are treated equally badly in public places. And it is a joke to think that MediCal or Medicare gives a hoot for their needs. Where once people could get the supplies and new wheelchairs that they needed sufficient to get by; now they are limited to less than what even makes sense. Can you imagine a person with multiple pressure sores getting two rolls of gauze a month to cover the wounds, or being asked to pay for some lifts to tilt the wheelchair properly so that the person will not fall out of it continually? Or a person needing emotional care of a psychologist being turned down, or a person with allergies to medicines being told they cannot have one of the few medicines they CAN tolerate? Or perhaps a person who is living in a special care home for those with critical kidney ailments being told they cannot have a tiny short-hair dog to comfort them in their home? Can you imagine that there are people with physical, developmental and emotional challenges who are homeless, and many of them are veterans who fought for this country at some point? Or that there are many people with special challenges in wheelchairs who are unable to get dental care unless they can manage to get out of their wheelchairs and into the dentist chair?
This is a never-ending issue just as it is for racism in this country. We can no longer go through our days pretending these things don't exist.
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Please include your e-mail with your comments and a website address if you have one. Be respectful with your comments. We understand that there are many issues for physically, developmentally, and emotionally challenged people that are still not addressed universally, and we do want to hear about those. Inspiration always welcome. Thank you.