Nicole Leblanc

This year, the Disability Community will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that

was signed into law in July 1990 by President George H.W. Bush. Upon signing this historic piece of bipartisan legislation, he is quoted saying, “Let the shameful walls of finally come tumbling down,” bringing true inclusion in all aspects of community life for people with disabilities. Many of the dreams and goals of the ADA are at the heart of creating a system of care that is truly person-entered. While the ADA has made advancements in things like physical accessibility and community integration, two areas where we as a society continue to fall short are integrated employment for adults with developmental disabilities and access to high- quality healthcare that meets our needs in a person-centered way. Several studies show people with disabilities are a medically underserved population, or MUP. We often have a higher cost and worse health outcomes than the general population. Being declared an MUP by the Centers for Disease Control and/or Congress could allow for more training of medical providers, higher rates of pay for doctors that provide care to people with disabilities, more focus on prevention, and the social determinants of health. Medical providers are the ones best positioned to support people with disabilities in achieving better outcomes. I hope that in the next 30 years that we strive to eliminate health disparities and barriers to employment in the push for a world of true inclusion for all people with disabilities. I dream of a world of no ableism,

racism, negative attitudes, and stigma. Given that we are in the thick of a massive Coronavirus pandemic only intensifies the urgent need to make this happen at all levels of government. This pandemic is giving the non-disabled world an idea of what it’s like to be disabled.

The disability community is the world’s largest minority group and we have so much further to go in achieving equality and equity for all. Lastly, we need to shift the disability benefit systems and change attitudes among providers, family members, and employers on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. To support higher rates of employment for people with disabilities, we need to eliminate work disincentives in the Social Security benefits system and expand access to supported employment for those without access to home-community based services. Only after we have done these and many other things will we see a societal shift in attitudes about disability.

I hope that when this nightmarish pandemic concludes it will ignite an intense focus on addressing health disparities and attitudinal barriers faced by people with disabilities so that we can be valued for who we are and be given equal access to care, and be supported across all settings.

A woman in a wheelchair uses her laptop.

Photo by Marcus Aurelius from Pexels.

My Vision, Reflection for a New and Better Normal After COVID & Vision of the Next 30 Years of ADA

As we celebrate and reflect on 30 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act & 100 years of Vocational Rehabilitation during a national pandemic, it is especially important to use this downtime and crisis to dream of a new and better normal-one that is accessible, accomodating, and respects the intersectionality of all social justice movements. As Audrey Lorde once said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” We are all impacted by all social justice movements such as climate justice, economic justice, migrant justice, civil rights, women’s rights, workers, and disability rights. They are all interconnected with one another. In times like these, the disability community must join forces with non- disability groups and give space for people of color especially to step up and lead the way in achieving the dream of a fully inclusive diverse world where everyone is respected for who they are. This will help create a world where no one is discriminated against due to race, gender, disability, and so forth in all aspects of society.

Over the next 30 years with the ADA, I hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will provide a greater sense of urgency in the need to create a world that is more inclusive and accessible for all people with disabilities. Some of how to make this happen to includes:

1

Declaring      people      with      intellectual      and developmental                            disabilities          a                                    medically underserved population and requiring that all healthcare providers receive training on disability awareness, ableism, and racism. Doing so will eliminate poor health outcomes and hopefully increase life expectancy.

2

End the institutional bias in Medicaid by making access to Home-Community Based Waiver Supports an entitlement and additionally eliminating the waitlist along with the eligibility requirements such as I.Q. limits and the need to be in crisis to receive these services.

3

Invest in affordable and accessible housing that is built in areas with robust and accessible public transit access, as well as having this housing in areas that are well resourced which  makes  getting  essential  needs  (food, clothing, etc.) accessible.

4

Allow anyone with a disability to buy into Medicaid, Medicare, and Long Terms Services and Supports.

5

Embrace the social model of disability by training doctors and providers of long term services and supports on the needs, rights, and wants of people with disabilities.

6

Train all health, community agencies, and disability providers on cultural competence, implicit bias, ableism, classism, and racism to name a few.

7

Embrace flexible work arrangments that allow people with disabilities to work from home. COVID is proof that many jobs can be done from home. This is one of the easiest ways to eliminate transportation barriers and personal health risks during this and future pandemic outbreaks. The ability to work from home cuts down on commute time and the annoying headache of poor para-transit and public transit in general.

8

Vocational Rehabilitation can support person-centeredness  by  supporting  folks to achieve dignified work in their preferred interest area rather than sticking them in jobs they think are best for people with disabilities. This is especially important when it comes to making the case for Vocational Rehabilitation to pay for college classes for a degree to get a job in disability policy.

9

As a society, we must eliminate the stigma that comes with seeking help or support from the government and community alike.

10

Tackle poverty among the poor, disabled, senior, and other minority communities.

11

All disability and human service systems must  embrace  being  truly  person-centered.

12

We must move away from haves vs have Nots.

13

Disaster preparedness must include the needs of people with disabilities.

Overall, COVID-19 is giving us a painful lesson in that we are not immortal. If we all live long enough we will all join the disability “club.” On a personal level, when I see the reaction from the non-disabled world when it comes to routine disruption and anxiety, I hope they come away with more empathy and patience for all the challenges people like me have had to battle through.

COVID-19 is showing the world that we are not safe in segregated settings such as group homes, nursing homes, day programs, sheltered workshops, and institutions. We all must work harder to eliminate racism and ableism from all parts of society. COVID-19 is only going to make us speed up our state and federal push of moving from a system centered to being truly person-centered. Community is for all, and all means all. COVID-19 is telling us we need to live in the moment and not always be in a rush. COVID-19 is making it clear we need to change the way we interact with the climate. If not, we will have worse virus outbreaks. COVID-19 is also showing us that many jobs can be done from home when given access to technology and high-speed internet. Access to high-speed internet is another issue we must address if we are to close the digital accessibility divide. I hope that the new normal is more inclusive of diversity and disability than our old normal.