I Have Rights, Right?

It seems like every day there is some new information about the disabled community. Ironically, for years we have gone unseen and unheard, and now we can’t seem to stay out of the news. I find myself more and more every day saying, “I have rights, right?

I talked about the Olmstead Act last month, but now we must talk about the “new norm” that changing the Olmstead Act will and has created.

Every day gets scarier; more cuts to Medicaid leave me wondering things I wouldn’t have had to worry about before, like: where would I go if I could no longer get supports to live here in my own home? Will I have to get rid of my dog? How will I get around or function without supports? Will I ever be able to see my family again? These are things no one should have to worry about, but thanks to medicaid cuts and rolling back the Olmstead Act. This means that states no longer have the funding to take care of people with disabilities in the community. So our government is trying to roll us back into institutions. A horrific time when society allowed abuse and fear to run rampant.

The thing that doesn’t make the most sense to me is how people can’t see the forest through the trees! Let’s start with the basic knowledge that at any minute anyone could become disabled. You get hit by a drunk driver, and now you’re paralyzed, or you had a stroke and can no longer talk, or you woke up with some kind of illness that caused you to become blind (watch 23 Blast, it’s a true story). The point being that not every disabled person was born with a disability. Which means you will never have enough “homes” for the disabled community because every day someone, somewhere becomes or is born with a disability.

The real part that baffles me is: how our government wants to create jobs but actually is gutting one of the biggest fields of work. And the lack of staff is what causes places like Rome Developmental Center and Willowbrook to become a “snake pit,” as Robert F. Kennedy said. There are millions of Direct Support Staff, home health care aides, group home managers, and thousands of other positions that will put Americans out of work. That also means more families will have to rely on systems such as food stamps to provide for themselves. Until that gets gutted too.

Not only that, but studies have shown that this type of housing (institutions) is more expensive to run than to have people live as they are. So the very thing our Government is saying needs to happen to keep our country up and running is what is going to drag us down further.

And our administration knows that, which means this isn’t about money at all! It’s about us (people with disabilities) being seen as a blemish on society. But we aren’t a blemish; if anything, we are a beauty mark! Something that makes us unique, beautiful, and inviting.

Many other countries help take care of their disabled and elderly as a way of respect, so why can’t we?