Disability Rights are Civil & Human Rights
Today, I want to share this informative post from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (@civilrightsorg).
Below you can explore some disability rights issues you need to know and care about. I’m also going to talk about some of these in depth. You can note my commentary in bold.
Supported Decision Making
People with disabilities can often be left powerless in guardianships and conservatorships, where another person is legally allowed to make decisions on their behalf.
Supported decision-making is an alternative to this all-or-nothing arrangement that gives dignity and independence back to people with disabilities who can - and should - be determining their own lives.
A more recent example of this happening was with Britney Spears, where she had been in a conservatorship for nearly 14 years, under her father, and ultimately was not allowed to make many decisions, yet she was bringing in millions of dollars of which she had no control over. In November 2021, the conservatorship finally ended.Dignity of risk
Every person has the right to take chances in life, like move to a new city, change careers, hike up that mountain, and open up a dating app. There is dignity in making your own choices in life.
For me, it’s a bit closer to home because sometimes I feel like I don’t have the freedom to up and move to just about anywhere. The reason being is because one day I will not be able to drive. One of the main reasons why I chose where we live now is because it was important to me to live close to public transportation. I live less than a 5 minute walk to the metro. Even though I’d love to be afforded the opportunity to move to a much LOWER cost of living city, the public transportation is something that keeps me in this high cost location.Ableism
Ableism is discrimination based on disability status. Disability is a natural part of the human experience.
This quote says it all: As Ola Ojewumi, founder & director of Project Ascend says, “Being disabled is the one group that you don’t have to be born into — you can become disabled at any time. So my fight for equality and disability justice should be your fight, because you may very well become a person with a disability one day.”Subminimum Wage
Section 14(c) of the FLSA allows people with disabilities to be paid less than the minimum wage.
I have no words.Infrastructure
All infrastructure must be accessible.
An example I like to use is that there are a lot of older buildings that are not necessarily accessible. But they’ll find loopholes by saying they’re accessible by having the person come in through the back. Sure that’s nice, but it’s not that great. It takes longer to get to the back, and it just makes people feel less than.Intersectionality
People of all backgrounds must be included in order to end ableism and systemic discrimination in all aspects of life.
The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.Voting rights
States across the country are introducing and passing legislation making it harder for people with disabilities to vote (i.e. limiting vote by mail, ballot drop boxes, early voting, etc)
People worry about voter fraud, but posing even more limitations make difficult.
Unfortunately, after more than three decades since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), there is still a TON of work to be done to make the world more inclusive and accessible for people with disabilities.
Always remember that disability rights are civil and human rights, too!
