Mary Ellen Dingley
December 3, 2020
This post was originally published on December 3rd, 2020. Some links and information may be outdated.
Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities! A United Nations’ day that “aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.”
The situation for people with disabilities includes many challenges, such as:
- Losing voting rights under guardianship and or not being able to access voting
- Long Medicaid waiver waiting lists, leaving people without the help they need
- Difficulty in accessing or affording health care
And on the top of the list of challenges right now is the impact of COVID-19 on the disability community. The pandemic is deepening and highlighting already existing inequalities for people with disabilities. As Luke, our Executive Director and Community Leader, wrote, “Health disparities are impacting the lives of people with intellectual disabilities across the world. L’Arche as a federation lives with this reality daily. The pandemic has brought this into focus for others to understand and listen to the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities.”
It was recently reported that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are 3 times as likely to die from COVID than the general public. There have been worries about rationing medical equipment, especially ventilators, in a way that discriminates against people with disabilities.
While hospitals and nursing homes have received extra funding and essential worker status, the support has been mixed for organizations supporting people with disabilities. It took months of advocacy to even gain the initial promise of aid.
Advocacy is Key
Along with advocating around many issues facing people with disabilities and their supporters, there is an urgent need to advocate for vaccine accessibility. Will people with disabilities and those that support them be prioritized? Right now that seems uncertain – unless we advocate. Edit: every core member has been vaccinated! You can read about how we successfully advocated for that here.
So what can we do to support the disability community via advocacy?
– Sign up for state or local advocacy organizations newsletters and alerts so you’ll know of advocacy opportunities as they arise. Follow their advice for how to advocate! A few to check out:
– Learn from people with disabilities by watching the AS I AM video series and sharing and discussing with your friends.
– Follow people with disabilities and their organizations on social media – some suggestions are:
- Chris Nicik, 1st person with Down Syndrome to complete an Ironman
- Disability Rights movement leader Judy Heumann
- Special Olympics
- The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network
- Open Future Learning
- John’s Crazy Socks