Disability Futures

The Kennedy Center's acclaimed production of Side Show, about conjoined sisters at the circus, is rumored to be mulling a move to Broadway. The next season of American Horror Story will, similarly, be about a freak show. And in recent months there has been a proliferation of representations of disability on stage and screen. Consider just the most popular:

• The heartthrob amputee (Ansel Elgort) at the center of a teenage love story in the smash movie The Fault in Our Stars
• The correctional officer with an amputation (Matt McGorry) in love with a prisoner in the Netflix hit Orange Is the New Black
• A woman with a disfiguring facial scar (Sutton Foster) on a journey to be healed in the Tony-nominated Broadway musical Violet
• The Cripple of Inishman (Daniel Radcliffe) in the acclaimed Broadway play of the same name

What do all these characters have in common? They are played by actors who are not disabled in real life.

Key points

• Poverty among disabled people is consistently underestimated. This study uses two different adjustments, each finding at least a ‘missing million’ of people in poverty in households with a disabled person.

• Making society less disabling will reduce poverty among disabled people. Possible ways of doing this include improving affordability and accessibility of transport and housing, developing standards for consumer devices, stopping legal discrimination, better use of technology, and making markets for assistive technologies work more effectively.

• Disabled people are less likely to be working and more likely to be low paid. There are four main ways that this could be tackled:
  • • The benefits system: simply removing people from benefits cannot be seen as a sign of success. Rather, changes are needed so that the system doesn’t stop people from being able to work; including flexible, portable benefits are needed that allow people to move to areas where there are more (and more suitable) jobs.
    • Specialist programmes can help people return-to-work when they include personalisation rather than sharp targets. Intensive in-work support with employer subsidies can make a difference.
    • Early intervention can help, including better workplace practices and responsive health systems, as well as a healthy psychosocial work environment.
    • Finally, employers are critical – many disabled people simply face limited opportunities. There are some good managers, yet a common perception that employing disabled people involves extra costs, and a limit to ‘reasonable’ adjustments. Stronger actions may therefore be necessary, including regulation and incentives.

We preserve our past by partnering with those who work to collect, promote, and exhibit materials from the disability rights movement.

We celebrate our present by partnering with those who work to honor the milestones and accomplishments of the disability rights movement, including the 25th anniversary of passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 2015.

We educate our future by partnering with those who work to raise awareness of the history, contributions, and issues still facing people with disabilities, developing our next generation of advocates. 

Right now, I want to focus on a strategy being used by pro-assisted suicide advocates in the UK.   Very aware that one major criticism of legalization of assisted suicide is expansion or “slippery slope” into making nonterminally ill, old and disabled people targets of the legislation.  Naturally, this has meant that advocates try to steer clear of discussing the Benelux countries, which have embraced the euthanasia of nonterminally ill people, people with depression, old people who say they’re tired of living and the euthanasia of “severely disabled” infants – in the Netherlands, children with Spina Bifida have been the main target of medical killing according to reports.  And of course most people are aware of the group Dignitas in Switzerland, whose eligibility criteria involves mostly the ability to pay hefty fees rather than any concern about the medical diagnosis of an individual.

The first move to build curb cuts on Berkeley sidewalks came out of a coincidence of 1960s politics. In 1969, Berkeley erupted in riots over the University's plans to build on an untended lot near campus that functioned as a "People's Park." After riots that brought the National Guard to town, the City renovated the Telegraph Avenue business district, widening sidewalks in a gesture towards local street life. In keeping with a brand new building code, these renovations included wide, flat curb "ramps" positioned at the corner of the sidewalk.

For a second round of curb renovations, the disabled community of Berkeley took an active design role, mapping more than 100 sites for cuts along Telegraph south of campus, and along Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley. They also offered a new design: a steep, sharp cut set outside of the main pedestrian intersection. These new cuts were steep for wheelchair users, but represented a compromise for a range of pedestrian needs—foreshadowing the "universal" ideal of later planning and design projects.

Of the world's 51.2 million people displaced by conflict and persecution, an astonishing 7.7 million are persons with disabilities. While many of their disabilities are longstanding, many are new, like Zeinah's, the result of war-related violence.

Despite progress, persons with disabilities remain among the most hidden and neglected of all displaced people. They are excluded from or unable to access most aid programs because of physical and social barriers or because of negative attitudes and biases. They are often not identified when aid agencies and organizations collect data and assess needs during and after a humanitarian disaster. They are more likely to be forgotten when health and support services are provided.

Being displaced can exacerbate refugees with disabilities' isolation. This increases their vulnerability to a variety of protection concerns -- such as violence, abuse and exploitation -- particularly for women and children. Indeed, persons with disabilities are three times more likely to be victims of rape and other physical and sexual abuse.

At issue in the California case is access to the ballot box for adults who enter so-called limited conservatorships, legal arrangements in which parents or guardians assume the right to make certain decisions for people who lack the ability to manage their financial and medical affairs. In the course of taking that step in court, voting rights are routinely voided, according to the advocacy group.

California has over 40,000 such cases, and those covered by the arrangements usually live with their families or in group homes. A recent sample of 61 cases by the advocacy group in Los Angeles County found that 90 percent of the people covered by limited conservatorships had been disqualified from voting.

The complaint says judges in Los Angeles Superior Court use literacy tests to determine if adults in limited conservatorships should have voting rights, a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. It also says that judges and court-appointed attorneys violate federal laws that allow people with disabilities to have assistance to complete voter-registration forms and cast ballots.

A state audit says the Department of Human Services has fallen short in its job of protecting vulnerable adults under the agency’s care from abuse.

The report from Auditor General Doug Ringler says the adult protective services division of DHS sometimes denied requests for investigations of suspected adult abuse when grounds for an investigation appeared to exist.

For example, it denied an investigation in which the source said an elderly adult was being financially exploited by the adult’s daughter, who was also the legal guardian. The source said the daughter managed her mother’s bank account and had not paid for nursing home care for three months, owing $5,000. Instead of investigating, the agency sent the daughter a letter, the report said.

Audit Report File (PDF): http://goo.gl/fMpnlS

New requirements take effect today for business and organizations that hire sign language interpreters in Michigan, creating different levels of qualifications for specific types of communication.

The changes specify interpreters with certain skill sets for different types of communications in schools, hospitals, courts, and other offices.

The changes also are meant to make it easier to file complaints and get them investigated.

Organizations who hire interpreters “may no longer meet the qualifications required to work in that setting,” said Leslee Fritz, deputy director of the department. “So what you’ve always done prior to today may no longer be allowed under these rules.”

The highest level requirement, is for communication that may be complex and the consequences of miscommunication could be life altering, including in legal communication and forensic psychiatric evaluations.

Lower level requirements apply to interpreters for workshops, meetings, job training and political events. Interpreters are ranked through a standardized test.