Presidential Candidates Still Largely Unresponsive to The Disability Community's Needs

 We are less than two weeks away from the 2024 presidential election. Both campaigns are making their final pushes for votes because they are aware that this election may come down to just a few thousand votes. However, there is one group of people that both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have not paid much attention to people with disabilities.

 

In this instance, people with disabilities are without a voice. In an article written for Disability Scoop written by Michelle Diament earlier this month, she notes that there are      40,200,000. People with disabilities who are eligible to vote. She also pointed out that if people were counted based on disability, the number of eligible voters would outnumber the combined total number of eligible black and Hispanic voters. The article also points out that disability organizations have not received responses to their questionnaires. As noted in the article, Lisa Schur, the co-director of the Rutgers Program for Disability Research, is quoted saying, “People with disabilities are the sleeping tiger in American politics,” additionally she says, “They represent a large and growing portion of the electorate, and they could make a critical difference in the outcome of this and future elections.”, If you agree with this statement as I do. You are left wondering why a large portion of society overlooks people with disabilities.

 

I believe the advantage of the above question can be found in the idea that even today, people with disabilities are still not seen as important members of society. Even though we are in the year 2024, people still hold archaic and primitive views about people with disabilities. Don’t believe me, consider this: there is still such a thing as “subminimum wage” for people with disabilities. This means that it is legally acceptable to pay people with disabilities less than the federally mandated minimum wage of 15 dollars an hour, which often translates into 1 2 3 dollars an hour. In fact, only Vice President Harris has even mentioned this issue on our website. While this is a good thing, Harris and Trump are noticeably silent on other issues important to the disability community.

 

Another key issue for people with developmental disabilities like myself is our desire for Medicare to cover home and community-based services along with Medicaid. Right now, I am lucky enough to qualify for both programs; however, Medicaid is the only one that pays any portion of my support costs. To cover the rest of what is supported, he is forced to rely on the help of friends and family. For example, I receive 122 hours of care that the state covers a week. Unfortunately, since there are 168 hours a week, I am left to cover the rest. Circumstances have allowed me to do so, but something could change at any time.

 

I am not saying I have all the answers. However, if people with disabilities are given the proper sports and treated as important, it would not only improve our lives but the lives of those around us and perhaps we would then be able to use our gifts to make the world a truly better and more inclusive place for all.

 

Until next time, your friendly neighborhood super advocate,

Jay 

Resource: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2024/10/17/as-election-nears-presidential-candidates-largely-mum-on-disability-issues/31117/