Marta
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>The Full Integration of People with Disabilities Into All Aspects of Life
>is Fundamental To Creating A Just Society<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />
>
>The struggle for disability rights is not a question of us and them. It is
>not a question of a charitable government taking pity on lesser human
>beings. It is not a question of throwing money at an issue and hoping for
>a quick fix. It is a question of recognizing that ALL of us deserve a just
>society and that the ALL includes persons with disabilities. It is a
>question of recognizing that the same corporate domination that harms the
>earth, robs citizens of their constitutional right to equal participation
>in government, and endangers the health and well being of our children,
>limits the potential of people with disabilities and in turn limits us
>all. It is a question of recognizing that guaranteeing the rights of
>people with disabilities guarantees all citizens, all disadvantaged
>groups, all responsible businesses, the many opportunities of growth,
>fulfillment and worthwhile public endeavor that the United States can
offer.
>
>The Americans With Disabilities Act is now 10 years old but it has only
>begun to correct the fears that have kept people with disabilities in
>isolation since the beginning of history. Disabled people are still too
>often refused access to health care, transportation, school, housing and
>jobs. Disabled women and people of color are hit especially hard. By
>eliminating each and every form of discrimination, we can create the just
>society to which we aspire a society whose fairness inspires the
>confidence that will enable Americans from every sector to reach their
>full potential.
>
>EMPLOYERS NEED THE SUPPORT OF A JUST AND CIVIL SOCIETY
>
> To illustrate the universality of disability rights n to take
> disability rights issues out of the disability ghetto where we usually
> find them n it is instructive to look at how a fully integrated society
> would benefit employers, both public and private. Mistakenly, employers
> often see their interests as juxtaposed AGAINST those of persons with
> disabilities. Nothing could be further from the truth. Especially in this
> day of work force shortages we as a society can not afford to exclude an
> entire group of people simply because of the manner in which they do or
> do not move their legs, use their eyes, or process information.
>
> Employers need all available expertise and creativity. Thanks to the
> integration of students with disabilities into our public schools over
> the past 26 years, there is now a rising swell of highly trained
> graduates with significant disabilities.
>
>Employers who have taken full advantage of this pool of talent among them
>IBM and NASA have set very high expectations for their disabled employees,
>while exposing them to the rigors of fast-paced mentoring programs. The
>employees have in most cases exceeded the expectations of their employers,
>and thus put the moderate costs of work site and job task modification in
>perspective these costs are seen as a normal and reasonable cost of doing
>business.
>
>Hiring disabled applicants is a good start, but an employer needs the
>support of a just and civil society backed up by the ADA to be sure that
>their new employee has a good chance of succeeding on the job. Every
>neighborhood near each site of the employer must have wheelchair
>accessible housing and public transportation in place. The
>telecommunication system including the Internet must be usable by
>employees with every type of disability. Airlines, trains, and buses must
>accommodate business travelers with disabilities anywhere promptly.
>
>Many employers provide local transport with a variety of trucks and vans,
>none of which is easily or safely usable by a wheelchair rider. Low-floor
>minivans are available, with gently sloped entry ramps and nearly a foot
>of extra headroom giving easy entry for heavy deliveries. Unfortunately
>the lowering of the floor is done after the minivan is manufactured,
>adding more than 50% to the cost of the van. A large enough order from
>the postal service easily justified to save the backs of postal workers
>could result in the original manufacture of low-floor minivans for nearly
>the same price as a standard minivan. Once these vans became available at
>a lower cost they could provide transportation to many wheelchair riders,
>taxi and delivery services.
>
>People with disabilities need a wide variety of other equipment to get
>around and to function effectively, but wheelchairs and much other
>adaptive equipment are priced so high that they are often unavailable to
>the people who need them most.
>
>The wheelchair industry, controlled by a virtual monopoly of one maker of
>poor-quality chairs for thirty years, was opened up to dozens of new
>competitors by a Justice Department antitrust settlement in 1979. With
>new competition, prices dropped to one-half of what they had been while
>the chairs became much better. But recent swallowing of many of these
>small companies by one large company threatens to return the market to its
>former monopoly status.
>
>As employees with disabilities adapt to the changing schedules, locations,
>and other needs of their employers, they in turn will need the support of
>a well-developed civil society. The goal of most workers, disabled or not,
>is to create a seamless web of support for their families. If they worry
>about health or safety, the worker s productivity suffers. Available
>child care, nearby and in synch with the schedules of the employer, must
>be physically accessible either to a disabled parent or to a disabled
child.
>
>In-home extended care for elderly family members can be vastly safer and
>less expensive than nursing homes; the lessened worry can boost the
>employee s productivity. Last year the Olmstead decision of the U.S.
>Supreme Court stated that a person receiving long term care should receive
>it in the least restrictive setting appropriate. The proposed bill
>MiCASSA [Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act HR 4416
>Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)] will take funds away from nursing homes and make
>them available for in-home care. I strongly support MiCASSA.
>
>Health care is paramount to the care of an extended family, but many
>employers offer no health insurance. High prices and the exclusion of
>pre-existing conditions make adequate insurance unavailable to many people
>with disabilities. Central to building a civilized society in the U.S. is
>the provision of Universal and Accessible Health Care.
>
>Contact with an Independent Living Center, run by disabled people with
>years of experience in solving the day-to-day puzzles of living well with
>a disability, could be invaluable. State-of-the-art adaptive equipment
>developed in the network of Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers,
>under the direction and consultation of people with disabilities, could be
>made available to the employee.
>
>Group health insurance must remain available and affordable to employers
>that hire disabled persons. Individual health coverage must also remain
>in effect for the disabled employee during all periods of unemployment;
>only Universal Health Care could protect against the catastrophes that
>occur during gaps in coverage.
>
>Adult education facilities for advanced training must be physically
>accessible and ready to accommodate students who are blind or deaf
>.
>
>A SPECIFIC PROGRAM: IN THE SHORT TERM
>
>Enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act and lead the U.S. by example
>in the full integration of persons with disabilities into all public
programs
>
>Complete the full integration of students with disabilities into all
>schools, public and private. Decreased class size will help achieve this
goal.
>
>Monitor and enforce the full integration of disabled employees into the
>workplace
>
>Rewrite the Uniform Building Code to require all new homes to be visitable
>and adaptable for disability access. This can be achieved at very little
>cost on new construction.
>
>Speed up the conversion of all over-the-road buses, light rail, and
>airplanes for disability access
>
>Monitor the wheelchair and medical device industries to prevent
>anti-competitive practices and to prevent the over-pricing and lack of
>technical progress that result from monopolization
>
>Fund Child Care for all lower income workers
>
>Fund In-Home Extended Care by passing MICASSA; help the states in every
>way possible to carry out the directive of the Olmstead decision to
>provide extended care in the least restrictive setting. This is cheaper
>than institutionalized nursing care.
>
>Increase support for Independent Living Centers that are run by disabled
>people in decision-making roles
>
>Increase support for Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers that are
>run by disabled people in decision-making roles
>
>Contract with auto makers to manufacture Low-Floor Minivans for postal and
>fleet use, so that the vans become widely available for use by persons
>with disabilities at low cost.
>
>Every person, disabled or not, has the need to travel freely without the
>risk and encumbrance of an automobile. Sometimes it s just because the
>darn Chevy broke down again. If public transit is available but
>inaccessible, each one of us has the right not to scuttle the trip just
>because one of our friends or family has a disability. Our freedom to
>live, our liberty to pursue happiness is dependent on mobility. What about
>the scores of thousands of us who can never, ever drive a car? A civil
>society owes its citizens some alternative to that Chevy.
>
>The problem in the vast majority of cases is that no bus is available -
>buses don't come where you are or go where you need to go. The ideal
>solution for everybody is more and better modern public transit. New buses
>could be comfortable, low floor, easy to enter buses with ramps to the
>doors of the lowest models...buses to every neighborhood at every
>reasonable hour, coupled with urban development policy that fights the
>automobile-driven suburban sprawl and rebuilds the cities for better
living.
>
>
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--
Marta Russell
author
Los Angeles, CA
Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract
http://www.commoncouragepress.com/russell_ramps.html
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