3 Disability Barriers & How to Begin Making the Change

I remember being asked in 2013 at a strategy meeting for the MI Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) about my hopes for progress the disability community could achieve by the year 2020.

A way to think about equity

“Robin, with the hindsight that we will have after 30 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), what would be your version of a 2020 vision?”

I recall going on about foreseeing changes to transportation, employment, housing, and more issues. However, I don’t recall saying anything in particular about how to make a change.

Here we find ourselves in the year 2020 celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ADA, and as I reflect on that strategy meeting, I’m unsure where to pinpoint how far we’ve come. I know our country has made progress, but certainly not as much as I had thought we could have achieved.

So where should the disability community, legislators, and service organizations like the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America focus their attention before the next big anniversary of disability civil rights law? And once we’ve aligned our sights, how do we create change?

Employment

As a person with a disability (PwD), I have experienced my fair share of the inequitable opportunities for a wheelchair user in the job market. I majored in theatre arts at Eastern Michigan University, and what I felt every time I rolled into an audition is exactly what I feel when I roll into an interview.

I expect to be judged based on my appearance and the way I move when I am auditioning for a specific role, however, those traits won’t tell someone very much if I am interviewing for a job where my skills are top priority.

Check out this short YouTube video from an episode of Michigan’s A Wider World about employment and disability. https://youtu.be/YXOO7wOGTkg

Where Change Can Begin:

“According to an official press release, House Bills 5150 and 5151 are meant to open up greater employment opportunities for Michiganders with disabilities. The bipartisan package would allow employers to apply for up to $1,000 to make reasonable accommodations for employees.”– https://wkzo.com/2019/10/23/bipartisan-legislation-introduced-to-support-new-employees-with-disabilities/950257/

Support House Bills 5150 and 5151 before the Michigan Congress to give incentive to employers to hire and provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities.

Transportation

Quality public transit is usually in more urban areas. These areas commonly have a higher priced real estate market than surrounding rural areas. They also can provide better access for a PwD to achieve a higher quality of life and be a contributing member of society.

Accessible transportation is by and far a local/regional issue. I was the go to on the SILC when discussing transportation issues and proposed improvements; it was nearly impossible to discuss anything on a statewide basis that might improve systems. However, there might be changes coming from progress with self-driving vehicles.

Where Change Can Begin:

Read up on the plan for a Regional Transportation Authority for Southeast Michigan. Their planning board meets once a month for public meetings to stay informed on current efforts and plans. Be sure to vote; it will be on the ballot again soon!

Stay in communication with MPVA to learn about current advocacy efforts and transportation for disabled veterans and more. Be sure to communicate your concerns about accessible public transit and paratransit options for your community with your MI State House Representatives and State Senators. You can search for them here.

Housing

When I took my first job at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, I spent months combing through every apartment listing that included words like “accessible”, “barrier free” or “wheelchair friendly”. However, with limited apccessible housing options, I was lucky enough to trip into a workable situation!

I was told by experts and housing employees that wheelchair accessible (barrier-free is what a wheelchair user who has limited mobility is looking for) apartments go fast because cities that have quality access for PwDs–transportation, healthcare, social services–are limited, so accessible housing is hard to come by.

Often when someone finds such an apartment, especially if it is affordable, they won’t let it go for the whole of their lives. I hated the thought that I had to wait for someone to die to get an accessible and affordable apartment in the area where I had a job opportunity.

Where change can begin: The Paralyzed Veterans of America had a legislative win earlier this year when a program that would provide more funds for home modifications to disabled veterans was passed by both the US House and Senate.

It is now time to make sure that similar improvements happen in the state of Michigan for all people with disabilities. Please support the HB 4813, The Inclusive Home Design Act, which would give tax credits for purchases or modifications to make a home more accessible.

In August of last year the bill was placed in the Finance Committee of the MI Senate and Tax Policy Committee of the House.

Contact your MI Congressman and Congresswoman to make sure this important bill is moved out of committee and receives a vote with support.

With the intersectionality of many vital aspects of a PwD’s life, it is difficult to find all that are needed and equally difficult to sacrifice any one. People with disabilities and members of the general public must become advocates sharing a collective voice for access to opportunities like these.

It is said that the disability community is the only minority group that anyone can join at any point in their lives. Let each of us as Michiganders speak up to improve the access to opportunity for ALL in our communities so that when your mother or father, brother or sister, you or I need a clear path to access opportunity, that path has already been laid with the hindsight of 2020.