dang. we all got ’em. good news: we can work on this.
B is for biases. What do you think when you think disability? What does the person look like? How do they act? What do they need? Should you be the one to decide any of that?
We all have biases but it’s not anyone else’s responsibility to change your biases but you. That may seem like a challenge but here’s what I’d like you to think about: Who can change your mind but you? No matter how much you read and research, it is still up to you to probe those biases for inaccuracies.
B is for benefits. When you think of benefits, what do you think? Health insurance, dental insurance, flexible work hours? All of these are benefits that help out people with disabilities. I used to work for a 22,000 person company. For big companies like that, they go for the best benefits for most people. Because the workforce is primarily made up of people who are not disabled, their benefits guaranteed that I would spend more than $15k every year AFTER copays, deductibles, and what I paid out of my paycheck pre-tax. At the end of two years, I had $30k on my credit cards solely from medical bills. Three years later, I’m still hovering around $20k in credit card debt from medical bills.
One other thing to keep in mind about benefits is that people with disabilities who make more than $17,000 per year are ineligible for benefits. Recently, this was updated to include $50 additional dollars per month so now people with disabilities can be at the poverty line instead of having to have income below the poverty line, which is still so far from being able to actually afford your accessibility needs. I still have things I cannot afford for my medical care that I am saving up to be able to afford that aren’t covered by insurance.
For more on disability benefits and why people with disabilities cannot survive on those alone, check out this article from The Mighty: The Stigma of Living on Disability Benefits and Government Assistance.
P.S. if you’re looking for a movie to watch here are three: Crip Camp (Netflix), Sound of Metal (Amazon Prime), and CODA (Apple TV). All three are highly regarded by many folks in the disability community.