The COVID-19 Effect

The impact of pandemic on People with Disabilities — now and next

By Jessica Mayer : Originally Published with Thomas Leland

When the pandemic started here in the New York City, I worried intensely about getting the virus. Would I have to go to the hospital? Would the hospital deem my life worthy of a ventilator? Would I be able to speak for myself? Would I be treated fairly? Would I have been appropriately taken care of? Nobody was allowed to have family members or anybody else with them at the hospital, so who would speak, advocate, and possibly fight for me?

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Most everyone worried about this, but for People with Disabilities, like me, these worries have an additionally harsh and traumatizing dimension. We already face significant challenges; Covid-19 has aggravated them, and yet, people do not seem to notice.

This becomes acute in hospital settings. People who are deaf often do not finding sign language interpreters in hospital situations even when they don’t have Covid, because visitation in hospitals is not allowed right now. People who are blind have problems communicating and reading information, particularly since people are in such a hurry that they cannot read it to them. People with intellectual disabilities are confused by what’s going on. An advocate may not be allowed to go into a hospital to visit somebody with a disability.

Concern and support for People with Disabilities is missing also in unavoidable situations such as shopping for groceries and other essentials. Already a problem, I found myself wondering if I, as a person in a high-risk category, could afford to venture out? But there are no volunteers who go shopping for People with Disabilities, and having your food delivered through stores often makes it unaffordable.

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the profound disparities, social inequities and blind spots that People with Disabilities face. We have been an afterthought at best.

And now that the United States and other economies are opening up their economy to go “back to normal” — despite the fact that the risk of COVID-19 is neither reduced and vaccines or reliable treatments are not (yet) available — my level of anxiety is only rising. In this decision to go “back to normal”, are we also implicitly answering the question of who’s worthy of saving and who isn’t? Whose life do we value and why? When we open up without concern and consideration for the most vulnerable we send a clear message to those that have been through a lot already. I am getting the message once again that People with Disabilities are not worth saving and their lives not as valuable as other’s.

I for one am tired of being an afterthought and upset at being put in the “back of the line” again. We have been in the back of the line for jobs, healthcare, and housing. If going “back to normal” means that People with Disabilities are being treated the same way they were before, then I don’t want to go back to normal.

What makes me hopeful is the growing sense that I am not alone with this sentiment. It is encouraging to see the impressive and diverse groundswell that do not want to go back to the normal of systemic racism, in the US and abroad. My hope is that this groundswell to restore dignity and respect will become a tidal wave and include People with Disabilities. That needs to mean that:

· Healthcare becomes a right, because People with Disability depend on it;

· Minimum wage becomes a living wage, because too frequently People with Disabilities are reliant on minimum wage jobs;

· Access to employment and career opportunities is equitable; because People with Disabilities are too often excluded from corporate workplaces despite their capabilities and competence;

· Accessibility for People with Disabilities becomes the norm; because too often it isn’t.

If this becomes our intention, the face mask is a great symbol for what might be next. We wear a face mask, not because it protects us, but because it protects others. Concern for the safety and dignity of others becomes the pervasive attitude, intentionality, and source of pride in our society. The face mask can indeed powerfully signal that the freedom and equity of others matters.

And, there are indications that the work from home during the lockdown has shifted attitudes and openness. People with disabilities tend to be more flexible and can work anywhere. Many people with disabilities who have trouble getting out in snow storms were working from home before the pandemic. Now everybody is working from home. We have led the way in being creative thinkers when it comes to how work gets done. Now corporate America has to let people work from home. This pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the way we work; and that includes the way we include, enable, engage, and embed People with Disabilities.

COVID pandemic has exposed holes and blind spot in our society. It has galvanized urgent desire to address them … and hopefully not in a way where People with Disabilities will be relegated to the back of the social justice line.

My disability has made me keenly aware of profound inequities, injustices and their potentially devastating impact. We must have an evolution of the spirit where we take each other into account and my responsibility to you as a human becomes part of my freedom. Let’s all help change each other’s reality for the better!

If you would like to learn more about the experiences of People with Disabilities, join us for a live webinar where I will be moderating a panel of experts in the field as we discuss the 30th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act.

Register here: pwdinclusiveness.com