About one in four Americans has some form of disability, making them more vulnerable to Covid-19 BY ELIZABETH KOH, STAFF WRITER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Published: April 20, 2020) Damian Gregory worries about the things that have quickly become normal to worry about in the coronavirus era: Is there Clorox at the grocery store this […]
By ANDREW PULRANG, CONTRIBUTOR, FORBES.com (Published March 8, 2020) The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has everyone spooked, and hopefully, taking steps to control the outbreak and prepare to get through whatever may come of it. But one group faces additional risks and consequences, as well as anxieties: people with disabilities and or chronic illnesses. Here are […]
By ELIZABETH KOH, HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU (Published September 24, 2019) For almost every waking hour of his day, 33-year-old Jason Hahr needs someone else to do what his own body cannot. Hahr has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he needs a personal care assistant to physically help him perform the basic activities of daily […]
By RACHEL KNOWLES, THE NEW YORK TIMES (Published Sept. 5, 2019 Updated Sept. 6, 2019, 11:50 a.m. ET) NASSAU, the Bahamas — The roof had blown clean off. Outside, the ocean surged, swallowing the land. Brent Lowe knew he had to escape — and take his 24-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy and can’t walk, […]
By JESSIE BALMERT, CINCINATTI ENQUIRER (Published: August 20, 2019) COLUMBUS —Ryan Dougherty works at a Canton hospital collecting sharps from needles and incinerating them. For this work, Dougherty earns $13.31 an hour. But the direct support professionals who help Dougherty, who has a developmental disability, get to work and achieve his professional goals receive $11.12 an hour. […]
By MARTHA STODDARD, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD (August 10, 2019)–Erin Phillips has made great strides in the three years since moving out of her parents’ home. The 31-year-old has learned how to do her laundry entirely on her own. She takes showers with only a little nudging. She cleans her own bedroom and bathroom. That’s on top […]
By PETER JAMISON, THE WASHINGTON POST (JULY 25, 2019)–Backlash intensified this week to the D.C. government’s effort to end a 14-year-old partnership with Georgetown University that provides a range of medical and social services for people with disabilities. The District’s Department on Disability Services has announced that it will end its contract with Georgetown in […]
Not one 2020 candidate has a website that is accessible to the blind By S.E. SMITH, VOX The first stop to reaching disabled voters is making sure they can access your policy proposals. The growing list of presidential candidates has something in common beyond their Oval Office aspirations: None of them think disabled people should […]
The American political class has become increasingly diverse in recent years, but people with disabilities remain extremely underrepresented — apart from a few notable politicians, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a paraplegic, and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs in a grenade attack while serving in Iraq. By ABIGAIL ABRAMS, TIME […]
ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) — An autistic man walks out of a store without paying for a toy he picked up. He’s followed by a storekeeper demanding he come back inside. The situation quickly escalates, and police are called. Officers arrive, their patrol car’s lights flashing and sirens blaring, to find the man in the […]
