ADA30 Spotlight - Nicole LeBlanc

July 9, 2020

This year the Disability Community will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act that was signed into law on July 1990 by President George HW Bush. Upon signing this historic piece of bipartisan legislation he is quoted saying" Let the Shameful Walls of Finally Come Tumbling down" This is by far one of my favorite quotes on the successes disability rights activists and their allies have had in the fight for "True Inclusion in all aspects of community life. Many of the dreams and goals of the ADA are at the heart of creating a system of care that is "Truly Person-Centered" .

While the ADA has made advancements in things like physical accessibility, and community integration, However two areas where we as a society continue to fall short in is Integrated employment for adults with developmental disabilities and access to high quality healthcare that meets our needs in a person-centered way. Several studies show people with disabilities are a Medically Under-served population. We often have higher cost and worse health outcomes than the general population. Being declared a MUP By the CDC or congress could allow of more training of medical providers, higher rate of pay for doctors provide care to us and more focus on prevention and the social determinants of health. DSP's are the ones best positioned to support us in achieving better outcomes. It is my hope that the next thirty years that we strive to eliminate health disparities and barriers to employment in the push for a world of true inclusion for all people with disabilities. I dream of a world of no ableism, racism, negative attitudes and stigma. Given that we are in the thick of a massive Corona virus pandemic only intensifies the urgent need to make this happen at all levels of government. This pandemic is defiantly giving the non-disabled world an idea of what its like to be disabled.

The Disability Community is the world's largest minority group and we have so much further to go in achieving equality and equity for all. Lastly we need to shift the disability benefit system and change attitudes among providers, family members and employers on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. To support higher rates of employment for people with disabilities we need to eliminate work disincentives in the Social Security benefit system and expand access to supported employment for those without access to home-community based services. Only after we have done these and many other things will we see a societal shift in attitudes about disability.

It is my hope that when this nightmarish pandemic it will ignite an intense focus on addressing health disparities and attitudinal barriers faced by people with disabilities so that we can be valued for who we are and be given equal access to care, and support across all settings.

LEAD ON, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADA.