I don’t want to ‘fix’ my disability. I want an even playing field

I have a developmental disability, ADHD, but no one would ever know unless I share that information. My invisibility makes disability skeptics and critics shockingly open about their bigotry.

A former boss genuinely thought the whole point of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was to ensure people in wheelchairs could apply for jobs, not provide individual workplace accommodations. Long before the current administration was in office, the owner of a salon told me she’d never hire anyone with a disability because she thought accommodations were a scam to increase her small business expenses.

Lest you think the current harsh commentary of people with disabilities lies only on one side of the aisle, even my progressive family members are quietly ideologically aligned with today’s attacks on the disability community.

So when I read headlines about how the disability community is to blame for a plane crash or how some of us “should just die,” I’m not surprised.  Instead, I look at what is causing such unfounded panic.

First, there are over 40 million of us with disabilities, and a bulk of them are over the age of 75.  That’s a lot of people to accommodate in individualized ways, so perhaps such a task is too daunting, but we’re not asking for the impossible.

Second, there is a real fear that individualized accommodations could lead to an unfair advantage.  What those complaints fail to acknowledge is that people with disabilities already begin with a significant disadvantage by merely having a disability. The world we live in was designed for neurotypical, able-bodied people and no one else.

Third, the recent alarm is partially based on the idea that disability accommodations create reliance on external assistance while simultaneously diminishing the need for personal responsibility. Yes, we do rely on external assistance to be healthy and productive every day, in the same way a person requires glasses to see properly or a person with diabetes needs insulin. Knowing your disability rights and asking for legally mandated accommodations is the epitome of personal responsibility and not letting a disability impede daily life.

Rather than even a lopsided playing field, critics would rather “fix” us so we can conform to a neurotypical world or risk shutting us out altogether.  (Whipping the ADHD out of children is one of the latest suggestions.  I have firsthand experience that this method doesn’t work.)

But I don’t want to be “fixed” because I am not deficient, ashamed or broken. People with disabilities are different, not better or worse or the same. What we want are basic human rights and dignity that include: the ability to live up to our potential; fairly compete with our peers; be a productive and contributing member to society; and the opportunity to fully participate in everything life has to offer.

A person living with paralysis from the waist down will never be able to walk up a flight of stairs in the same way I will never be an organized, focused student.  These behaviors are a matter of skill, not will.  If you think having a disability is a coveted status, try living with one every day in this country.  Live long enough and you eventually will.