Hope & Despair

I think I’ve recovered from my Tiny Tim moment yesterday, but it got me thinking about politicians and disability issues. In my own experience, most politicians are clueless about the disability community and how to interact with them. There are some exceptions: Paul Wellstone was a respected figure in disability circles. So is Senator Jeffords. And Clinton demonstrated remarkable ease around people with disabilities. But most politicians, Republican, Democrat, whatever, probably give little thought to issues like accessibility, personal care services, employment discrimination, etc. People with disabilities are mostly viewed as handy photo ops to demonstrate one’s compassion/charity/sainthood/whatever. And I’m not sure what can be done to change these perceptions. Part of the problem is that we need more people with disabilities who are politically active, especially in the inner circles of campaigns and congressional staff. But that’s a bit difficult to ask for when almost 70% of adults with disabilities are unemployed. Every time get a well-meaning but extremely annoying “God bless you” from some stranger on the street or encounter another business owner/employer that has never heard of the ADA, I despair that things will never change. But then I look around at my own life and realize that twenty years ago, someone my age and with my disability would most likely be dead or in an institution.
So while I sometimes wish we would just hurry up and get enlightened already, I realize how far we have come in just a short while.