Blogger Ben Matlin provides a commentary on today’s Morning Edition regarding the twentieth anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ben is a Harvard graduate who also happens to have spinal muscular atrophy (note to self: e-mail Ben regarding a position in my Revolutionary Cabinet) and he writes about the pervasive discrimination he experienced growing up in a pre-ADA landscape. He also remarks on how the ADA has affected younger generations of people with disabilities:
Many young disabled people are growing up with a marvelous sense of belonging, entitlement and pride I never had.
That may be true to a point. People with disabilities who are my age and younger take it for granted that we will be able to go to school, navigate a store, or go to a movie. But the ability to participate in life’s mundanities shouldn’t gloss over the fact that most of us are still quite likely to live in poverty and social isolation. People with disabilities who manage to achieve even a modicum of economic independence are still the rare exception rather than the general rule. None of this is to say that the ADA is a failure; the recognition of a marginalized group’s right to participate in society is always worthwhile. But individual bias and fear of the other remains impervious to even the most forceful legal dictates. And two decades after the ADA’s enactment, I’m impatient for the world to catch up with my frequently calibrated expectations.
More than anything else, I fear social isolation for my son who has SMA. It’s already happening to him at the young age of 6. You know, not being invited to birthday parties or playdates. I know that a lot of factors come into play, one of which his Mom, me, being a bit anti-social. But I choose to be not very social. I don’t want SMA to choose that for my son. Anyway, I LOVE your blog.