I have grown up as a patient. When I was in kindergarten, I started gathering chronic illness diagnoses and, apparently, don’t know how to stop. I have become increasingly political in recent years, thanks to living in Wisconsin.
Our Governor Scott Walker has made detrimental changes to how people with chronic illnesses and disabilities are treated or receive benefits. It remains to be seen whether or not he will accept federal aid offered for BadgerCare to cover additional people under the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately, the lack of concern over healthcare in our country doesn’t stop at the state level.
According to the Center for Disease Control, over half of the adults in our country have one or more chronic illness or disability. With the lack of conversation surrounding those of us with chronic illness or disability, how do we really know where these candidates stand on such important issues? Those with disabilities and chronic illnesses have yet to really be addressed by the presidential candidates. I hate to say that the biggest exception to that is Donald Trump. When he discusses disabilities or illness, though, it is by consistently belittling, creating disadvantages for, or making fun of us.
Ted Cruz supposedly supports the ability of people living with disabilities to live and work independently. The only mention of people with disabilities comes on his page regarding a tax plan.
Cruz only mentions people living with disabilities here in a way that suggests 1) that we are all on disability, and, 2) that, if on disability, we can all return to work. Neither of these facts is true and, honestly, that’s a pretty ableist view of over half the country.
The liberal side of the aisle is slightly more amenable to those with disabilities, but one has to wonder how much.
Hillary Clinton has a short list of items she would like to achieve for those with disabilities and then goes to showcase her previous work with the disability community.
I will certainly agree that many of us living with disabilities are in a position where we cannot work when we would like to. However, a number of us (yours truly included) have to work but our bodies are nearing the end of being able to do so.
What happens to people like myself when we reach that point under Hillary’s plans?
Bernie Sanders has the potential to be a candidate for those with disabilities. As I read his site, I think “Finally, a presidential candidate both mentions AND explains a bit about what they will do for the disability community!”
But, he is problematic, too.
Bernie has had various verbal missteps that have offended a large portion of the chronic illness and disability communities, most recently those with mental health issues. Comparing someone like myself with Depression, Anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress to those in the GOP isn’t a great idea. It alienates a large portion of the nation and continues the stigma of mental illness as a cause of violence and discrimination.
There is much more that has to be done to bring the neglected half of the country into the presidential election conversation. We have to push harder to be included in these conversations, submit questions to debates and town halls, and demand answers of our candidates. We have to talk about how difficult it is to maintain voting rights with a disability and fix that system.
My vote is mine and mine alone. As someone living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, I want to be talked to, not patronized or infantilized. Talk to me and engage me in conversation instead of talking around or about me. Like much of the nation, I don’t know which of these four main candidates is better on many of the issues that matter to me. I know which ones are worse and will try to do my duty to help us avoid electing them.
Featured Image by Steve Johnson via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons license.
