Disability Pride

This Disability Pride month I am reflecting on the reality that we are all only temporarily able bodied.

I admit that this is not something that occurred to me until the pandemic. Isn’t that wild? And I know that I am not alone in this ignorance of the obvious.

I am saddened by how much we have not learned from the pandemic about the struggles of those with disabilities to gain access to needed care & spaces & how many accommodations we were able to be made that are now being taken away.

I recently learned of the phrase “the curb cut effect” which is used to refer to the fact that laws, programs & innovations designed to benefit vulnerable groups often end up benefiting all of society.

In 1972 Berkley began installing curb cuts to allow for wheel chair access to sidewalks at intersections.

This change benefitted everyone – those with strollers, rolling luggage, anyone moving heavy carts, skateboarders, etc.

Despite a perception that accommodations for disabilities only result in burdens and disruption, accommodations, such as video visits with providers open up new possibilities for all of us.