![]() ![]() But for many people with disabilities, it can be a necessary relief, and money makes it possible. Self-isolation isn’t the best escape from an ableist and inaccessible world. Money means being able to pay a little extra for grocery deliveries and online shopping shipped to their door. They can choose to live in a house or apartment where they don’t have to deal with roommates or close neighbors if they don’t want to. They can choose and direct their own care, rather than relying on family commitment or neighborly goodwill. They have fewer bureaucratic hoops to jump through. With money, disabled people have to do less asking, less winning people over. Money helps them avoid at least some of the personal interactions that produce painful run-ins with ableism. On the other hand, having money also makes it easier for disabled people to isolate themselves when they feel the need. Having money makes social integration easier. Private taxi and van services cost money of course, as does Paratransit, regular bus lines, subways, (when they’re not entirely inaccessible), and rideshare services, which seem to have unlimited freedom to overcharge or outright discriminate against disabled customers. Owning a functional, adapted car is an incredible tool of independence for disabled people, but one that’s often financially out of reach. Plus, physically getting to where other people are is more than half the cost of developing a social life. And using the internet in almost any way costs money, in the form of sometimes small but quickly accumulating connection bills and little app and game subscriptions. Movies cost money, whether paid to a theater, a streaming service, or a DVD store. Lunch at a restaurant always results in a bill. If you want to meet a friend for coffee, you have to pay for it. But it really isn’t, especially for people with disabilities. ![]() Having money enhances a disabled person’s ability to get to and buy their way into entertainments and recreations that in turn help them integrate socially into their communities. But it also plays a more subtle role for people with disabilities. Money buys essential access, like wheelchairs, accessibility, and home care. Long term care insurances, Medicare, and Medicaid can pay for some forms of “home care.” But the scope and duration of their coverage varies widely, from program to program and state to state. It sounds cold and impersonal to put it this way, but no technology or accessibility modification is as versatile and responsive to a disabled person’s needs as an actual person paid to help them. Money can also provide the most fundamental accessibility solution of all - the freedom and flexibility to hire and direct people to help disabled people do things they can’t do for themselves. Unfortunately, it’s even harder to get accessibility paid for than personal equipment like wheelchairs. It’s money that makes ramps, automatic doors and home elevators, and fully accessible bathrooms possible. Money can also buy a higher grade of physical accessibility, at least in disabled people’s homes and other spaces they control. And there are always hidden charges and out of pocket costs associated with any “free” or “covered” healthcare. Even under Medicare or Medicaid, copays add up quickly, especially for disabled and chronically ill people who need treatment and medical supplies more than just a few times a year. Private health insurance itself costs money. at least, making full use of medical techniques to improve physical and mental health costs money. But it helps to be specific about what money can do, specifically for disabled people.įor a start, money can pay for health care, therapies, and specialized equipment that helps disabled people lessen or work around their disabilities. The usefulness of money may seem obvious. Money is often more effective for people with disabilities than almost any therapy, treatment, medication, skills training, social program, disability rights law, or empowering philosophy of disability. This can be true for anyone, but it’s especially so for people with disabilities - in most of the same ways, but also in a few unique ones.įor disabled people, money buys health and adaptation, accessibility, help from other people, and the flexibility to either interact with the community or shelter ourselves from it. ![]()
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