I wrote about my experiences living with a disability on Twitter. Link:https://twitter.com/thatjayjustice/status/1073258795994923008
Ways you can help:
Talk about accessibility concerns and income limits for disabled people with your elected officials.
Vote for legislature that helps people with disabilities.
Signal boost disability activists & organizations.
Speak out when you see ableism.
Support disabled people.
Fundraising links: paypal.me/ThatJayJustice , ko-fi.com/ThatJayJustice , venmo.com/ThatJayJustice, https://cash.me/$ThatJayJustice , https://www.gofundme.com/mobility-and-medical-fund
Full text from images for the visually impaired & those using screen readers:
The hardest thing about being disabled in my experience is not the pain or physical limitations,. No, the hardest thing is being dehumanized by able-bodied people & the government, in both individual & institutionally oppressive ways. It’s called ableism and it ruins lives.
I became disabled as a child. Unexplainable symptoms, pain with no visible cause, fatigue, malaise, & others written off as ‘clumsiness’. When we discovered that an autoimmune disease was destroying my healthy cells I was relieved. It wasn’t my fault. I wasn’t lazy. I was sick.
It was a sickness with no cure & no real treatment. I was prescribed painkillers that I was allergic to, that didn’t help the underlying cause. My doctor told me to apply for disability benefits bc eventually I wouldn’t be able to work. I couldn’t quite accept what that meant.
There were no disability services at my school. I missed hundreds of days but managed to send in assignments with help from classmates. I was told I couldn’t graduate bc of poor attendance. I got a GED. I tried to ignore the pain & threw myself into work as soon as I could.
Eventually, the damage worsened. I had to use a cane and limit my walking & standing, then a manual wheelchair. I still wanted to work, but the disease affected my whole body. My back, shoulders & hands deteriorated. Using my wheelchair was too painful. I filed for disability.
I hoped that I would be able to work part-time and use my benefits to fill in the gap between my earnings and the poverty line. My goal was to get a wheelchair accessible apartment. To build a life. But disability benefits are designed to keep you below the poverty line.
I forced myself to work through pain with people who told me I was a worthless cripple, just to earn money. But then the government told me I couldn’t earn ANY MONEY without losing benefits, which max out at $14,000. The required income for an accessible apartment is $22,000.
I could push myself to the limit and still not qualify for housing I desperately need. I have to drag myself up 2 flights of stairs every day. It’s all I can afford. If disabled people have to live on $14k a year, where is the accessible housing for that income level?
Being disabled feels like being trapped in poverty. I have increased expenses due to medical bills, ♿️repairs, & medication costs, yet the government determines that I must live below the poverty line which does not cover the basic cost of living, let alone medical expenses.
Because of my illness, I’m unable to work full time, but part-time work won’t pay enough to live, and benefits will not allow for additional earnings to break the poverty ceiling. It feels like my goal can never be. I’ll never get out of the tiny rented room with too many stairs.
So I have to set smaller goals. My ♿️allows me to work, to get out of my inaccessible home, to have a life. Because of poorly made streets & public transit, it sustains damage every day. My goal is to repair it so I’m not trapped at home. ♿️repair fund: paypal.me/ThatJayJustice
The overall goal is always to change the way government limits disabled people–the income limits, savings limits & inaccessibility. These policies negatively impact our lives and influence the prejudices & stereotypes plaguing our community. Disability shouldn’t equal poverty.
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