Monday, November 1, 1998
Disabled must show their power at polls
BY DEBORAH KENDRICK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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Web information
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For information on state-by-state elections and their relevance to people with disabilities, check out the Web White & Blue Web site at http: - - www.webwhiteblue.org.
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For three weeks, there have been a series of headlines in my e-mail box that have enticed me to read even when other pressures whispered ''no time'' and have given me hope for the future of our country.
''Another Reason to Vote,'' I have read, as subject line for message after message after message over the past 21 days. The repetition and perseverance of the phrase has in itself been encouraging.
Justice for All, a Washington-based group of disability advocates from across the nation, has distributed these messages through its Internet mailing list.
Launching its ''Another Reason to Vote'' series in early October, the premise was simple: to run editorials to remind adults with disabilities and their friends of the power we hold on Election Day.
Bills regarding health care reform, personal care services and work incentives for people with disabilities have all been targets of serious congressional debate. Even the Americans with Disabilities Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have had their tenuous moments.
Tuesday represents one of the great cornerstones of our heritage - and no amount of sordid gossip should distract us from that point. In many areas, children will experience the thrill of ''being heard'' by casting an opinion at the polls. Yet many adults ignore the privilege.
There are an estimated 35 million voting-age Americans with disabilities, and they are a group that has consistently been underrepresented at the polls. Less than one-third of that group, (10 million) voted in the last presidential election.
Why voters with disabilities have earned the reputation of being a sleeping giant is not clear. What is clear is that they should wake up and come to the polls Tuesday.
Which senators, for example, voted to kill the HMO health reform in a recent procedural vote?
Which representatives have participated in blocking personal care services for people with disabilities?
Where has the push come from for building work incentives into such programs as Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income?
Who will be interested in keeping citizens with disabilities out of nursing homes and in their own homes?
Which candidates will fight for the rights guaranteed disabled children by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?
People with disabilities, their friends and families - as disability rights patriarch Justin Dart Jr., is fond of saying - get involved with politics as though their lives depended on it.
Because they do.
Deborah Kendrick, a Cincinnati free-lance writer, is a nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. Write: Deborah Kendrick, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; e-mail: 71340.473@compuserve.com.
KENDRICK ARCHIVE
