April 17, 2005

Dear Surfer,

I am very pleased you took the time to visit our website. Different Ability is an advocacy organization devoted to making society more accessible to people with disabilities through the avenues of social and legislative reforms.

What kind of issues are we looking to rectify? According to the 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of Americans with disabilities:

21% of people with disabilities have received less than a high school education—ten percent more than those without disabilities.

65% of people with disabilities ages 18-64 are unemployed.

67% said they could not work because of their disability if assistive technologies such as mechanized wheelchair lifts, automatic door-openers and computer software were available at lower cost, most people said that their lives would be improved and that they would be able to function more independently, meaning they may be able to hold jobs.

26% of people with disabilities have an income of less than $15,000, which is below the United States Department of Health and Human Services poverty line for a family of four--$18,850.

PERCENTAGE OF WORKING AGE ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

WHO EXPERIENCED JOB DISCRIMINATION IN 2004

Source: NOD/Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities (page 12), conducted between May 7 th and May 28, 2004. Nationally representative sample of 1,038 people with disabilities. Oversamples of 109 blind and 120 deaf respondents. Data presented by Humphrey Taylor, June 24, 2004.

This data proves convincingly that most employers discriminate on the basis of disability after the initial interview, which is particularly relevant because, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an employer can and often does ask an applicant to demonstrate how, regardless of whether accommodations are provided, he or she plans to do a given job What that illustrates is that most employers, after seeing what is needed, choose to go in a different direction. The high number of people who were refused an interview would indicate that the preconceived notion that people with disabilities are incapable may be getting in the way of the employers ability to hire the best people. Since there is no real way of enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the occurrence of any of the factors listed above almost forces people with disabilities to stay unemployed.

But all this data still does not help us get to the root of the problem. There must be a paradigm shift regarding people with disabilities and their capabilities to be functional and contributive members of our society. When you think about every successful movement, whether it is for a state or rights, they all have leaders with household names. For civil rights, there was Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. For Black Separatism, there was Malcolm X. People with disabilities have never had a group of well-known leaders get together and articulate the needs of the community. I say a group here because no one person can speak for all people with disabilities, as each type of disability experienced produces different effects and experiences. What this lack of a leadership group has done is allowed people like Christopher Reeve to masquerade in that role. I am not saying that spinal cord research is a bad cause to undertake, but he got onstage at the 1996 Oscars, a year after becoming a quadriplegic from an equestrian accident, and said something to the effect of, “by the time I am fifty, I will walk again.” That told everyone in the able-bodied community that all people with disabilities need is a cure and things will be better. The same message is put forth by Jerry Lewis in the Muscular Dystrophy telethon. All the proceeds from that event go to finding a cure for that disease. Kids are placed on television, with Jerry Lewis crying in the background and pleading for your help so that Muscular Dystrophy can be eradicated. But because the money only goes to finding a cure, the kids they show on television never see any help; they never have accessible housing built for them; they never receive money so they can live within the context of their own situation. In no way am I arguing that a cure should not be researched, but the organizations that do so should make that only a part of that goal.

Once it becomes an accepted viewpoint that people with disabilities do have lives worth living, but may need assistance from society in doing so, the media will air stories that accurately portray people with disabilities and a clear role of government will be defined using, and in some cases, adapting the basic principles of social policy. They should decide, as Illinois Senator Barack Obama has, that “the proper role of government is to do things we [cannot] do as well individually as we can do collectively,” (“Obama-Keyes Debate.” 10-26- 2004). , the fundamental principles which formulate the basis for social policy must also be examined in terms of their effect on people with disabilities. The United States has always believed in the need for individuals to be self-sufficient and have a strong work ethic; moreover, entitlement spending should be very limited. So if this line of thought is applied to the disability community, people with disabilities should be self-sufficient and have a strong work ethic, but the government sets the amount of money to make things equal. Because this country was founded on the basis that everyone is created equal, the act of fulfilling promises of equal employment opportunities to the disability community should be seen as enabling them to show their strong work ethic and be as independent as possible in all walks of life!

You are about to view material aimed at engineering that paradigm shift. I hope that your browsing of our site will serve to inform and empower you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email us.

Sincerely,

David A. Kuriniec

Founder and President

YOU CAN HELP!

If you wish to help, you may do so by contacting Congressional officials in your area! You can get to the United States House of Representatives and Senate from our Links page.