Thirty-Six Myths about Disability as We Celebrate the ADA’s 35th Bday (Part 1), Actually

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990. Given our current times, it is difficult to remember that it was a bipartisan effort. We see attacks on DEI, reductions in companies’ accessibility efforts and staffing, and public narratives about people with disabilities as drains on our nation. However, let’s take a beat between the slices of gluten-free, low-allergen birthday cake to address some myths about disability that still persist. If you know how to celebrate birthdays, then you realize you always add an extra candle. Let’s take these 36 myths in two parts:

1. The right language to talk about disability is “person-first” language: people with disabilities, not disabled. Disabled is fine, just please no “special needs” bullshit.
2. Disability is about your mind or body not working right; it is not an experience of discrimination. People do have negative attitudes toward disability, resulting in widespread discrimination against disabled folks that goes beyond crappy curb cuts or missing ramps.
3. People with disabilities don’t want to work. While we shouldn’t value people based on their economic contribution, many people with disabilities are seeking jobs and are unemployed at 2x or more the rate of their non-disabled peers.
4. Accommodations always cost money. Accommodations don’t always cost money. Often, an employer, business, school, or community group is being asked to change a policy or practice, or think creatively about how they can meet the needs of participants. According to the Job Accommodation Network, almost half of workplace-related disability accommodations cost nothing.
5. People with disabilities are a group of folks with abnormal things happening to their minds or bodies, not a cultural identity group. July is Disability Pride Month. Take in disability art, humor, dance, culture, music, and language. While oppression may have brought us together, we are everyone from activists to Microsoft IP attorneys, your doctor with Tourette’s to your school bus driver.
6. Non-disabled people made sure that people with disabilities got their rights. Gee, thanks. When I look at the images of how we got our rights, I see disabled people crawling up the stairs of the Capitol. I see activists in Denver putting their wheelchairs in front of busses. Allies had an important role, but they didn’t lead us.
7. Being a family member of a person with a disability is just like having a disability yourself. Oh, this perspective is what makes the relationship between disabled adults and their parents difficult sometimes. Having a disability is different from experiencing associational discrimination or grief. A recent study showed that parents of children with disabilities can have high levels of unconscious negative bias about disability, for example.
8. Some disabilities are better to have in our schools and workplaces than others. Ableism comes with a hierarchy of sorts and narratives about which disabilities are good (think: injured hero) and bad (think: unstable/”mentally ill”). Consider, for example, how pathologizing language divides the autistic community good and bad: high functioning/low functioning.
9. We have addressed the access issues that people with disabilities face in society. I see curbs and ramps everywhere! Many major cities have been sued recently about their decades-long lack of compliance with settlements where they would improve physical accessibility, which is perhaps the most tangible and easy-to-assess marker of progress towards access. Even if the U.S. was fully compliant with physical accessibility– which it will not be in our lifetimes– it continues to miss the mark on a range of basics and leave many forms of access and inclusion unaddressed. Consider, for example, that the CDC recognizes that 25% of disabled adults have at least one unmet health need and 25% of disabled people don’t have a regular healthcare provider.
10. People with disabilities are a small group in society. People with disabilities are 20-25% of the U.S. population. Statistics can often be confusing because there are different definitions of disability that get batted around– from the ADA to Social Security. If you’re a data nerd, consider digging into the Center for Research on Disability.
11. People with disabilities can live on the money that the government has provided them. Programs such as SSI and SSDI are lifelines for disabled people and their families, but they are not means of surviving and thriving. For example, “among those aged 18 to 64, disabled beneficiaries are far more likely to live below the poverty line compared to all people in the age range.“
12. It’s polite of me to see the person, not the disability. Thanks for ignoring a significant part of me that you can’t handle or that you find to be negative? See the entire person. Not seeing the disability is as much of a “gift” as not seeing race, gender, national origin, or other significant parts of a person’s experience. Insisting on glossing over disability could mean that you’re not grappling with disability discrimination.
13. We no longer have institutions where people with disabilities live. More than 55,000 people in Washington State live in institutions. Thanks to the Rural Institute’s Disability Counts for providing maps where you can explore people’s inclusion in community in your state.
14. People with disabilities are highly litigious. Most disabled people live at or below the poverty rate and can’t afford a lawyer. Most lawyers will not take disability-related cases because they are not big moneymakers. While every field has some “drive-by” plaintiffs and attorneys, there is nothing that makes ADA enforcement somehow special or distasteful. I completed a research study more than 10 years ago about women lawyers with disabilities and their use of the ADA. I found that most of them self-accommodated and did not pursue formal enforcement, even though they had the skills and knowledge.
15. People with disabilities turn over in jobs at higher rates than non-disabled people. I don’t want to fuel a new myth about disabled folks as ideal employees, but historically, disabled employees had lower turnover rates than their non-disabled colleagues. Those numbers are shifting slightly now, which could be because of forced return-to-work policies, the erosion of DEI, or the labor market.
16. Parents of young adults with disabilities should get them a guardianship. Just because you’re disabled, doesn’t mean you can’t make decisions. Guardianship is an extreme measure that is overused. For less drastic options, consider supported decision-making. Supported decision-making honors the humanity of disabled people who could also benefit from a team of folks they choose to assist with different aspects of their planning.
17. People with disabilities are inspirational. Just look at what they had to do to get out of bed in the morning. Do you have 9 minutes? Watch this TED Talk from the late and great Stella Young. As for me, I’m constantly confused when someone stops me on the sidewalk to tell me to “stay positive!” Honey, I’m going to the bank.
18. People with disabilities probably shouldn’t be parents. Let’s do some math: If 20-25% of people have disabilities, then that means lots of parents are disabled. Having a disability can make you an excellent parent; just ask my teen. (Ok, don’t ask her. This isn’t Parent Yelp.) However, disabled parents are more likely than non-disabled parents to have their rights and competence challenged.

Part II will come next week.

Remember, “Justice, Actually” is a blog from a lawyer, but it is not legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. Lawyers have lots of opinions. Some lawyers, like me, have lots of mobility devices, too. If you’re ever confused by language, just call me a babe with a mobility aid– unless you’re my employer, which would be very wrong.