Accommodations and the Pandemic
Updated: Jul 17, 2021
When the pandemic began, everything changed. The world had to find new ways to run; New ways to continue on with necessary parts of life. As quickly as possible, we rushed to make accommodations.
Accommodations such as:
- phone & video options for medical appointments
- added tolerance of student needs and absences when it comes to school
- restaurants and stores added delivery and pickup options
- working remotely
- wearing a mask when sick
were all created during the pandemic.
As vaccines roll out and the world starts to return to "normal", these accommodations are beginning to disappear. The pandemic proved that the accommodations disabled people have been asking for all along were possible, as they were now beneficial to the able-bodied. But of course, now that able-bodied people no longer need these accommodations, they're disappearing.
This is Ableist.
These accommodations NEED to be brought back. Disabled people account for 26% of the US population, and 15% of the world population. That's 61 million disabled people in the US, and 1 billion in the world. We have been asking for these accommodations for years. We are not rare, and we deserve your care and respect.
Providing accommodations for disabled and chronically ill people is showing basic human decency. It's creating equal ground and simply giving us access to that of able-bodied people. What it's not, is special treatment. We are purely asking to be able to experience the world the same way as everyone else. To not be left out because a place doesn't have a wheelchair ramp or alternate entrance. To not be left behind in academic and professional situations because we frequently cannot come in due to health, and no alternate options are available.
It shouldn't take a global pandemic and the request of able-bodied people to receive the accommodations the disabled community has been fighting toward for years. Giving us these accommodations is not going to inconvenience those who don't need them. And you've already proven to us you're capable of providing them. So please, keep them. Include disabled people in everything, because we deserve to be included.
