“Nothing about us without us!”
An estimated quarter of a million people in the United States with documented disabilities work for less than minimum wage.
According to Sears and Cairnes, this is to be expected since society limits the development of oppressed and disadvantaged people (2021).
The disability poverty connection is a systemic problem, not an individual problem.
However, poverty is felt on a personal level, as each disabled person is autonomous. I chose DAMe online newspaper article “How to Dismantle Systemic Ableism, According to Disabled People” by Julia Metraux because the title was evocative, and I related to the initial message. Modern views of disability must begin from the perspective of people who live in non-typical or disabled bodies.
The disability poverty connection is a systemic problem, not an individual problem.
The journal article by Stapleton, O’Day, Livermore, & Imparato, Dismantling the Poverty Trap: Disability Policy for the Twenty-First Century, is also an enticing title and an informative but not exhaustive read on the disparities faced by those living with long-term disability (2006).
The articles both point to policies made by non-disabled people, policies designed to keep disabled people in poverty.
I recognize that my peer-reviewed article is more than ten years old. Unfortunately, there is not much selection in published peer-reviewed writing covering the disability and poverty connection in working-class America. It is important to remember the disability community mantra of “Nothing about us without us” when reviewing articles written about them. ( It is unknown whether the scholarly research article by Stapleton et al. was written from the standpoint of the disability community since this information is not disclosed in the article nor by the publisher. )
According to Metraux, adults with disabilities make up nearly 12 percent of the U.S. working-age population. And yet the same group accounts for over half of Americans living in long-term poverty.
Disabled adults have lower incomes and experience poorer outcomes than baseline or typical bodies across time (Stapleton et al., 2006).
The differences between the articles subtly shape a reader’s opinion on how disability is viewed in society. Each article also has a slightly different lens or standpoint for how they came to their conclusions on accessibility, inclusion, and poverty in the lives of working-class disabled Americans (Sears & Cairns, 2021). The research by Stapleton et al., (2006) and the article by Metraux are meant to compare the longitudinal outcomes for working disabled adults on their socioeconomic status and satisfaction in life (2022).
Essentially, are disabled Americans thriving or just barely surviving regarding financial stability, safety, and general success and enjoyment in life?
From Metraux’s standpoint, legislation is a barrier to financial health for disabled Americans (2022). Metraux also believes that the more disabled body-minds are involved in policy-making, the better outcomes for disabled and non-disabled people (2022). Metraux reminds readers that disability is a possibility for any human body. Her article tugs at readers’ heartstrings to find empathy for the impoverished since poor legislation limits the full and productive participation of disabled Americans.
The newspaper article and scholarly journal article both rely on conceptual rigor. Julia Métraux writes the DAME article (2021) from the collective perspective of Americans living with a disability following the COVID-19 pandemic.
DAME argues that we live within a social model that often excludes disabled people’s perspectives from the legislative processes.
DAME argues that we live within a social model that often excludes disabled people’s perspectives from the legislative processes. DAME argues that societal barriers are the gatekeepers limiting the disability community’s access to healthcare, social services, and economic stability that allow general success in life. Metraux points out that any person can acquire a disability at any moment in their life just from existing and that social order and legislation need to reflect the inherent worthiness and value of disabled body-minds.
Stapleton et al., argue that social programs established in the United States unfairly keep disabled people unemployed to access social benefits.
social programs established in the United States unfairly keep disabled people unemployed to access social benefits.
Adults who are still of working age and who have extra medical costs that need to be covered by SSI and medicare are required by policies to remain underemployed. It is also argued that society has unreasonably low expectations of disabled people, which creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where society does not value educating and employing disabled people to their fullest capacity.
“It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This systemic paradox reminds me of functionalism, where the “haves” tells the “have-nots” to pull up their bootstraps and work harder. But like Dr. Martin Luther King said, how can a man without any boots pull up their bootstraps?
Suppose we view society as an organic structure likened to a body where each body part is essential and non-participating members lead to a poorly functioning society. In that case, our view of society may be considered ableist. It is no wonder that people with typically functioning bodies influence policies and a social order that handicaps members of society with bodies that do not function typically.
Suppose we each were the bionic arm, the calculator, the glasses, and the service animal working in support of our holistic body.
Durkheim suggests that society is a body. What if we, as members of society, worked together the way a disabled body works? Suppose we each were the bionic arm, the calculator, the glasses, and the service animal working in support of our holistic body.
In that case, disabled bodies could succeed in society harmoniously with the non-disabled. Instead, our society thinks disabled bodies belong to one group, and abled bodies belong to another, making people living with disabled bodies outliers. How can a disjointed metaphor work together to find equitable social and economic order? If more scientists look at the disability poverty connection, experimental support for their theoretical hypotheses will become increasingly more likely. At his point in history, there is not enough empirical data looking at the link between legislation, poverty, and the modern view of disability.
Our modern view of society should be considered ableist.
Empirical rigor is a primary characteristic in the article by Stapleton, O’Day, Livermore, & Imparato (2006) as they discuss how working-age Americans with disabilities are much more likely to face poverty than non-disabled working Americans. The research article aims to contribute to peer-reviewed literature and add to the collective body of knowledge in the social sciences. Unfortunately, little rigorous quantitative research exists on the topic of disability and poverty connection. In contrast, the newspaper article aims to educate readers more broadly on the disparities between disabled people and non-disabled people. News articles are often shared as a story unfolds or comes to life(Estes, 2020). Both pieces support the argument that adults with a disability deserve an equitable chance at a financially stable livelihood.
Adults with a disability deserve an equitable chance at a financially stable livelihood. Change must occur at a social level for this dream to be a reality.
Journal articles are tested theories or hypotheses conducted over time and may not be the most up-to-date perspective on a given topic. Each informant contributes to the collective knowledge that can be used to support a reformed social structure.
A more modern approach to disability is needed to amend our societal expectations of disabled adults and fully integrate disabled people into working society as each individual is inclined and able.
We must continue theorizing why non-typical bodies are considered less-than typical bodies to restructure society to integrate all body-minds more fully.
Simply put, researchers and non-academics alike must continue asking questions about why things are the way they are and imagining what our world would look like if we made changes to support access, inclusion, and belonging to all living humans regardless of disability status. New theories will lead to answers that reform our entire social structure where only people with boots have a chance.
Are we going to give everyone theoretical boots? Or are we going to change our way of thinking so that pulling up bootstraps as a metaphor is no longer applicable?
References:
Metraux, J (2022, July 25). How to Dismantle Systemic Ableism, According to Disabled
People. DAME.
sm-according-to-disabled-people/
Sears, Alan and James Cairn. 2015. A Good Book in Theory: Making Sense Through Inquiry.
Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Stapleton, O’Day, B. L., Livermore, G. A., & Imparato, A. J. (2006). Dismantling
the Poverty Trap: Disability Policy for the Twenty-First Century. The Milbank Quarterly,
84(4), 701–732. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2006.00465.x
Zonfrillo, Haarbauer-Krupa, J., Wang, J., Durbin, D., Jaffe, K. M., Temkin, N., Bell, M., Tulsky,
D. S., Bertisch, H., Yeates, K. O., & Rivara, F. P. (2021). Effect of parental education
and household poverty on recovery after traumatic brain injury in school-aged children.
Brain Injury, 35(11), 1371–1381. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2021.1972141
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