Clinton has said that “we should acknowledge how the disabilities community has played such an important role in changing things for the better in our country.” But she stops short of identifying some of the ways that various people have changed the country, or for that matter the world. For example, she is a great fan of the Roosevelts, and Frankin D. Roosevelt used a wheelchair after contracting a paralytic illness. In Germany and Austria, Ludwig van Beethoven’s hearing became impaired in his 20s, but his work in later years while completely deaf is characterized as having greater intellectual depth and more innovation than his earlier work. Flannery O’Connor, one of America’s most revered writers, was diagnosed with lupus in her 20s. Life with a disability demands a level of concentration that others are not forced to exert in order to perform seemingly simple tasks. It challenges a person’s mental stamina as well as his or her physical stamina, and in many cases it increases the person’s tolerance. Disability requires an individual to create alternate strategies. Those are unique and valuable skills. Every presidential election cycle, the public eagerly awaits the choice of Cabinet members. Soon, a Supreme Court justice will be appointed. Will one of those positions be filled by someone in the disabled community? Coble-Temple is optimistic about Clinton’s commitment to children. Clinton has unrolled a plan for families of people living with autism. This is a step forward. But politicians typically enlist support for the families of individuals with disabilities instead of for the actual people with disabilities. What about adults with disabilities? Coble-Temple acknowledges the decades-long battle to reform Social Security to allow people with disabilities to earn higher wages than they now are allowed to and still receive some benefits. Individuals with severe disabilities are forced to choose between benefits that keep them far below the poverty level or to forego those benefits, including health insurance, by joining a job market reluctant to give them a job, let alone one with health benefits. If Clinton is sincerely invested in improving the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, she could potentially reduce the number of Social Security Disability beneficiaries. In turn, everyone would benefit. Eileen Cronin’s memoir, “Mermaid,” is on Oprah Winfrey’s list of Best Memoirs of 2014 and has been translated into three other languages. The memoir is about growing up in the 1960s without legs below the knee. Cronin’s first published work was a cover story for the Washington Post Outlook section. She has been awarded the Washington Writing Prize in fiction, and her essays and stories have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Hill and various literary magazines. Cronin practices clinical psychology in Los Angeles and sometimes performs with “The Moth.” Your support matters…

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#2016 election#america#chuck schumer#civil rights#democratic national convention#disability#dnc#donald trump#hillary clinton#philadelphia#president#td-original#united states#usa