A disabled wheelchair user sits with his hands covering his face in frustration.
As I reflect on Mental Health Awareness Month, I am reminded of the ongoing struggles that disabled people face daily. For those of us living with disabilities, the fight for equal rights and accommodations often feels like an uphill battle. From the classroom to the workplace, we're fighting for our right to exist as we are.
I've written previously about the lack of planning and forethought that goes into disabled people's evacuation plans in active shooter drills. To quote Emily Ladau in a recent HuffPost article, "Their emergency plan was really to not have an emergency plan. It really made me feel like they couldn't be bothered to protect me, and it was very much every person for themselves."
And the "Run, Hide, Fight" protocol advised by federal agencies provides little solace to disabled people who are often not able to do any of the above. Instead, more often than not, we're advised to wait. Wait and hope that we make it out alive simply because protocols for us don't exist.
I think of the long-term mental health impact that has had on me. That from a young age, society at large considers me disposable.
Then there's the workplace. A newly released report by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Job Accommodation Network found that nearly half of workplace accommodations made for people with disabilities can be implemented at no cost to employers. Workplace accommodations are often simple and easy to implement, and yet so many of us struggle due to red tape; unnecessary requests for medical documentation, disclosure of our disability and limitations to people who have no business knowing, and an often misguided belief that an accommodation makes things "unfair" simply because we're trying to level the playing field.
Within the federal government, switching agencies is advertised as a fairly seamless process. Everything follows you: sick and annual leave balances, health insurance, and your position on the General Schedule pay scale. However, any documentation pertaining to reasonable accommodations does not, which means switching jobs comes with the exhausting task of starting from scratch.
We know what we need to be successful. The mental health of employees everywhere would be much improved if employers learned to say "yes" instead of "prove it."
So, what do these two experiences have in common? They both demonstrate the unfortunate reality that disabled people are often left behind, fighting for our survival in myriad ways. As we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, we must remember that the struggles faced by disabled people are directly linked to mental health.
To truly combat mental health stigma, we must first acknowledge the lived experiences of disabled people. It is essential to recognize that our battles are fought not only in the classrooms and workplaces but also in the broader social structures that often marginalize and dismiss our needs.