Disability and Voter Turnout

The disability community can make a difference

By Tim Wheat
In this past election, Rutgers University studied Disability and Voter Turnout and found a disturbing trend in our communities election habits. Before the ADA, people with disabilities did not have the equal access to polling sites and the election equipment. Now, with improved access, our community still lags behind in participation.

The Rutgers study found that the voter turnout rate of people with disabilities (55.9%) was 6 percentage points lower than that of people without disabilities (62.2%). That translates into over twelve million people with disabilities who did not vote. For perspective, the popular vote in the 2008 election for US President was a difference of about 10 million votes. Of course people with disabilities do not vote in a bloc, but if a savvy politician were to unite the disability community and turn us out at election time, we would swing almost any election.

Even though people with disabilities are the largest minority, politicians do not turn to the disability community because we do not have a unifying thread. The Rutgers study found that an estimated total of 16 million people with disabilities voted, compared to 17.1 million African-American voters and 12.7 million Hispanic or Latino voters. 

The study also found that people with disabilities who were employed were just as likely as employed people without disabilities to vote. This suggests that employment helps bring people with disabilities into mainstream political life. It also points out that a large part of our community is not working and we don’t participate in civic activities as our neighbors and friends do.

The low voter turnout also exposed other gaps in our voting habits. The gap is larger among women than among men, that may reflect especially high voter participation of women without disabilities. The gap is largest in the Northeast and smallest in the West. Most significantly, voters with disabilities under age 34 had the highest gap of any group. While typical young voters have a poor turnout rate of less than fifty percent, young voters with disabilities turnout was less than a third (33.1%).

Eight US states had higher turnout rates for people with disabilities, but Tennessee’s rate was 55.1% or eight percent below the rate for people with no disability. The Rutgers study shows an improvement in Tennessee over 2012 when the disability gap was about 9.5% less than the rate for people without disabilities.

Overall, people with disabilities nationally are registered to vote at near the same rate as non-disabled voters with a 2.3% gap between the groups. However, the gap of those registered who voted was 82% of people with disabilities, while 88% of people with no disability were registered and voted.

MCIL wants to help you to register and vote. One item the Rutgers study finds is that people with disabilities are not as likely as non-disabled people to register at a department of motor vehicles. The DMV is where most non-disabled people register, but MCIL will help you to update your voter registration when you visit us.

Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations Fact sheet: Disability and Voter Turnout in the 2016 Elections by Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse

Sex and Disability workshop

Knowledge is empowering

By Timothy Redd
August 31st was quite an interesting day here at MCIL. I facilitated our Sex and Disability workshop with the assistance of Allison Donald and Christina Clift. We had a great panel of presenters which included: Dr. Deborah Carter, a psychologist; Chris and Suzanne Colsey, a married couple; Gwendolyn Owens, a romance enhancement specialist; and Donna Blackard, an HIV outreach coordinator.

Sex and Disability is still a taboo subject, but I think it’s time to say that a disability should not mean a life void of intimacy.  It’s totally possible to have sex with a disability. A person with a disability must embrace the ability to adapt, and that is key when it comes to sex and disability. 
According to the World Health Organization, "Sexuality is an integral part of the personality of everyone: man, woman and child; it is a basic need and aspect of being human that cannot be separated from other aspects life." Sex and disability tends to be unmentionable and as a result more people with disabilities do not have satisfying sexual expression and experience. 

“Sex and disability tends to be a taboo area for many abled-bodied persons and is rarely discussed in the same sentence,” reports Disabled-world.com. “As a result more than 50% of disabled people do not have any form of a regular sex life. People with physical or intellectual disabilities in today's society are often regarded as non-sexual adults. Sex is very much associated with youth and physical attractiveness, and when it is not, is often seen as "unseemly". If sex and disability are discussed, it is very much in terms of capacity, technique, and fertility - in particular, male capacity and technique and female fertility - with no reference to sexual feelings by ignoring aspects of sexuality, such as touching, affection, and emotions. In addition, opportunities for sexual exploration among disabled people, particularly the young, are very limited. There is often a lack of privacy and they are much more likely than other young people to receive a negative reaction from an adult if discovered. The general reduction in life choices also has an impact on self-esteem which in turn affects sexuality A person with a disability of some kind may tend to feel unattractive, or even less worthy of sexual partnership or relations, because they think that they can't live up to the idealized image today’s society has set. If the disability happened later on in their life, the person may recall how they used to look and feel very unattractive by comparison to who they once were.”

Presented in the workshop was a sex and disability overview, a discussion on consent, the perspective and experience of being a couple with a disability and overcoming certain barriers that has led to an enriching relationship. The workshop included a product demo of the most popular sex toys, a very candid discussion on safe sex, Memphis STD statistics, and Prep education.

What is Prep? PrEP means Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, and it’s the use of anti-HIV medication that keeps HIV negative people from becoming infected. PrEP is approved by the FDA and has been shown to be safe and effective. A single pill taken once daily, it is highly effective against HIV when taken every day. The medication interferes with HIV’s ability to copy itself in your body after you’ve been exposed. This prevents it from establishing an infection and making you sick. Free Rapid HIV testing was offered and free condom packets were distributed as well.

There are many stereotypes that are pervasive when it comes to people with disabilities. Opening the door to these challenging topics I hope will one day help lead us to a more inclusive and accepting society. It is also my hope that events like this will truly impact and equip our community with useful information that will aid everyone in making the best decisions possible because for many of us nobody had a conversation about sex. Honestly, I was told you have to wait until you get married. I firmly believe knowledge is empowering.  For events happening here at the center check us out at www.mcil.org  and for more information of the topics discussed in the workshop check out these links below.

• https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/sexuality/  
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pq4Gs-QnCs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g20HcqaIEk8
• http://www.whatisprep.org/
• https://aidsvu.org/state/tennessee/memphis/
• http://www.lebonheur.org/our-services/le-bonheur-in-the-community/community-hiv-network/

Food stamps and people with disabilities

Information on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program often called food stamps)

By Timothy Redd

Do you receive SNAP benefits?
If you answered "yes" there are many people in this country that are just like you. In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in households struggling with hunger, a stark number which includes 15.8 million children and 4.8 million seniors. Food insecurity is a daily reality for about one in seven households.

What is SNAP?
SNAP is a federal aid program administered by the US Department of Agriculture that provides food assistance to low- or no-income Americans. Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, it now uses a debit card system to distribute benefits, so recipients pay for their purchases with an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card. The amount that households receive depends on several factors, including location, but often averages to about $4 per person per day.

Food and Research Action Center, a hunger advocacy group, has been a prime promoter of the SNAP Challenge. Ellen Vollinger, FRAC’s legal director, said that because the congressional debate often centers around the program’s nearly $80 billion budget, the $4.50 figure is intended to “put in concrete terms” what the SNAP assistance means to ordinary Americans. While the Snap Program tackles food insecurity there are challenges for most recipients and for those with disabilities the challenges are often even greater. 

How many of you have gone to the local Department of Human Services to apply for benefits or re-certify? 
If you’ve had the experience you already know you are in for a long day. Often we as people with disabilities rely on public transit to get around and dealing with the massive crowd of people that frequent the local office. The crowd can be overwhelming and frustrating for many because there is no way in knowing how long the wait may be. People because of their disabilities may have less flexibility in their schedule. Medications, transportation, oxygen and other necessary programs can prevent some people with disabilities from fitting into the open scheduling that the department requires.

Here at MCIL we work with individuals who need assistance in applying for SNAP benefits. As mentioned earlier it’s not always easy and we have found that you must be a good self-advocate and know about the SNAP program to successfully navigate the bureaucracy.
For example, over the past three month a young single mother was in the process of re-certification. She made several trips to DHS to submit requested documentation. To her dismay, after checking on the status of her case she was informed that the information had not been received. Fortunately, each time she went in to submit her documents she had a submission receipt signed to serve as verification that she in fact did turn in the requested paperwork.  

A phone call to a supervisor did eventually re-certify her and she was retroactively paid. However, this is not a story of success, but of near total failure. The re-certification ordeal created an extreme financial hardship for this woman. It turns out, the woman was told, that multiple cases had been submitted by different case workers but none of them knew because the information is not shared.

There are many other challenges people with disabilities face when applying for SNAP benefits, such as: accessing the application in alternate formats and getting assistance needed for those with visual impairments, hearing, and speaking dis-fluency. Also, accessing the service windows are a challenge for many wheelchair users. If you are experiencing challenges with accessing benefits here are some tips that may be beneficial to you.

• When you submit documentation always ask for a receipt and have copies for yourself.
• Let someone know what type of assistance you need in order to apply or re-certify.
• Follow up within a week after submitting documentation to verify it has been received.
• If you miss an appointment or a phone interview be sure to call as soon as possible to reschedule.
• If you don’t receive a call for a scheduled interview contact you case worker immediately.

Clift Notes: August 23, 2017

Updates from the NFB of Tennessee Board of Directors

By Christina Clift
The National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee board received an update on the Uber and Lyft monitoring project which began this spring.  So far Tennessee has met its target for reporting each month.  There is also a push to recruit other guide dog users from the western and eastern parts of the state to join in, since most of the reports have been from the middle Tennessee area.  The reports have been mostly favorable when it comes to Uber and Lyft drivers transporting people who use service animals and that demonstrates progress.  This project will continue for at least another two years.
 
The NFB of Tennessee will be testing Cardtronic ATM’s in both the Memphis and Nashville area for accessibility for individuals who are blind.  This project is a result of prior litigation between Cardtronics and the National Federation of the Blind.  There are at least 11 Cardtronic ATM’s in the Memphis and Nashville areas that are expected to be tested over the next few months and the results will be sent to Cardtronics to improve their machines.
 
Finally, the 2018 convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee will be held at the Henry Horton State Park near Chapel Hill Tennessee, which is located 45 minutes outside of Nashville.  Room rates are expected to be around $83 per night.  The date is still pending but will be either the week before or after Easter. The primary reason this location was chosen was due to the rising cost of hotels in Nashville and surrounding areas and the desire to have as many people as possible attend convention Stayed tuned to this blog for updates!