Who’s Calling Whom Disabled?

By Peter S. Kahrmann

I recently saw the word “disability” defined as the “condition of being unable to perform in society as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness,” and as a “legal incapacity or disadvantage.” This got me thinking.

If any of us were keeping people as pets, feeding them bird food or dog food or, like cattle, watering them and feeding them out of troughs, keeping them locked in stalls or in a paddock of some sort, we’d be considered abusive, face criminal charges and likely wind up in a mental institution or jail. It makes sense. After all, we’d be guilty of treating our fellow human beings as if they were less than human.

But let’s suppose those keeping people as pets were actually incapable of understanding that their pets are human beings. What then? We would have to conclude they are disabled. They are unquestionably grappling with a “condition of being unable to perform in society as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness” and as a result would have a “legal incapacity or disadvantage.” Let’s put it this way: Nobody’s going to offer them a job or accept them in a mainstream school any time soon.

Treating human beings as if they are less than human is abuse, pure and simple. The verb “abuse” means to “treat badly,” to “change the inherent purpose of something,” to use “wrongly, improperly or excessively.” The noun “abuse” means “cruel or inhumane treatment … a rude expression intended to offend or hurt” as well as “improper or excessive use.”

So why aren’t those who treat people with disabilities as if they are inhuman considered disabled? They are either disabled or they are criminal; one or the other. Their disability or criminal behavior – you pick – needs to addressed.

Why is it OK for these people to corral the disabled into what are called “sheltered workshops” when they are nothing more than a socially approved form of slave labor? Why is it OK for the companies offering the workshops to make out like bandits? Why are the businesses using the workshops allowed to have what amounts to slave labor at their disposal? Why don’t the labor laws that apply to the so-called non-disabled not apply here? Because not enough people give a damn.

These so-called “sheltered workshops” are more accurately “shackled workshops.”

A January 2011 report on sheltered workshops by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) titled “Segregated & Exploited” said, “The lack of a true minimum wage for many workers with disabilities keeps them in a life of perpetual poverty. It leaves them dependent on family or government programs just to meet their basic needs of food, shelter, and medical care. It denies them the opportunity to take advantage of the pleasures --continuing education, vacations, restaurants, and hobbies -- that many people take for granted. It prevents them from achieving true independence.”

In my view, the very prevention of true independence is the goal of shackled workshops in the first place. People with disabilities are funneled into programs that are, with very rare exception, nothing more than community-based warehousing. They – we -- are revenue makers.

And why are those who don’t recognize our humanity hell-bent on preventing us from reaching true independence? Once there, they can’t make money off us anymore.

Don’t believe me? The NDRN report revealed that, “According to a 2008 study of 291 individuals with disabilities from 40 sheltered workshops, the average hourly earnings were $2.30 and average monthly earnings were $175.69. A recent University of Indiana study indicated that, in May 2009, people in sheltered workshops in Indiana earned an average of $1.59 per hour.”

The disability or criminal behavior that prevents people from seeing the humanity of others is sociopathic in nature. People like this need to be treated for their illness or, if it is concluded that they are criminal, they should be charged, convicted and jailed.

The dehumanization of the disabled needs to stop – now.

Peter Kahrmann is an advocate for people with disabilities and writes a blog on disability issues. He resides in New York state.