One of my oldest friends back in the US is a single mom with a young son who has had multiple disabilities from birth. He has health care, thank goodness (well, actually, thank Medicaid) but it's all the other things that make life with a disability possible that are missing.
Here in the UK, we have this thing called a "social care system" that helps families with this stuff. It isn't perfect, but it makes it more likely that people with disabilities and their families can live relatively normal lives.
What happens without it? You find yourself trying to finance an adapted van by having a craft sale. Or a bake sale. Or putting collection jars all over town. Or spending half your waking hours writing begging letters to charities that are usually too strapped for cash to help with big-ticket items like an adapted van.
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If my friend Chloe lived in England, she would be able to sign up for the Motability scheme, which would provide her with an adapted vehicle that a wheelchair user can transfer into with ease, and that has room for a wheelchair. All is not perfect--the NHS is not so hot at providing wheelchairs themselves, for example, as children grow up and change size--but it's an issue of pressing your rights rather than having no right to help.
Henry also needs a Dynavox, a special computer that he can operate to provide him with a spoken "voice." His mom was able to borrow one for a few days and found out to her joy that he can operate one. But there is no agency in the US that finances these, so again, she'll have to raise funds herself or find a charity somewhere that can come up with a $20,000+ item. Here in the UK, these are routinely funded by the Local Authority (city/county governments) at no cost to the user or their parents. Being able to speak for yourself is a basic human need, but not one that's easy to get help with in the US.
The disability platform that Obama ran on was one of the main things that attracted me to his campaign. It hit all the bases: lifespan care, person-centered planning, independent living. I realise that delivering on these promises will take time, and one of the reasons I'm posting this is show why they're important, just so those who aren't living with disability are clued up when the fight starts over funding.
It's a hell of a thing to have to beg for help from your friends, from strangers through collection jars, or from charity in order to have basic needs met, like freedom of movement, a voice, a bathroom you can use by yourself, or even a home. Most of us don't have friends who can come up with thousands, and living with disability usually means being poor so it's pretty hard to come up with it on your own.
Until things change, just about all you can do is help people one at a time. Wheels for Henry is hoping to attract your dollars with fantastic hand-crafted items, and I encourage you to check it out. But Henry is just one of millions of people with disabilities in the US who need a social care system that can level the playing field to provide them with an equal chance at life.