ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220052
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHI WOLFE
WHEN YOU'RE disabled, you rarely hear anyone - especially the president - speaking with empathy about your life. So I was pleased when President Clinton recently told reporters that his knee injury has given him understanding of what it's like to be disabled.
I'm sorry that Clinton is experiencing pain and physical limitations from his injury. But I'm glad that, in contrast to the era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, he isn't hiding his disability. By allowing himself to be photographed working in his wheelchair and using crutches, the president is sending out the message that, contrary to the myths, disabled people are competent in the workplace.
Yet as much as I'm moved by Clinton's empathy, I want him to do more. As a legally blind person, I know we need more than understanding. We need action. If the president wants to make a difference in our lives, he must work with us to improve our living conditions and to change America's attitudes toward the disabled. That means he'll have to help us obtain what most Americans take for granted - from access to our country's buildings to employment to health care.
Though the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires public accommodations to be ``handicapped accessible,'' many of us with disabilities still can't get into doctors' offices, restaurants and cinemas.
Take what happened to my friend Dale Willman of CNN radio when he was temporarily disabled last May from a knee injury. Willman says, ``Being injured is different if you're an ordinary citizen rather than the president. For example, Clinton's physical therapist comes to the White House. But my physical therapist's building was inaccessible. To see her, I had to hobble down steps on crutches.''
Because his disability was only temporary, Willman wasn't worried about losing his job. But his situation is different from that of most of us with disabilities. Two-thirds of America's 49 million disabled citizens are unemployed.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against disabled people. Yet, because of disability-based prejudice, many businesses still don't hire the disabled.
Willman says, ``I didn't know how prejudiced people are toward the disabled until I was injured. When I used crutches, people wouldn't speak to me or sit by me. If I'd been (permanently) disabled when I decided to do radio, I wouldn't have gotten a job.''
Now there's technology that could help disabled people enter the work force. But often this technology is inaccessible or too expensive for those of us with disabilities. Vans can be modified so that people in wheelchairs can drive. Yet these modifications, which cost between $10,000 to $85,000, are unaffordable for most of us with disabilities.
The president doesn't have to worry about obtaining medical care. Yet many of us aren't insured or rely on Medicare or Medicaid, which are subject to the vagaries of Congress. Others must depend on health-management organizations, or HMOs, where too often the bottom line reigns.
Mr. President, I applaud your empathy. If you use the power of your office to help us combat prejudice, find jobs and obtain health care, then you'll really show understanding toward people like me.
KATHI WOLFE of Falls Church is a writer whose work appears regularly in ``Mainstream Magazine'' and ``One Step Ahead.''
- KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB