Covid-19 Has Exposed What Disabled People Have Always Known

….and feared.

By Sonya Dickerson

Wheelchair user….

Thank you for your honesty. I truly mean that. It was a message that the disabled, chronically ill, and other vulnerable people heard loud and clear from the start. The media sounded the drums and we heard the steady beat in our heads for weeks now…

“80% of you will suffer from mild symptoms. 80% of you will get sick, but you will be okay and can just rest at home.”

But they never talked about the 20%. What should the others expect? What do we have to look forward to? What would the disease do to us?

The beat of the drums continued. The tweets and other social media posts began to flood our timelines…

“The fundamental problem is whether we are going to tank the entire economy to save 2.5% of the population which is (1) generally expensive to maintain, and (2) not productive.”- Scott McMilan, a lawyer

Productive? You mean being a drain on society that people typically see disabled people as being? Those unproductive people who sit in our wheelchairs and watch Judge Judy all day long, while sucking up important resources?

Or Lt. Gov Dan Patrick of Texas when he said earlier last week….

“No one reached out to me…