Not Every Person with a Disability is Treated Equally in Terms of Income and Supports

It was déjà vu all over again.

In 2001, I was referred to a physio rehab clinic to obtain a diagnosis for the cause of my hip and back pain and for an update on how my cerebral palsy was affecting my physiological structure. I also needed hands on therapy for my disability and wanted updated guidance on how my physical well being could be addressed with a fitness routine that would accommodate my disability.

The person at the front desk greeted me by first asking, " Are you are on workers' compensation or an auto insurance claim?" I replied, "Neither...My disability occurred at birth."

I thought, "Not again. No help for me. Another service heavily relying on insurance claimants with disabilities and injuries to keep the doors open."

I grew up in a province where visits to physiotherapists and doctors who specialized in my disability were paid for and sanctioned by the government until I turned 18. After that, I was left to cope alone meaning that no specialist was formally monitoring my condition.

On that day at the clinic, I saw people getting rehab treatment, but there was not a spot for me as I was not an insurance claimant nor could I afford to continuously pay for therapy for a lifetime chronic condition. The doctor at the clinic said there was nowhere in the city where I could get the treatment that I needed and could afford.

I was still referred to a physiotherapist and found out it would cost about $35.00/visit, which is one of the more inexpensive hands on therapies for me around. Knowing that I would need to have very long term physio (and/or other suitable therapy) on a very regular basis, the cost of going was just too prohibitive. Besides, to quit shortly after beginning because my funds ran out and then to see the gains or potential through treatment lost was hard to face. Furthermore, when I had gone to physio the last few times, I was given exercises to do at home if I had people to help me, as they knew that I could not afford to see them continually. I did not have that support nor did I believe my family and friends should or could be my replacement therapists for the rest of my life when it was recommended that people with my condition should make use of physiotherapists, massage therapists, or other professional therapists whenever possible.

Instead of paying for physio again, I bought a large exercise ball and continued with my home exercise/therapy routines. Again, I made do with what I had. At least it would slow down the effects of aging on my physiological well-being. However, my fitness regime alone could not address all the treatments that I needed (but could not get) that required a health professional to support and monitor me. There was only so much I could do alone to maintain my wellness.

My situation only reminds me of the discrepancies in who gets what in income and supports for people with disabilities across Canada. These discrepancies occur due to a series of factors that determine what income and supports Canadians with disabilities can access and in turn, greatly affect their quality of life, choices, and opportunities.

The majority of Canadians with disabilities are poor or are on limited incomes. Some are on some type of disability income and/or disability/health benefits. More often than not disability income comes way below the poverty line. Other people with disabilities are living off savings and have no disability/health benefits even though their degree of disability and their need for support may be the same as those on disability incomes, but because of circumstance, they are not entitled to receive anything. (Some who are working and have jobs that come with benefit packages might be able to access disability supports and health benefits that they need depending on what plan they have.)

For instance, the source, type, and amount of disability income, supports, and benefits one may be eligible for may be based on where one lives and how and when someone became disabled. For example, the type and level of support a person with a disability receives varies from province to province, because provinces address disabilities differently. Some provide supports while others do not (or not enough). A person may (if fortunate) be awarded a pension for life and receive such things as benefits, training, post secondary education, supports, treatments, active career support/placement (or acquisition opportunity), and therapy to compensate for future lost income because of becoming paralysed in a workplace accident. However, a person born with a similar type of disabling condition may not be eligible for anything as the loss of capacity to earn income is for the most part not recognised as the person had the misfortune to be born with a disability. As a result, those who became disabled at or before birth are not entitled to be compensated because of the absence of fault on the part of those involved in their care. (However, there are cases where parents have sued on behalf of their children who were born with disabilities where fault was identified as being the cause or contributor to the disability.)

Other circumstances of not having access to disability income, benefits, and supports may also arise when people with disabilities do not meet other criteria. For example, they may be refused disability income, benefits, and supports, because of such factors as: not being disabled enough (even though the effects of their disability can create social and economic isolation because of employers'/public unease with a disability type or disfigurement); not being poor enough (i.e. must spend up scarce savings before being considered eligible for disability supports); having recent employment or a skill set that is in demand (even though no one is hiring them); having a "history of employment" while being disabled (however precarious the work history may have been); demonstrating one has the potential to be employed (i.e. volunteering, looking for work); and in some cases, even demonstrating one can take care of oneself without support (even though it may take 3 hours to get oneself ready before leaving home in the morning for work).

We live in a climate where need is often measured and granted by criteria which is alien and unsuitable to people with disabilities' needs and requests at hand. That has to change if all Canadians with disabilities are to be treated fairly and equally in being able to get what they need for the quality of life that they want.

If we pride ourselves in being a supposedly inclusive, enlightened, and compassionate society, people with disabilities should not have to go without supports and services that they need and be limited to or barred from the choices they want to make and opportunities they want to take.

Written by Margo Bok