Outdated US policies keep many people with disabilities from services they need

""Society must do more now before a crisis is upon us," Alan Jette, director of Boston University's Health and Disability Research Institute and head of the Institute of Medicine panel, wrote in a report.

"Far too little progress has been made in the last two decades to prepare for the aging of the baby boom generation and to remove the obstacles that limit what too many people with physical and cognitive impairments can achieve," Jette added.

The report looked at a wide range of issues affecting the disabled such as accessibility of buildings and other places, gaps in public programs such as those paying for wheelchairs and scooters and health insurance coverage."

The report noted the growing number of disabled veterans as a result of the war and went on to say:

"Between 40 million and 50 million Americans -- roughly one in seven -- have some kind of disability, the report said. The number is expected to balloon over the next three decades as the baby boom generation ages.

"Inaction will lead to individual and societal costs -- avoidable dependency, diminished quality of life, increased stress on individuals and families, and lost productivity," the panel said in a statement."

Via Yahoo News

These are many of the issues which appear and re-appear in my advocacy work with people with disabilities - lack of quality of life, lack of access, barriers to obtaining necessary equipment and employment, stresses on caregivers/family/individuals, and gaps in public programs. If you're interested in reading more about any of these issues , please click on the tags below.

One thing I do disagree with is that a crisis is not pending-- it is already upon us, for those of us living with disabilities who are not receiving necessary services and equipment and employment....our quality of life is already lowered.