The findings and purpose of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) 2008 might have some bearing on how we think about mask wearing.
I am not disabled. Every once in a while something happens — I need a new eyeglass prescription because I can’t see across the room, I break a toe and have to find a closer door or I am suffering from swimmer’s ear and can’t hear the bustle around me — but like millions of Americans, I am not limited by my body. I am able to be in the world without any modifications or accommodations.
I also do not have a pre-existing condition that leaves me vulnerable to Covid 19. However, my work is with vulnerable adults aging with disability and I have years of experience working with children on a similar path. I refer to both groups as people who are living with a disability because that is everyone’s goal — to live and to live a good life.
For the most part, I provide service to the fully vaccinated; we happily did that a long time ago. We also live in a state that has the second highest vaccination rate in the country, and a county that is a model to many. Now things are changing, and while I believe that everyone should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, we are again at a crossroad.
This crossroad may not have a marker. Governor Baker has clearly said that these masking decisions are up to the local authorities should they want to make those decisions. I have no beef with Governor Baker. I have admired his approach all along. But this leaves many of us unable to participate fully in the world, because of everyone else’s decision to not mask, without recognizing what this decision might be doing to our most vulnerable citizens — our elders and our children.
The findings and purpose of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) 2008 might have some bearing on how we think about mask wearing. In enacting the ADA, Congress recognized that physical and mental disabilities in no way diminish a person’s right to fully participate in all aspects of society, but that people with physical or mental disabilities are frequently precluded from doing so because of prejudice, antiquated attitudes, or the failure to remove societal and institutional barriers.
Being around the unvaccinated, mask-less citizens in public places is a societal barrier for the vulnerable. It requires those who are vulnerable take on the burden of isolating. They have the burden of saying no to gatherings, to refusing a trip to the grocery store, to declining indoor exercise or gatherings, and to just being easily in the world with the people they love. In my life, I have campaigned for ramps and increased accessibility to public buildings, and advocated for ensuring our neighbors living with disabilities are a true part of our community.
None of that matters now if we have decided that our personal rights, the right to not wear a mask, is more important than the rights of all our community members. My not wearing a mask essentially says my rights supersede yours. I suppose that it also means that I have the right to stay home and not live my life if I am at risk. Boo hoo? Or do we see the difference? It is not a level playing field at all.
My hope is that this is challenged under the ADA, but I am not a disability law expert and imagine there are a million ways to poke holes in my argument. I suppose what I can only hope to do here is shine a light on the fact that sometimes rights are not just ours. The burden we put on our most vulnerable populations must be shared so that all people can fully participate in society. It is about the mask, but it is also about removing barriers.
For many of the people I work with, we see more isolation, less choice, and less joy coming our way. We are all holding breath that this will not happen. If we all just wear a mask, maybe some of the more vulnerable in our community can continue to contribute and participate as they always have. What I see instead are my clients being limited again in a significant way because they bear the burden of an unfair choice, participating or precluding from situations that put them at increased risk. So as we go about our day, the choice to wear a mask can also go with our choice to provide accommodation to all members of our community, to fully participate in all aspects of our Island life, safely.
Mary M. Holmes is the supervisor of the Supportive Day Program at the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living.
Comments
Thank you, Mary Holmes. Your
MM EdgartownThank you, Mary Holmes. Your article is profoundly on target; logical, simple, and humane.
My recent experience with near daily disrespect & callousness emanating from the insouciance of my fellow, but maskless “citizens” is demoralizing. It puzzles me that the health risks to fragile members of their own community are “passed over.” How we care for one another reveals our character. Those who help each other in time of wars & pandemics are those who will survive.
There is a very important
Patricia Kunze New JerseyThere is a very important critical element missing from this article. And that is the prejudice, stares, snarky comments that people give to those who are disabled and not able to wear a mask due to their disability. My husband has a multitude of serious illnesses, one being needing a lung transplant. I cannot describe to you the multitude of ways people have made us feel “unwanted & not welcomed”, whenever my husband lowers his mask to breathe. People assume the worst and convey their dismay. My husband always wears a mask. But in walking, even a short distance, he gasps for air & must lower his mask to literally catch his breadth. We always are careful to stay at a distance from others, however, anyone who passes stares, comments, and conveys that: “You are a disgrace & not wanted here”. As far as safety, it is actually They who threaten my husband, because of his vulnerability.
We have created a society where no one gives consideration that some individuals with disabilities, like Cystic Fibrosis,COPD, Bhronchiotasis, Sarcoidosis, Organ Transplant recipients,and a multitude of illnesses, cause individuals to have to limit mask wearing; but no one cares. My experience during this pandemic, both on the Vineyard or at home, is that people prefer these disabled individuals to stay home. Unfortunately, that is what we’ve had to do most days, stay indoors, or bear people’s wrath.. Thankfully, for a few short weeks in June, we were able to walk freely on the Vineyard and enjoy sunshine, restaurants - without stares & rudeness. That was post vaccine but pre-Delta.
Not all persons with disabilities are in wheelchairs. Remember that next time you give a backward glare to someone with their mask lowered. They might not have the same good health & lung capacity you do.
Totally agree, thank you for
Jess ChilmarkTotally agree, thank you for expressing your point of view and addressing critical points, many maskers are quick to judge and tend to shame / judge others and have no clue what their situation is nor do they care. Not that it’s any of their business, but we all have our views/ and or private health issues on masking and we should not need to explain ourselves to others. I don’t ask people driving alone in their car or walking openly alone outside, why they have their mask on. Goes both ways.
Very interesting point of
Brooks Richard OBVery interesting point of view. Maybe a few readers will gain from this viewpoint. We are all learning every day, more so in this Unknown Covid world.
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