In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in presidential campaigns. In this campaign, a number of posts have discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. He also has a bad record on disability issues more generally. He told his nephew Fred that severely disabled people should "just die."
At The Kansas City Star, Nathaniel Ross Kelly recalls a teen with Down Syndrome who cheered up stranded passengers at the Kansas City airport.
Propaganda by Germany’s Third Reich depicted people with disabilities as “useless eaters” who threatened the economic stability of the nation and the so-called purity of the “Aryan race.” When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they began sterilizing people with disabilities. Later, they began killing them en masse. To our country’s great shame, the Third Reich was inspired by the despicable policies that spread across the U.S. in the first half of the 20th century. More than 30 states passed compulsory sterilization laws for anyone deemed to have genetic illnesses or conditions. Missouri legislators tried and failed to pass such laws. Kansas, on the other hand, successfully passed a law in 1913 that legalized the forced sterilization of anyone thought to be “mentally deficient.”
Tragically, 31 states and Washington, D.C., still permit their courts to order the sterilization of people with disabilities. The process is far more complicated today, but the outcome is the same: the denial of reproductive freedom to marginalized people. How much further might the rights of people with disabilities erode under the leadership of a president who is incapable of seeing their innate humanity?
There’s an endless torrent of questions about what a second Trump term would entail. Mass deportations, weakened environmental regulations, and increased tax breaks for the ultrarich are just some of the many possibilities. Maybe you wholeheartedly agree with these potential policies and you’re looking forward to voting for Trump in November.
But when you’re alone and on the verge of casting your ballot, I urge you to remember that kid at KCI Airport, bringing joy to weary travelers. And I urge you to seriously consider the implications of giving power to someone who doesn’t care whether that young man — and millions of others like him — live or die.
Senator Maggie Hassan, whose son is severely disabled, at The Boston Globe:
Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, understands what empathy looks like. We served together in the Senate, and she never fails to ask about Ben. She understands that finding common ground starts with learning about the challenges and aspirations of all people, not just the people you know or socialize with. She knows that real leaders love people for who they are, for who they can become, and for what they can accomplish.
Compare this to Trump. In addition to what he said about his grandnephew, recall that he mocked and mimicked a reporter with disabilities on the campaign trail in 2015. He seems unable and uninterested in learning about people whose experiences and challenges might be different from his own. And he has never exhibited the empathy necessary to absorb the hopes and the hurts that Americans who are different from him carry.
Our country is founded on the vision set out in the Declaration of Independence — that all of us are created equal and are endowed with the same rights. America has become stronger when our country has expanded its promise to marginalized Americans, including, yes, Americans with disabilities.
Making progress requires us to embrace each other’s intrinsic humanity. Our American mission is to bring out the best in each other — when we have, our country has flourished. Trump has proven that he is incapable of the generosity of spirit that has defined our country at its best. America deserves better.
Does my 22-year-old autistic son, who has severe behavioral limitations, have the same “value” as his brother – an Eagle Scout with stellar grades, a college degree earned in just three years, and success as a Science Olympiad national finalist?
Or is he, as Donald Trump sees it, just one of “those kinds of people. . . (who) should just die,” and cease being a burden to my family and future generations?
