How Long COVID Could Change the Way We Think About Disability

“The coronavirus pandemic has created a mass-disabling event that experts liken to HIV, polio or World War II, with millions suffering the long-term effects of infection with the coronavirus,” writes Frances Stead Sellers for the Washington Post.

Let that sink in.

Young and old, people from around the world are beginning to accept a new post-Covid identity: that of disability.

The pandemic has resulted in an unexpected growth in the size of the disabled population, and advocates like Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, are embracing a “big-tent approach in the disability community.”

Advocates and leaders in the community have advocated for laying out the welcome mat to those with long Covid, and suggest that these newly disabled could strengthen the overall constituency of disabled people in the United States and elsewhere.

Matthew Cortland, a senior resident fellow at Data for Progress, told the Washington Post that the disability community “should be treated by politicians and policymakers with the respect of any other voting bloc.”

Lisa McCorkell, who got covid early in the pandemic and now identifies as disabled, said that “the benefit of millions of people getting sick all at once, is we have remarkable access to people and power that others have struggled to get for a long time. I want to make sure that I am representing those people.” Let’s hope new members of the disability community will continue the work of past advocates, allowing the community to achieve the recognition and support that it deserves.

To read more about how those with long covid are impacting perceptions of disability, see the Washington Post article published on Boston.com.