From a comment I just posted over on Rum, Romanism and Rebellion:

Currently, people with disabilities are paid using a fuzzy formula that calculates their pay rate based on their functional ability to do the jobs assigned to them. My understanding is the hubbub is mostly centered on people with developmental disabilities who live in institutional settings or group homes and spend their days in sheltered workshops or "dayhab" centers. The items they produce in these settings are sometimes sold as a means to support the organizations providing these jobs for people with developmental disabilities.

The people with developmental disabilities who are the focus of this debate probably have never bought their own loaf of bread. Just the same, they deserve the same rights and basic human dignity as anyone else. The Arc's argument about the minimum wage applying to everyone helping people with developmental disabilities integrate into the larger community is spot-on. This is a group of people who are hidden from the public, often incorrectly assumed to be 'useless', 'unproductive', 'asexual', or worse.

Truth is, given the opportunity, many (if not most) people with developmental disabilities could and would lead very productive, happy and healthy lives. Part of the way to achieve that goal is to allow them access to the same resources as their peers without developmental disabilities.

Frankly, the fact that there's even a debate about this seems silly to me.

I guess you can take the boy out of the 'disability project' but you can't take the 'disability project' out of the boy...

Labels: accessibility, equality, human rights, minimum wage, people with disabilities