O PINION
I Know the Obstacles Faced by People with Disabilities.

That Is Why I Am Lobbying for Change
BY AARON KAUFMAN
I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED in
living life to the fullest. When
you grow up with a disability,
you are faced with a choice of
whether or not to let it defi ne
you as a person.

People oft en fi nd it easy
to say no to someone with a
disability, “No, we can’t accom-
modate that; no we aren’t set
up for that,” and so on. But I
always wanted to hear “Yes,
don’t worry, we’ll fi nd a way.”
I grew up in Montgomery
County, Maryland, just north
of Washington, D.C. When I
was seven years old, a close
friend of my parents was
running for the Maryland
House of Delegates. My dad
invited me to join him outside
the polling place, handing out
literature for the candidate. I
felt as if I were doing something
important and I knew I was
making my parents proud.

Four years later, I stuff ed
envelopes for other candidates,
and before long I got to meet
Chris Van Hollen (now a U.S.

senator from Maryland), Jamie
Raskin (now a U.S. represen-
tative), Hillary Clinton and
others. Politics became my
lifeblood. I didn’t set out to become
an advocate for the disabled;
it just kind of happened.

When I was able to vote for
the first time, I went to my
local polling place and found
that I wasn’t physically able
to get inside the building.

The building had no accom-
modations for someone
with cerebral palsy, which
means I have difficulty with
a wide variety of everyday
tasks, including walking on
my own. They told me that I
could go somewhere else, but
I didn’t want to — I wanted
to vote with my friends and
neighbors. I refused to accept
this situation, so I reached
out to my local representa-
tives, and I ultimately had the
opportunity to testify before
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letters@jewishexponent.com 22
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
the Montgomery County
Council. They decided to
allocate funds to make all
polling places accessible, not
just in my neighborhood,
but across the entire county,
where more than a million
people live.

After graduating from
the University of Maryland,
I continued my work on
disability issues, fi rst as a
special education teacher
and then as a lobbyist at an
advocacy organization called
Th e Arc Maryland, which
helps people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities
fl ourish in both their personal
and professional lives.

More recently, I was hired
in a senior position at the
Jewish Federations of North
America, which has made
the empowerment of people
with disabilities a top priority
of its work across the Jewish
world. Our achievements
in this realm have become
models for other communities
as well. JFNA has cultivated
my strengths, accommodated
my needs and — most impor-
tantly — enabled me to bust
some myths about people
with disabilities. Sometimes
when people see me up on the
Hill, when we’re going to meet
with lawmakers, their eyes get
really big seeing a well-dressed
young man enter their offi ce
using a walker, as if they’re
surprised that someone with
a disability is a professional
lobbyist. Some perceive people with
disabilities as only being able to
perform jobs that involve what
many call “food, fi lth, fl owers
and fi ling.” I guess they’re not
thinking of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, Itzhak Perlman,
Marlee Matlin, or any of the
millions of Americans with
disabilities who have accom-
plished all kinds of amazing
feats. JEWISH EXPONENT
That dynamic in itself
created an opening for
progress. For example, the
chairlift at the Rayburn House
Offi ce Building was perennially
broken, meaning that when
I went to lobby lawmakers,
someone had to hold my hand
and help me walk up the stairs.

It’s the kind of thing that most
people don’t think about, but it
impacts the capacity of people
with disabilities to participate
in the democratic process.

When I told Rep. Raskin about
the issue, he and his chief of
staff succeeded in having a new
chairlift installed.

We’ve had so many victories
for people with disabilities at
JFNA. Perhaps the biggest one
was four years ago, when we
helped prevent the Americans
with Disabilities Act from
being gutted by legislation that
would have made it harder for
those with disabilities to sue
for discrimination.

But with all the progress
we’ve made, there’s more work
to be done.

Starting at home, our own
Jewish communities can and
should implement measures
that foster inclusion. Jewish
organizations should set aside
disability related funds in their
budgets that include accom-
modations for individuals with
disabilities, such as captioning
and ASL
interpretation and other accommodations
according to specifi c needs,
and events should always
be held in accessible venues.

Professionals — especially
senior leadership and hiring
managers — must demonstrate
a positive attitude about hiring
people with disabilities. Jewish
organizations must also create
an environment where all
members of a community feel
comfortable sharing what they
need. And our lay and commu-
nity leaders must include
people with disabilities on all
committees, not just disability
ones. On the policy level, we
are advocating vigorously for
Congress to expand eligibility
for ABLE savings accounts,
which permit people with
disabilities to set aside a portion
of their income on a tax-free
basis to help pay for physical
and psychological therapies,
durable medical equipment,
and other things that they
need. However, right now this
program is only available to
those who become disabled
before the age of 26, which
leaves out millions, including
many veterans; statistics show
that 70% of disabilities are not
congenital, but are acquired
later in life.

In addition, we are seeking a
signifi cant investment in home
and community-based services
that will benefi t not just people
with disabilities, but also many
low-income older adults. Th is
program enables Medicaid
benefi ciaries to stay at home
or in their local communities
rather than having to move to
a facility for care.

Each year, all of this work
culminates at our Jewish
Disability Advocacy Day on
Feb. 23 and 24. Champions,
such as Tony Award-winning
actress Ali Stroker and
Paralympic athlete Ezra Frech,
are joining us as we unite
with one voice to champion
policies that advance the rights
of people with disabilities.

My own personal mission is
to ensure that people like me
have the same kinds of oppor-
tunities that I have been so
blessed to have, and that we
value people with disabilities
for everything that they have
to off er, thus making life better
both for them and for us all. ●
Aaron Kaufman is senior manager
of legislative aff airs, Jewish
Federations of North America.

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