Disability Pride Month is celebrated in July to commemorate the passing of the American With Disabilities Act, which was signed into law July 26, 1990. It aimed to protect the rights of people living with disabilities and help them to better access public spaces.
Scott Crawford is a retired clinical neuropsychologist who lives on his own in Jackson. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999.
Shamira Muhammad
Disability Pride Month
“I no longer drive,” he said. “I use a power wheelchair for mobility. I have a lot of fatigue. I have to sleep something like 12 to 16 hours a day. So you're catching me at my best, my few hours of functioning.”
According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, 37.9% of adults in the state reported having at least one disability in 2022. These disabilities may affect cognition, sight, hearing or a person’s mobility, like in the case of Crawford.
“As we age, we develop access and functional needs. And one of the messages I want to share with people is that if ADA doesn't affect you now, it likely will,” he said.
Crawford says although the ADA law provided compliance guidelines that created standards for public spaces, such as wheelchair ramps and accessible bathrooms, making private residences accessible for people living with disabilities is not mandated by law.
“The challenges facing people with mobility impairments are voluminous,” he said. “Just leaving the house is a challenge because most homes are not ADA compliant.”
The ADA is housed within the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, but Crawford believes the enforcement of civil rights for people living with disabilities under the law may not be prioritized under the current Trump administration.
“ADA is a living document that's under threat by the new administration and petty interests that resent modest investments to include people with disabilities,” he said. “ADA can't defend itself. It falls on concerned citizens.”
Crawford believes ADA compliance in the public and private sector could worsen due to recent federal funding cuts. The law provides resources for people living with disabilities to have home assistance in order to help keep them out of institutions.
KFF, a health policy organization, predicts that the ‘big, beautiful bill’ will eliminate up to $1 trillion from the Medicaid budget over ten years. Crawford believes changes to Medicaid eligibility may end up impacting people living with disabilities.
“I have friends in the disability community who do depend on Medicaid for home and community based services, meaning people that go out to their homes, help them get out of bed, get dressed, shower, and do the very essentials of life so that they don't end up in an institution,” he said. “A nursing home where they will lose a substantial amount of their freedom and choices.”
Crawford believes that over the years, Mississippi has improved accessibility for people living with disabilities. He’s able to take the bus around Jackson because of lifts that have been installed. Improved sidewalks around his neighborhood allow his electric wheelchair to move over them without obstacles. But he says these changes came after consistent efforts from advocates like himself.
“It would have been better for Mississippi to adopt its own version of ADA many years ago, and I still don't understand why we don't. Other states do that,” he said. “We could customize it to the needs of Mississippians.”
Crawford says that he and other members of Mississippi’s disability community are hoping to introduce a bill during the state’s next legislative session that would provide a tax credit for homeowners who conduct ADA compliant renovations.