Wal Mart offers carts for shoppers with disabilities.
A lawsuit is filed against music rapper
Rick Ross for inaccessibility at his car show
and actors call on Hollywood to Green Light disability.
This and much more on this episode of the disability news report.
This is the disability news report with host Arthur Aston.
Caroline's carts began being distributed to Walmarts across
the country in May of this year.
They will be available in all Walmarts beginning January 2025
with at least two Caroline's carts at each location.
The carts are similar to regular shopping carts
but they include a large seat with a five point harness
that can accommodate people weighing between 35 and 250 pounds.
Currently, only 20% of Walmart's 4600 locations have Caroline's Cards.
This is an important move by Walmart as
these cards are very beneficial to parents and
caregivers who can now push their disabled loved
one while shopping all at the same time.
This is a great way to be inclusive and accessible for your disabled shoppers.
Thank you for making this change and we hope
that other stores will see this example and follow along
on the last episode of the disability news report,
we shared a story about a podcast episode where a caller asked when
is it appropriate for him to disclose his disability when on dating apps?
Our next story comes from today.com with the title of, we just want to be married.
Some disabled people can't get married and keep their benefits.
More than 9 million Americans receive some type of disability benefit.
The adult disabled Children D AC Social security, disability insurance,
SSD I and supplemental security income are three federally funded
programs that have penalties for disabled beneficiaries who get married.
Each of these programs is for specific individuals.
Let me provide a brief overview of each of these programs.
The D AC program is for individuals who have been
diagnosed with a disability before the age of 22.
These Social Security benefits are paid based on the work record of the parent
of the disabled adult child SSD I is linked to a person's employment history,
meaning that if they work for a certain number of years and then become disabled,
they qualify for SSD I.
People who receive S si have limited or
no work history and restricted income and assets.
These programs have strict rules when it comes to a beneficiary who decides to marry
depending on the program and who you decide to marry.
This can have an impact on the amount of benefits you receive.
If you receive D AC benefits,
you can marry a person who also receives D AC or S SI benefits
because of disability or retirement.
And neither of you will have to worry about losing a portion
or the total amount of your benefits.
When considering marriage, when receiving S SI benefits,
there is another factor that those beneficiaries have to be concerned about
and that is asset limits.
Anyone who receives S SI benefits cannot have more than $2000 in their bank account
and couples cannot have more than $3000 in their bank account.
This asset limit has not been updated since 1984.
The income of a partner who does not receive S SI is
considered as income for the spouse who does receive S si benefits.
Marrying can also potentially impact one's eligibility for Medicaid.
This topic is often discussed within the disability community and
should continue to be discussed until changes are made.
Here are some things to consider as to why
these rules for these federally funded programs are outdated.
The asset limits are very much outdated.
The median asking rent in the United States in
April of 2024 was $1723 for a one bedroom apartment
and $1916 for a two bedroom apartment.
People with disabilities should not be penalized or lose all of their
benefits because they want to marry someone who is not disabled.
There is a such thing as interabled couples where one person in
the relationship has a disability and the other person does not.
This way of thinking is very outdated and needs to be
re evaluated and changes need to be made to these rules.
There is a bit of good news to share on this topic.
Senator Sherrod Brown,
Bill Cassidy and James Lankford sponsored the legislation
called the S SI Savings Penalty Elimination Act.
This bill would update S si asset limits to
$10,000 for each individual and $20,000 for a couple.
We will keep an eye on this story and provide any
updates on a future episode of the disability news report.
Our next story comes out of Georgia where rapper Rick Ross is facing a lawsuit.
A lawsuit was recently filed against rapper Rick Ross and his company,
Rick Ross Car Show Incorporated
citing that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Darius
Strader, a wheelchair user filed this lawsuit earlier this month
after he was denied access to Rick Ross's car and bike
show that was held at Ross's estate in June of this year
when Darius spoke with event organizers weeks before the event,
he was assured that a wheelchair accessible shuttle
would be available in the parking area to take him to the event space
upon arriving to the event,
an accessible shuttle was not available
and Darius waited for hours before he left
the parking area never attending the event.
He is seeking over $50,000 in damages.
Mr
Stros lawyers admit that although the event
was held on Rick Ross's private property,
the event was open to the public and therefore they
should have abided by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We will follow up on this story and provide any
updates in future episodes of the disability news report.
Our next story comes straight from Paris at the recent Olympic Games.
Tara Davis Wood Hall and Hunter Wood Hall were recently all over everyone's
television screens and social media feeds during the Olympic Games in Paris.
Tara won gold for team USA.
A popular video showing Tara jumping into the arms of her husband. Hunter
was shown all over the evening and morning news shows in the following days.
What you could not see as Tara jumped into Hunter's arms as he stood in the stands
is that Hunter and Tara who were married in the fall of 2022 are an interabled couple.
Hunter is an amputee and he is also a paralympic sprinter.
The couple met at a track meet in 2017.
Tara
qualified for the Olympics and Hunter qualified for
the Paralympics in Tokyo back in 2021.
We are so proud to highlight these athletes from the team USA
and send our congratulations to Tara for winning the gold medal.
We are looking forward to watching Hunter
compete later this month in the Paralympics.
Be sure to keep an eye on your local stations
for when and where you can watch the Paralympic Games.
Our last story is actors call on Hollywood to Green light disability
actors, Rami Yussef,
Sian header, Marley Matlin
and others call on Hollywood to Green Light Disability.
Rami Yussef hired an actor by the name of Steve.
We who has muscular dystrophy to star in his show Rami,
which he created that is streaming on the Hulu platform.
Seaon Hunter is director of the Academy Award winning film CODA,
which stands for Child of deaf adult.
And Marley Matlin is the first deaf actress to win
an Academy Award for best actress for the film,
Children of a Lesser God.
In 1986
these actors, filmmakers, writers,
showrunners and others join along with
the foundation named Inevitable Foundation.
They joined together to send an open letter
to ask Hollywood and the Hollywood industry filmmakers
to consider financing and marketing more projects that
include accurate representations of people with disabilities.
The Inevitable Foundation is a nonprofit organization with the following mission
to invest in disabled writers and filmmakers
so they can achieve artistic and financial freedom
and to use film and television to destigmatize disability and mental health.
Globally.
This open letter also asks for opportunities to research
and collect data about content that features disabled actors
and to make sure that entertainment venues are accessible for all
it is so refreshing to see that those with and without disabilities
and those who are allies of the disability
community are joining forces in Hollywood to make
disability a priority to showcase and highlight those
stories about those in the disability community.
This is such a great story to share and we look forward to
seeing the response from that open letter and
to see these changes being made in Hollywood.
We thank you for watching this episode of the disability news report.