7 Hidden Costs of Disability
Being disabled is expensive.
Being disabled costs money. It’s a simple truth that every disabled person I’ve ever met has known. Some of these costs are fairly obvious, like healthcare and accessibility devices. Wheelchairs and regular checkups are expensive, and health insurance, if you’re lucky enough to have it, doesn’t always cover them.
But there are a lot of hidden costs to being disabled that I think a lot of able-bodied folks have never considered because they’ve never had to consider them. That’s not a crime — in fact, in some ways, I’m glad that most people haven’t had to deal with some of these issues. But I still wish that I could convey how expensive my daily life is to people so they can understand where it all goes.
There is a concept that disability activists talk about sometimes, the “disability tax” or “crip tax”. This refers to the hidden additional charges that disabled people need to pay just to get through life.
Paying extra to get around when public transportation does not have accessible stops. Paying extra for paywalled transcripts of podcasts that hearing people can listen to for free. Paying extra for an accessible apartment.
These are all examples of the disability tax, or crip tax, and each of them builds on the next to make life harder and harder and harder for…
