Fetterman and Assistive Technology
Valuing people with disabilities for their abilities, not condition
Editorial Note: This article was written during the Pennsylvania Senate race between Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman. We delayed publishing to avoid being seen as taking sides. Now that Fetterman has won, we hope that increased awareness of his disability and use of assistive technology will lead to greater acceptance and use of such technology in both personal and professional settings.
On October 13, the New York Times ran a guest opinion piece, “Why That John Fetterman Interview Caused a Furor.’ I was left wondering why the New York Times ran it as an opinion piece when it had facts, not opinions. John Fetterman using a perfectly normal piece of captioning assistive technology is a fact. The fact that people needing reasonable accommodations are entitled to them under well-established laws is undeniable. People historically and currently (including people on the Fetterman campaign) hold stigmas against employing people with disabilities and often try to hide them. That is also a fact.
As we previously wrote, October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), and as this incident with NBC News and the editorial choices of the NY Times emphasizes, we have A LOT of awareness building to do.
My mother had a pretty severe stroke in 2016. She still has not recovered the full use of her right side, and her form of aphasia means she can’t always find the right word when she wants it. One is not the same after a stroke, and every stroke is different depending on what part of the brain is most affected. In my mother’s case, there were some trade-offs in her overall health and quality of life though. As we’ve talked about many times in our family, she’s actually healthier post-stroke with a better quality of life than she was pre-stroke. Surprising, right? Sure, she can’t type the 100+ words a minute she used to, but she’s healthier both physically and mentally than she was before the stroke.
Haben Girma is a disabilities rights activist who is the first (but won’t be the only) deaf-blind woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. She recently published a memoir detailing her early life up to and through Harvard. My big takeaway from her story is that she’s not that special. Okay, that is a flippant hot take, but one I stand behind because it is precisely the takeaway that I think she’s going for in her book. Empower individuals with disabilities with assistive technology and create inclusive spaces for their use, and the limits that our ableist world has established will begin to shift. This is a ‘both’ / ‘and’ situation. Assistive technology will only improve, and digital accessibility will only become more ubiquitous, but we must also create inclusive environments for people with disabilities to tackle employment that was previously closed to them.
So that brings us back to John Fetterman and the U.S. Senate. He had a stroke. His disability is not always a visible one. Millions of Americans have visible and invisible disabilities that are permanent, temporary, episodic, or situational. Should this disqualify him for the U.S. Senate? Absolutely not. Let’s judge Mr. Fetterman on his record, his policy ideas, and his performance, and not on whether he uses captioning technology to make him better at his profession. Perhaps if every politician had to read what others are asking or saying, it might improve communication across our politics. Maybe politicians would answer more honestly and directly. One can dream.
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Marty Molloy, the President of Tamman, is a passionate leader dedicated to building inclusive teams and fostering a culture of growth. With a background in non-profit leadership and education, he is committed to leveraging technology to create positive impact and make the world more accessible and equitable for all.
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