Writing as a father of a child with severe disabilities, I am hoping that Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz will serve as a leader in championing the cause not only of people with disabilities like his son, Gus, but also those like my son, William, who have Complex Intersectional Disabilities—those with the most severe medical problems.
So far, the Kamala Harris/Walz campaign has not released its platform on how it will handle policy regarding the extensive and expensive needs of these equally worthy Americans.
Recent coverage of Gus Walz demonstrates that disability can take many forms and can impact Democrats, Republicans, and everybody in the middle. Parents should be at the table to help create the platform.
I led a group of disability advocates—Equally Alive—that included parents, providers, physicians, and policymakers who met with former President Trump in the Oval Office.
In addition to having Donald Trump tell me that I should just let my son William die and move to Florida, when Equally Alive and I met with Cabinet Members and high-level policymakers in the Administration, they told us that we had to “prove that [our] population was worth [using government money] to invest in.”
William is at the center of our life. He has a rare genetic disorder, KCNQ2-DEE, that presented with seizures when he was born and has continued after that. William’s diagnosis does not define who he is as a person. We are proud of his accomplishments, his resilience, and his willingness to overcome obstacles. The love he shares with us and those who meet him is unbreakable. His life has value.
According to the CDC, in 2022, over 70 million people in America reported having a disability, including more than 7 million children, many living in poverty. William and others with his disabilities show us how life remains meaningful despite frailty and illness.
At the Disability Vote reception hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) at the Democratic National Convention, I met with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D) Michigan and Former Senator Tom Harkin (D) Iowa, and we pledged to work together to ensure people with complex disabilities get the healthcare and quality of life they deserve.
This nation spends too much on foreseeable medical failures that result in hospitalizations and too little on preventive care that can stop expensive, bad health outcomes and provide a better quality of life for our loved ones, which will also have an immense impact on both cost and quality of care. Here is where we should start:
1. Disability rights are civil rights. This means that people with disabilities are protected, funded, and supported in everything they choose to do.
2. America has made curing cancer a national priority. We support that. How about a moonshot to help people with disabilities and those who love them?
3. Provide the necessary training and funding for healthcare and long-term care providers to prevent illness that causes hospitalizations and reward them for producing better health outcomes.
4. Provide a menu of choices for people where and when they need it more coordinately and provide funding and programs. It means paying their caregivers a competitive wage to address the caregiver workforce crisis.
5. Millions of people with disabilities are waiting for affordable housing units and group home beds. Since the Pandemic, group home disability providers have had to close hundreds of homes nationwide due to lack of funding.
Many people with disabilities are living at home with parents over the age of 65 or in hospitals, psychiatric wards, young people in geriatric nursing homes, and 760,000 people with disabilities are in prison, including 550,000 with intellectual disabilities. The Harriz/Walz platform should include a variety of housing choices and funding for this population to be independent and free.
Our nation has a long history of aiming high and coming up short. As the vice-presidential debate approaches, I hope this crisis in care which affects so many American families, is on the agenda.
This is a call to action. Let’s work together to also celebrate those at the highest level of need and show that “investing” in this population makes us better human beings and a better nation. Let’s do this for William, Gus, and every human worthy of the dignity and compassion that can be America at its best.
Fred C. Trump, III is the author of All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way. (Simon & Schuster) Trump III is the grandson of Fred Trump, the patriarch of the Trump family real estate empire. He is also the nephew of Donald Trump. Fred and his wife, Lisa, are passionate supporters for the community of the intellectually and developmentally disabled.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024, 5:44 PM.
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