The sad thing is that it's as much of an issue, if not more, than it ever was. Look at the fact that there really hasn't been much change in the rate of violence against women with disabilities. That's an automatic one-down situation where a person feels guilt and shame because the abuse is put on them.
But overall, there is a value that every one of us as human beings.... Sigmund Freud talked about the two pillars of life being love and work. Well, what gets most shot down when a person has a disability? Love and work. A lot of marriages end. The only example I can pull off the top of my head is from nursing school, that two-thirds of all marriages with MS ended in divorce. That's a pretty heavy thing, and that's just one illness.
When you look at that and you look at the loss, the trauma of all of those things, and then you add the disability on top of it, there are some things that are very hard. I have to tell you that even in my situation--because I will never work again--I have had some of the most stigmatizing experiences in the last year, which is shocking to me.
I took a class in how to give a presentation. All of you have had me here before. I'm wearing the same clothing as I wore when I appeared in front of you three times before, and I was told that it was not appropriate. I was chastised for that. I don't have money to go out and buy new clothing. I had to find a seamstress to get things made. It's been a year, just that process alone, finding somebody who will do that kind of tailoring at a price that I can afford.
These are some of the things that happen.