Don't stigmatize candidates' use of closed captioning

Attacks on Senatorial candidate John Fetterman for his recent stroke sound either unaware — or cruelly biased.

Many U.S. Senators, and other political figures, have had health problems and served their country vigorously, regardless. Examples are legion: Senators Chris van Hollen, D-Md, and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., recently had strokes. Ten U.S. Presidents suffered strokes, including Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower, as did President Taft, who admitted having difficulty framing thoughts and words.

People with disabilities work, play, serve, compete and enjoy life every day — with or without a device or assistance. Anybody who has ever had a medical condition or impairment — or knows a friend or family member with one — realizes a disability is not a death sentence. Rather, with support, it becomes another of life’s issues to deal with and overcome.

Using a cane, wheelchair, eyeglasses or — in Mr. Fetterman’s case — closed captioning on his computer — should not disqualify a person from office. Many stroke victims commonly rely on CC to assist with auditory processing difficulties which have nothing to do with intelligence.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, and Congressman Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., both use a wheelchair. The late Senator Bob Dole had multiple impairments that affected his daily life, from dressing to eating, and used a wheelchair, but he served faithfully for decades, later running for president, becoming a strong champion for people with disabilities. And, famously, President Franklin Roosevelt used a wheelchair all his life, including during his four presidential terms.

Do we attack these elected officials' use of assistive aids? Or, do we look at their political record?

Luckily, the U.S. has the “Americans with Disability Act,” a monumental law that outlawed discrimination against the disabled and opened the world of employment, buildings, services, education, transportation and access of all kinds to them. We no longer ridicule the disabled or keep them in locked rooms. Now, we welcome them and accommodate them in all phases of life — and should.

While voters should rightly ask health questions of their candidates, shunning, insulting or marginalizing any — including John Fetterman — because of a disability is mean, heartless and un-American.

Let Mr. Fetterman, or anybody else, use closed captioning. I am more interested in what they do with the information — not how difficult it was for them to get it.

Mimi Reimel lives in Middletown Township.

This article originally appeared on The Intelligencer: Stigmatizing John Fetterman's use of closed captioning shows cruel bias