UCP AffNet Entrance
Housing
For Providers
Myths & Misconceptions of People With Disabilities
Myth #1: People with disabilities are to be pitied, feared, or ignored.
New laws, disability activism and expanded coverage of disability issues have altered public awareness and knowledge, eliminating the worst stereotypes and misrepresentations.
Myth #2: People with disabilities are not capable of renting, owning and/or maintaining a home of their own.
Rental and homeownership choices offer people with disabilities the opportunity for stable housing, community inclusion, and personal and financial growth. Many of the barriers to community living for people with disabilities are systemic and do not relate directly to their ability to rent or own their own home and maintain it on a day-to-day basis.
Myth #3: People with disabilities need to be in “special” or separate “systems” to meet their needs.
People with disabilities expect equal treatment, not special treatment. They want to exercise the basic, normal rights that people without disabilities take for granted: choice, control, integration, and inclusion. Home modifications for people with disabilities continue to be viewed as an exception to the rule. They must find their way into general consumer media (e.g., television, newspapers, etc.) on a regular basis if people with disabilities are to have more choices and better access to housing that meets their needs throughout their communities.
Myth #4: There is no need for additional affordable housing targeted to people with disabilities.
People with disabilities have been negatively affected by the dramatic decline in federally funded housing more than any other group eligible for housing assistance due to their extremely low incomes, their need for deeper rent subsidies, and the scarcity of decent accessible housing. In order to meet the affordability needs of people with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, government housing programs must include a rental subsidy or an operating subsidy to ensure affordability at very low incomes. A study by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force and the Technical Assistance Collaborative found that the national average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is more than the entire SSI payment to people with disabilities. In 2002, people with disabilities were priced out of all 2,702 housing markets.