To Table of Contents municipality in central Illinois on behalf of people with mobility disabilities who live in that region to improve sidewalks and curb cuts throughout their city , which are now unsafe or nonexistent . Furthermore , Gallegos discusses that one of the biggest misperceptions of people with disabilities is that they have a low quality of life – this belief has deadly consequences in the healthcare space , which society saw play out during the height of pandemic when people with disabilities were being refused treatment for COVID-19 because of physicians ’ perceptions that disabled individuals had a low quality of life and therefore were not worthy of treatment , and were deprioritized for vaccinations .
This misperception can be changed , however – Gallegos explains that , “ We need to have greater visibility and greater participation on the boards and in C-suites of healthcare systems , and corporations in general . We also need to ensure disability cultural competency is incorporated into curricula at the undergraduate and graduate level for medical , dental , nursing and other allied health professional schools .” The greater visibility that individuals with disabilities have , the less misconceptions and negative stigma will be associated with disability . Moreover , Gallegos goes on to explain that accurate portrayal of people with disabilities on television and movies will make a considerable difference in how people perceive disabilities and life with a disability .
Not only does Gallegos lead a commendable legal team in creating significant change for the disability community , he also serves as the Chairman of the National Council on Disability ( NCD ) appointed by President Biden on the afternoon of his inauguration . The NCD ’ s primary responsibilities are advising the President , his administration , Congress and federal agencies on all policy matters affecting the 64 million + people with disabilities in the country and in our territories . The NCD is comprised of nine council members , presidentially and congressionally appointed , and supported by a team of 11 incredibly talented and committed full-time staff members . The NCD is the smallest federal agency in all of the government , but serves a crucial role for the disability community . Gallegos explains that the role of the NCD will likely expand within the next ten years , and are currently working closely with a number of different legislative offices framing policy recommendations , and providing comments and feedback to various pieces of proposed legislation they are working on that affect people with disabilities .
This advisory role is likely to expand , whereby , with increased resources , at very early legislative stages the NCD reviews and provides input in a more formal and deliberate manner to every federal legislative proposal that addresses or affects persons with disabilities In doing so , this expanded role will allow the NCD to provide greater input and have more influence to legislative and policy-making decisions . As his role as Chairman of the NCD , Gallegos truly is motivated and inspired by the opportunity to have an elevated voice , working on issues that he has focused on as a disability rights attorney – but at the national level – working with the leadership teams of many national disability advocacy organizations , and working with NCD ’ s multi-talented staff and council members .
All in all , change and representation of disability is crucial . Here , in the United States one out of every four people identifies as having a disability . Statistically , in the next couple of years , it ’ s likely that every family in the United States will have a personal connection to disability . The issues that Gallegos and his team are addressing are issues that affect everyone - today ’ s disabled and today ’ s abled .
With this , Gallegos concludes with a reflection : through his work with the disability community , “ I learned to fully embrace my disability and once I did , it became easier to advocate for myself and for others .”