Social isolation continued: Covid-19 shines a light on what self-advocates know too well

Abstract

Covid-19 has been an unprecedented time for social work as a profession and even more so for marginalized communities. This paper shares the reflections of three self-advocates (persons labelled/with intellectual disabilities engaged in advocacy and activism), a social worker, and a social work educator and researcher. It is intended as a rallying cry for social work to rethink how we deliver services to ensure that people who have already been made vulnerable through oppressive ableist practices and assumptions are not put at greater disadvantage at times like Covid-19. Hearing directly from self-advocates, we learn of their exclusion from pandemic planning, and of the ways that physical and social distancing protocols have worked to exacerbate the isolation, marginalization and inequities that people labelled/with intellectual disabilities have experienced over the years. We are called upon to more actively focus on advocacy efforts with people labelled/with intellectual disabilities to increase their involvement in planning, as well as access to supports, and to ensure that they do not remain “the left behind of the left behind”.