Many people with disabilities who live in Lower Manhattan are cut off from the supplies and services on which they depend. Paratransit service in that area is suspended and is under stricter limits throughout the city. Some people may not be able to get prescriptions filled. Wheelchair and other equipment repairs may be delayed or unfinished because shops are closed.

“First and foremost, we're trying to make sure all the federal support that might be useful is getting to the centers for independent living in New York City and to people with disabilities,” said Marcie Roth, director of advocacy and public policy at the National Council on Independent Living in Arlington, Va.

“There hasn't been any contact with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) yet and so we've asked the White House to help get FEMA connected with the disability community in New York City. We don't expect that FEMA is just going to readily understand what some of the complicated issues are. So it's not just a matter of getting in touch,” but helping people understand the needs, Roth said. These may include access to medications, supplies, food or home health care aides.

The independent living centers have unconfirmed reports that some personal attendants are unable to reach people with disabilities, said Laura Hagen, executive director of the Capital Area Center for Independence in Albany, N.Y. Hagen has volunteered to serve as a spokeswoman for the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York, the independent living center that serves Manhattan.

“There's a concern that the emergency personnel may not be letting them through because they're not family or they don't live there and may not understand what attendant services are or what they need,” Hagen said.

She said some aides who are trying to get into Lower Manhattan to help people with disabilities are being turned away by emergency personnel who say they are not authorized to enter the closed-off area.

“They have to explain we're going to deliver food to a person with a disability, they need food, they haven't had food,” Hagen said.

Citymeals-on-Wheels, which provides food for the homebound elderly, saw service disrupted last week when meal vans could not make it into the city after the attacks. Several local restaurants called the agency to offer to help, and volunteers offered to deliver the meals in their neighborhoods.

Citymeals-on-Wheels has seven centers below 14th Street, said program coordinator Alison Leavitt, and of those only one had to close Sept. 11 without providing meals. On an average day, the agency works with 120 centers to provide 16,000-17,000 meals. Leavitt said 100-200 clients did not get meals on either Tuesday or Wednesday. All the agency's clients have been contacted and emergency supplies went out last week to those who needed it most, Leavitt said.

Even now, many people with disabilities are not making it to health care appointments, either because they can't find transportation or they're afraid to leave their house. The League for the Hard of Hearing reports 50 percent of its clients are either canceling appointments or just not showing up.

With parts of Lower Manhattan still closed to traffic, many people remain stuck in their homes. Phone service is improved from last week, Roth said, but for many people it remains spotty. Internet service, on which many people with disabilities depend to keep them connected, also is touch and go.

The areas that are cut off include some residential neighborhoods. City officials have warned people with lung disease about the dangers of breathing in the smoke and dust generated by the rubble from the collapsed towers. In addition, some streets may not be accessible because of the debris.

New York City Transit, which runs the Access-A-Ride paratransit service, is taking reservations only one to two days in advance, instead of the usual four days. Buses are delayed because of bridge closures and the buses cannot go below the frozen zone near the attack site. In addition, some subway stations remain closed and are being rerouted, which may cause complications for people with mobility impairments who depend on catching the train at a specific stop, or for people who are blind and rely on their routine.

People who are deaf faced difficulty immediately after the attacks. One man who is deaf and who worked in the World Trade Center, saw everyone running around but didn't understand what was going on. Finally someone told him to start running.

“He didn't know what was going on and he was just running,” said Keith Muller, executive director of the League for the Hard of Hearing in Manhattan. Not only did people who are deaf not understand what was happening at the time, but they also missed out on the 24-hour television news broadcast, which did not include real-time captioning. Most cable news channels scrolled headlines along the bottom, but that scroll was not directly tied to what they were discussing onscreen. No emergency phone numbers included TTY or TDD lines.

“So what can deaf people do? How do they get this help?” Muller asked, wondering if the workers at these relief agencies are considering the needs of people who are deaf. “Our prediction is they're not. Deaf people have been once again conditioned to feel like they're not a part of the mainstream and left out.”

Muller said the saving grace for many people in the deaf community were e-mail pagers. Phone service, including deaf relay service, was spotty in the days following the attack. He said it's improved but some people are still having problems. Pagers are working, though.

All Social Security offices in New York except the downtown branch are open. The downtown branch is closed indefinitely, according to the Social Security Web site. The agency said all benefits checks will be mailed on time. Many people who needed to appear at Social Security redetermination hearings were not able to get to there. If you don't show up to your hearing, you're not approved.

People with newly granted Section 8 housing vouchers may also have trouble finding housing because of the transportation limitations. The vouchers come with a 30-day time limit. If you don't find housing in that time, you lose the voucher.

CIDNY, the Manhattan center for independent living, has its offices in Lower Manhattan. The center's staff is back to work now, but many employees are dealing with grief and trauma, Hagen said. They are also overwhelmed by the tasks in front of them. In addition to addressing the needs of the disability community, the center is trying to get the word out to hospitals to refer people who acquired a disability during the attack to the services they need. The center is also overwhelmed by the disability community's response and willingness to help.

“CIDNY in Manhattan doesn't have the capacity to field additional calls or donations. They're literally just beginning to assess the need of what people with disabilities are encountering,” said Hagen, who has kept in close contact with the Manhattan center. “The greatest need that CIDNY stated to me right now is they need to set up a system to deal with volunteers.”

Beyond the immediate inconveniences and concerns, the aftermath of the terrorism attacks will also have long-term impact on the disability community.

Congress last week approved $40 billion for relief efforts -- a large chunk of money that's likely to be diverted from previously discussed budget plans, including prescription drug benefits and any hopes of MiCASSA, a bill introduced for the third time earlier this year that would provide community-based services.

“Forty billion dollars might affect some of the reforms we thought were going to start happening,” Roth said. “For the independent living centers there was not a thin dime in new money in the budget that's been recommended at this point. We've been working hard all year to get some additional money.”

Nicole Bondi, iCan News Service, staff writer, September 18, 2001