Seeing as how the presidential candidate for this year is the first one I am even thinking about, it is very difficult to come to a decision. I was raised believing in what everyone believes since I could not comprehend whatever the discussion is about. Now with the help of social media and specific websites, I can better understand what is going on and how to react. Not only can I do these things, but I can now determine exactly what I feel that I should be believing in.

I first began to understand where my personal beliefs should be with the help of RespectAbility, an organization known to empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream. Someone in a Facebook group shared a questionnaire reflecting each of the candidates’ viewpoints when it came to people with disabilities and determining any plans that are to be made. It is truly unfortunate that while both candidates of the Democratic party has made a response, the majority of the Republican party has not made a response, expect for Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and John Kasich.

With the help of reading these responses, I managed to narrow down my choices to the candidates focused on making a change for people with disabilities. I only have one choice now since Bush and Carson had made a decision to drop out due to low amounts of delegates needed for the Republican/GOP nomination. It took the help of RespectAbility for me to determine that I want to make my choice for the 2016 election based on the candidate who plans to make changes for people with disabilities.

I get the gist of RespectAbility and candidates’ viewpoints on plans for people with disabilities on Facebook, but my thoughts continue to grow with getting involved into the discussion with the hashtag #CripTheVote on Twitter during the Democratic and GOP debates in Miami. The top 5 policies discussed prior to the Democratic debate are health care, civil rights/discrimination, accessibility, employment, and housing. The top 5 policies discussed prior to the GOP debate are to hire and appoint more people to government and policy-making positions, banning or phasing out payment of sub-minimum wage, requiring disability awareness for law enforcement, passing the Disability Integration Act (independent living instead of nursing homes), and changing Social Security to reduce or eliminate work disincentives.

Everyone in the duration of the discussion prior to the Democratic and GOP had great opinions about these issues, it was truly eye-opening for me to learn more about the variety of issues discussed. At the current moment, I am only more concerned with employment, the discrimination, education, and accessibility, but I never really gave much thought to any of the other issues discussed. I did experience difficulties in the past with housing after hurricane Sandy in 2012 and also have issues with healthcare/insurance, but never really experienced an in-depth discussion with a large group of people online about disability rights. Because of learning more about disability issues that should come up more during presidential elections, I can now base my vote on the candidate who has some support for those with disabilities as part of their campaign.