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Why People with Disabilities & Everyone need to watch “Patrice”
Photo Credit: photo captured from ABC News Studios Official Trailer
Let’s be honest, how many of you have ever stopped to consider that People With Disabilities experience feelings of love, can even fall in love, and have the desire to find their special person in life just like anyone else who does not have a disability? However, people with disabilities very often face a lot more challenges than the average person.
The other day, I was online looking everywhere from YouTube to Hulu to find the latest new movies to stream that relate to people with disabilities because I am the Caregiver of a person with a disability. I wanted to find something new to watch and enjoy with my loved one with a disability and planned to top it off with some kettle popcorn. While looking for a Rom-com, I never expected what I would find and that it would turn out to be an unbelievable, revealing story recently released to the public but has long been known in the legal world by Disability Lawyers and knowledgeable Disability advocates and individuals.
I discovered a rom-com in the form of a documentary and saw that ABC News Studios had officially released a Trailer for the movie, called “Patrice” to the public starring Patrice Jetter and Gary Wickham which is now streaming on Hulu that revealed a grim reality for people with disabilities that no one would ever expect. The official release date for the movie was September 30th but  I watched it a couple days later and never expected to hear or see what the couple in this Rom-com who both had disabilities in the documentary would face. In fact, I snapped a photo from the official YouTube trailer that was released to the public so that I would never forget the kinds of unexpected challenges, injustices, and roadblocks that people with disabilities face.
While other brides, grooms, and even bridezillas get to plan a variety of things for their Wedding like the rings, the cake, the venue, the caterer, or the menu with the occasional matrimonial mishaps that sometimes occur in life, I can’t help but think there is no exact comparison with the unexpected obstacles that non-disabled couples may face when it comes to their Wedding plans compared to the specific kind of unexpected injustices that couples with disabilities like Patrice and Gary may find themselves in when they face the fact that their Disability benefits can be cut just for getting married as revealed in this film. Nevertheless, they showed us how they managed to push forward, not only with their strengths but with the help of people who supported them. It’s such an inspiring  Rom-com documentary to watch.
After viewing a few scenes from the film, I knew I had to watch it with my family.  While watching the trailer, I felt it only made me more curious about  Patrice’s story alongside the man she loves named Gary. It is a story that would easily be a page-turner if it were a book. It’s a powerful story about the challenges people with disabilities face to keep benefits like Social Security and Medicaid if they decide to get married or move in with the person they love with a disability as featured in the movie.
What I found stunning was a scene in the movie where we see a Disability Lawyer speaking with Patrice and the person she loves. It’s a profound moment when the lawyer reveals the grim reality as she advises the couple-, “If you get married and you’re collecting a Social Security Benefit through Supplemental Security Income, SSI, your benefit will be cut.” Further, the lawyer adds, “And you would probably lose your Medicaid Benefits.” The lawyer is played by Maria Fischer -an attorney in real life whose expertise with Disability Law clearly shines on screen in this documentary.
Apparently, there is this piece of policy for Disability Benefits known as the Marriage Penalty in the United States which can strip away benefits like monthly SSI payments and Medicaid when two people with disabilities get married because it is deemed that they violate the allowable limit for combined assets for the married couple with a disability in the U.S. For example, they would be restricted from having more than $3,000 in their combined savings.
The reality is that disabled couples like Patrice and Gary may not only have to seek help from skilled Disability Lawyers like Maria Fischer but they may even have to go to court or even to Congress on Capitoll Hill to have their story heard to fight for justice that they seek.
The movie was directed by Ted Passon and it’s a human story that anyone who cares about the plight of others would want to watch. I found this movie so compelling to watch and see this disabled couple in their 50s, Patrice and Gary share their story of how they fell in love and all they wanted was to simply get married. However, Â they face the risk and challenge of losing and jeopardizing their disability benefits if they get married. Together, they make the decision to celebrate their love for each other by holding a commitment ceremony. Well, enough said.
You will need to watch the whole movie to see how everything plays out and if they are successful in what they desire.
It’s a movie that shows us the shocking reality of what disabled couples who are in love are up against when it comes to keeping the benefits that they are supposed to be entitled to get and the high price they can pay simply in potentially losing their benefits solely because they love each other. The injustice that they have shown the world that they have experienced is described as the  Marriage Penalty as previously mentioned which may be a new term for us to add to our conversations and social media platforms when we chat with others on the topic of people living with disabilities.
If you did not get a chance to watch the Trailer yet, Â it is available to share at the following link below, or as mentioned the entire movie is available to stream on Hulu.
#RunwayOfDreams, #PWDs, #PeopleWithDisabilities, #Differently-Abled, #Weddings