How much are disabled spectators worth to the industry? Insiders refer to the topic as 'handicapitalism.' And some thinkers in the field are looking for the day when accommodation improvements are dictated by profit potential and not by law.
—Cindy Mulkern, "Salt Lake City Venues Ready For Two 'Games'," Amusement Business, July 30, 2001
Last year, Bob Baublitz, Bell Atlantic's first manager of marketing to the disability community, led the launch of an accessibility Web site touting Bell Atlantic's disability-friendly products. Earlier this year, BellSouth Corp. advertised its services in three disability-oriented magazines.
Bell Atlantic won't disclose its sales figures but says the products are selling well. "They're just scooping them up," says Marilyn Benoit, manager of Bell Atlantic's center for customers with disabilities. "This was a very good business decision."
Indeed, handicapitalism (a term that Johnnie Tuitel, a lecturer with a disability, is seeking to trademark) has nothing to do with regulatory change or the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act, passed in 1990.
—Joshua Harris Prager, "People With Disabilities Are Next Consumer Niche," The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 1999
According to U.S. census data, in 1995 there were nearly 50 million Americans aged 15 and older with disabilites, and their total discretionary income was $175 billion. That's a big market, and it no doubt inspired the creation of the word handicapitalism, a blend of handicap and capitalism.
