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Wishful thinking won’t bring equality for disabled people
Interesting article in the Guardian by Zoe Williams today,
“Ninety per cent of Britons have never had a disabled person over for a social occasion, according to a survey released by Scope this week. Yet there’s no attitude problem: 91% of those surveyed agreed that disabled people should have the same opportunities as everybody else. There’s a strong belief in equality revealed here, which must be hypothetical, since it masks this striking social exclusion…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/01/wishful-thinking-disabled-people
Sam
Re: Wishful thinking won’t bring equality for disabled peoplIt’s an interesting article and I agree with many of the points. It does not surprise me that politicians blow hot and cold over disability issues, it isn’t always seen as a vote winner until someone in a wheelchair chains themselves to a railing.
Personally I don’t try to change the country’s attitude to me, just those people I come into contact with. I work in an environment where peak physical fitness is valued, an ideal I could never achieve, but I don’t worry aobut that. I do my job as well as I can, try not to make people uncomfortable about my disability, humour always works well there, and be human. Socially I don’t feel excluded. I recently had some surgery that put me in a wheelchair temporarily but I’ve still been able to visit restaraunts, pubs, a friend’s house party and go to the football; in fact the last has proven to me that things have changed for the better.
No things aren’t perfect and the world isn’t the way the BBC might like to paint it, but changes can be made in many ways starting with how we, the disabled, choose to represent ourselves to others. I like to be human myself!
Re: Wishful thinking won’t bring equality for disabled peoplTyger,
You have summed up pretty much how I feel but I don’t think I could have written it as well as that
I don’t feel socially excluded and if something is more challenging that I want to do, then I usually manage to achieve it albeit with a bit of planning and improvisation. I understand that others may not feel the same but I love socialising and have had mostly had very positive experiences.
A month or so ago I wanted to go and watch my sister roll down a hill in an inflatable hamster wheel – a sphering activity I had booked for her as a gift. The organisers were so helpful and allowed us to drive onto the no go area so I could watch from the car rather than struggle across a rough muddy field. They didn’t make a big fuss about it, it was possible so it was not seen as a problem or like we were asking the earth.
Humour is a great coping mechanism for me. As you say, it helps others to realise things don’t have to be a big deal and I believe, to understand more about disability.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, “You know that thing you just did? Don’t do that.” - Douglas Adams
Re: Wishful thinking won’t bring equality for disabled peoplI don’t feel excluded, nor do I get my knickers in a knot when something is not inplace in certain circumstances . When you live with a difference every day that becomes your ‘norm’ and sometimes when you jaunt off to something unexpected you suddenly realise your ‘norm’ isn’t automatically there like everyone elses. Like Sar said a little bit of forward planning and improvisation with a side order of humour get us far.
Now that expanion. Recently I took my Sister to visit a Cathedral, this building is over 1,000 years old and over the years as areas have been added and restored consideration has been given to areas of disability [by which I mean blind, deaf, wheelies, etc] but fundamentally this building was never concieved to last this long nor planned when disability was ‘mainstream’. I don’t expect to be able to get absolutely every it is just not practicable, but I do expect to get around easily in the areas built in the last 20-30 years.
I suppose it is whether we are given the choice – everyone should have an equal choice to socializing, communal gatherings etc.
I'm always the animal, my body's the cage
I blog about nothingness www.amgroves.com
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