Barriers
People with disabilities face many barriers every day, which can range from physical obstacles in systemic barriers in employment and civic programs. Yet, often the most difficult barriers to overcome are the attitudes other people have towards people with disabilities. These attitudes can be born from ignorance, fear or misunderstanding, these attitudes prevent people from appreciating and experiencing the full potential that a person with a disability can achieve.
Types of Attitudinal Barriers
Inferiority: Because someone is disabled some people will believe that makes them a “second-class citizen”.
Pity: People feel sorry for the person with a disability, which tends to lead to patronising attitudes. People with disabilities generally don't want pity and charity, just equal opportunity to earn their own way and live independently.
Hero Worship: People consider someone with a disability who lives independently or pursues a profession to be brave or "special" for overcoming a disability. But most people with disabilities do not want accolades for performing day-to-day tasks. The disability is there; the individual has simply learned to adapt.
Ignorance: People with disabilities are often dismissed as incapable of accomplishing a task without the opportunity to display their skills. In fact, people with paraplegia or quadriplegia can drive cars and have children, people who are blind can tell time on a watch, people who are deaf can play sports and enjoy music, visit museums. People who are deaf can play baseball and enjoy music; people with developmental disabilities can be creative and work normal jobs.
The Spread Effect: People assume that an individual's disability negatively affects other senses, abilities or personality traits, or that the total person is impaired. For example, many people shout at people who are blind or don't expect people using wheelchairs to have the intelligence to speak for themselves. Focusing on the person's abilities rather than his or her disability counters this type of prejudice.
Stereotypes: People can form both positive and negative generalisations about people with disabilities. For example, many believe that all people who are blind have a keener sense of smell and hearing, that all people who use wheelchairs are docile, that all people with developmental disabilities are innocent and sweet-natured, that all people with disabilities are sad and bitter. Aside from diminishing the individual and his or her abilities, such prejudice can set too high or too low a standard for individuals who are merely human.
Backlash: Many people believe individuals with disabilities are given unfair advantages, such as easier work requirements. Employers need to hold people with disabilities to the same job standards as co-workers, though the means of accomplishing the tasks may differ from person to person.
Denial: Many disabilities are "hidden," such as learning disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and epilepsy, cancer, arthritis and heart conditions. People tend to believe these are not bona fide disabilities needing accommodation. Accommodating "hidden" disabilities which meet the above definition can keep valued employees on the job and open doors for new employees.
Fear: Many people are afraid that they will do or say the wrong thing around someone with a disability. They therefore avert their own discomfort by avoiding the individual with a disability. As with meeting a person from a different culture, frequent encounters can raise the comfort level.
Unlike physical and systematic barriers, attitudinal barriers that often lead to illegal discrimination cannot be overcome simply through laws. The best remedy is familiarity, getting people with and without disabilities to mingle as co-workers, associates and social acquaintances. In time, most of the attitudes will give way to comfort, respect and friendship.
Barriers Encountered By People Who Have Paraplegia
A person with paraplegia may be viewed by potential employers as being less suitable than those who are not paraplegic. Employers may completely discount this person’s value as a person and employee simply because of one aspect of their lives. The Holistic Model of Disability is very relevant in this situation as its main principle is that people should be seen as complete beings with many different aspects to them, not just as someone with a disability, which is nothing but a minor aspect of the person.
Someone who has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair to move around will unfortunately encounter several barriers in their environment such as not being able to go to the upper floors in a shop because there are no accommodations for wheelchair users. This is a problem with society not a problem to the person with the disability, to get rid of these barriers we should look to The Social Model of Disability which aims to fix the problems created by society in relation to those with additional needs. The social model would recommend that society needs to make alterations to the environment so that no one has to deal with any barriers in their environment. In this model disability is not seen as something that an individual may have but something that is created by the perceptions of society, which is quite different from the views of The Medical Model which sees disability as a problem of the person that needs to be “fixed” or “cured” of. Disability is seen as a burden on society and not as an aspect of any diverse society.
Barriers Encountered By People Who Have Down Syndrome
People who have Down syndrome may face many barriers in their lives which will predominantly be attitudinal barriers which have mostly arisen from ignorance and stereotypes. For example when someone is speaking to someone with Down syndrome they may speak in a very patronising manner because they assume that someone with Down syndrome may need extra help or might have difficulty communicating, this view is born out of ignorance and could be rectified by embracing The Normalisation Model which seeks to allow people with disabilities to live their lives in the same way as anyone else and to allow them access to the same opportunities. A common barrier that many people with Down syndrome may encounter is people who will feel pity for them simply because they have a disability which should be considered a minor aspect of that person. The holistic model is once again relevant as it aims to look at people as complete beings with many different aspects and not defined by having a disability.
Many people who agree with The Medical Model seek a “cure” for Down syndrome which in my opinion is born out of ignorance because many people may not realise that someone with Down syndrome can live independently in the same way as anyone else, which is why the Social, Holistic and Normalisation models are all so important because they all aim for the same goal but with different methods which is the integration of people who happen to have disabilities into society.
Barriers Encountered By People Who Are Blind
People who are blind may encounter potential employers who are less likely to employ them due to their blindness even though blind people have many methods of doing things such as writing and reading that do not require sight. I think that many employers may be hesitant to employ someone with a disability because they think that any accommodations they need to make will be too costly. This is denying people with disabilities the same opportunities as people who do not have disabilities. The social and normalisation models are probably the most relevant as they aim to make disability more integrated into the workings of society. I think that if people were more aware of the way in which people with disabilities can overcome their barriers then employers would be far more likely to not see someone’s disability as a hindrance to their potential value to their workplace and their value as a person.
by
philipclerkin1996gmailcom (student)
