First of all, I'd like to point out that with disability, there are two models with which to think about it all. There's the Medical Model, and the Social Model. The Medical model looks at disability as you seem to, as a defect which deviates in some way from what is considered a normal working body which must be "fixed" in some way, so that we may get around the barriers of life. The Social Model instead states that, it is the attitudes towards certain disabilities which create these barriers, and that a disabled person wouldn't need to be fixed if such barriers were not there to begin with. The idea behind focusing on ableism is to point out ways in which the Social Model can be incorporated into the society we live in so that those with disabilities need not be required to change themselves to fit the world. As you point out, disabled people have already a number of burdens to keep track of, so if the world can be shaped differently so as to alleviate them, allowing for a more even playing field, then the distinction between able bodied people and the disabled may not need to be so great.
I understand that you have gone through a period of disability yourself, and I'm thankful that you were able to share that with us. However, I would like to point out that those born disabled have a very different outlook on their disability to yourself because of the difference in loss. You temporarily lost your ability to walk, and so that loss was at the centre of your experience. Those born disabled have no such sense of loss, and so their disability is simply a part of the way they function and interact with the world. Many of those born disabled may not even be aware that their experience differs from what is considered normal for quite a while, and some may not even consider what they have as a defect. The Deaf community, for example, do not consider themselves disabled. They have their own language, complete with jokes, tongue twisters, riddles, songs, and poetry, effectively a whole culture completely separate from the hearing world.
As someone who was born disabled, Dyslexic and Dyspraxic, I can attest that it took a very long time for me to even be aware of my limitations. I was only aware that I was unable to do things which other kids seemed to find so easy like writing and reading. However, the school provided support for me in the form of being allowed to do all my finals on a computer with extra time. The school recognised that if I was unable to read the question or write the answer within the time provided, then it would be impossible to demonstrate how much I understood which was the whole point of the assessment. Had I not been allowed those things then I wouldn't be where I am today, on the road to getting a PhD in molecular biology. But still, I come across people who think that because my hands aren't as steady or I read slowly that I have no business doing lab-work. In every lab I have studied in, I have worked with the people around me to try and shape the lab around my needs, whether that means getting all hours access so that I may stay late, or being allowed to schedule my day such that I can get things done at my own pace. I am lucky that my profession allows me this flexibility as I wouldn't be able to do my work if it had not, but I can imagine so many other professions where my needs would not even be considered. Had I worked as a waiter, serving drinks at a bar, or making coffee at a Starbucks, I don't think I would last the probation rounds. I would be far too slow, and the time pressure would increase the chance I'd make mistakes or drop something, leading to angry customers and an even angrier manager. Had I not done well in school, I can easily see that I would have a very hard time keeping a job, and would constantly feel as though I was worse than everyone around me.
That's the major problem with seeing disability as a defect. It encourages that kind of mindset, where those with disabilities simply aren't considered for employment because they don't measure up. I could be the most organised person around with a good eye for details and facts, but in a world which expects you to start at the bottom and work your way up, it means nothing if I have trouble holding a cup steady. If an employer sees that we have a disability and thinks: "Hmm...this person is defective, I don't think I can afford the time to train them", it's a slant against us, we become less competitive simply by being the people we were born as. If the mindset of the employer was something like "I can see potential in this person, we have support measures in place for their particular needs anyway, so that's not a problem" then this would be much less of an issue. There's also the point that, often when the social model is followed and accessibility is enhanced, then it is not just the disabled who benefit. For example, flexible time at work won't just be useful for people like myself, but anyone who has family commitments like new parents, especially single parents. Recognising this and not just saying: "Well, your disability is your problem" is what this anti-ableism movement is actually about. Society works better when we are able to perform optimally and independently because we can all contribute.
I just wanted to highlight the attitudes in place when considering how disability and society intermingle. One is that the disabled person should change themselves to fit around the barriers they face, and the other is that the barriers need not be there in the first place. I don't wish to imply that because you predominantly see things through the medical model that you are intrinsically against accessibility, and I am sorry if that is how it came across. Regarding oppression, I can understand where you are coming from. However, ableism isn't so much about able-bodied people actively oppressing the disabled, but rather, able bodied people on the whole don't really need to think about a disabled person's needs, so they go through life assuming certain things are universal when they may not actually be.
Here in the UK, disabled people are often considered to be useless and incapable, and a drain on government resources. Because people assume they cannot work they have to work twice as hard in order to be considered for a professional role, that's twice as hard to both overcome whatever barriers they face, and to overcompensate, in a way, to fight against this attitude. If they cannot work, they cannot afford to make the changes required to enable them to work; it's a catch 22 which ultimately leaves them dependent on aid, aid which in the UK is being stripped from them because the government are trying to cut all forms of public spending to anything they deem non-essential.
The world isn't designed for us, it's designed for those who don't need what we need, and we're expected to figure it out on our own when the systems in place keep shifting such that doing so is becoming harder and harder. Although there are still areas of difficulty, I myself am very fortunate that I am in a position where I do not need a lot of the things that are being removed. But that may not be true forever. Disability is a class of minority that literally anyone may join after one bad day. That's the most terrifying thing – the thought of losing my legs because some twit doesn't check his blind spot, and then having to say goodbye to my career, any chance of an independent life, and hello to being seen as a societal burden in the eyes of our government and have my life become significantly harder, not because I can't move, but because I'm now classed as defective and as having no potential and thus being low priority. No one person is doing this, it is a consequence of a world designed by people who assume their needs are the same as everyone else's.
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