"As we become stronger, we may be able to offer a helping hand to pull our able bodied friends away from their inadequacies so they no longer need us as dependents. It may be that the able bodied will come to lean on us for support instead of the other way round".
"Our duty is to lead so called able bodied citizens away from their imaginary world of physical and mental perfection into the true world where we all have to live together and share our imperfections".
"How could a charity run mostly by sighted people expect to know what blind persons want?"
"The medical model limits disability to that which can be described and treated by a doctor, followed by rehabilitation and discharge. Under this regime, the doctor is all powerful. The medical model may be useful when relevant and professional, but...Disability is a social, economic and ethical, not a medical, problem and should be treated as such".
"The charity model is equally destructive. Some people need others to be dependent on them, to comfort them and make then feel better and so become givers of charity. But charity postulates dependency, expects gratitude and denies equality. The do gooder feels "good" and seldom stops to consider the well being of his victim".
"Disability harnesses you into exclusion. This makes you frustrated and angry. What did you do to deserve this?"
"The foundations supporting disability apartheid are weak and can be shattered, it is fear, supported on the twin pillars of inadequacy and dependency, that keeps the barrier in place".
"APARTHEID against blacks in South Africa has crumbled like the Berlin Wall. Discrimination, against women is lessening. But people with disabilities find themselves still segregated, out on the margins of society and expected to be grateful for crumbs of charity. Until recently, they had no voice and, no power. They were looked on as having little value".
BEATRICE REID
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