People who make these judgements treat the disabled person as superfluous or superhuman. They either fail to respond to the individual with all their inherent personality, strengths and – weaknesses or they assume they have abilities – ‘superhuman’ to cope with their impairment. Non-disabled people can respond with fear, pity, repulsion, or a sense of superiority. These assumptions and emotions are reinforced by the media. Negative language reflects and can reinforce prejudices. Disabled people wish to change the language used by non-disabled people about them especially – language that is offensive and inaccurate. Environmental Disabled people encounter these barriers in areas such as: Public transport • Hospitals and clinics • Schools and housing • and marketplaces • Offices and factories • Places of worship • Media and communications • Public information systems • Most people think of the physical barriers in this category e.g. a – health clinic is inaccessible for wheelchair users if it has steps and narrow doorways. It’s relatively easy to identify these in – consultation with disabled people once aware. – But communications can also be disabling for those with sensory impairments e.g. for Deaf people if there’s no sign language; for those – with visual impairments if medication isn’t appropriately labeled. Poor communication can have devastating results where important education campaigns happen (e.g. HIV and AIDS). Students with hearing, visual or intellectual impairments are unlikely to access vital information unless their access needs have been met. And since 98 per cent of disabled children in developing countries don’t attend school, they’ll miss out on important education and information. A Ugandan study found 38
People who make these judgements treat the disabled person as superfluous or superhuman. They either fail to respond to the individual – with all their inherent personality, strengths and weaknesses – or they assume they have ‘superhuman’ abilities to cope with their impairment. Non-disabled people can respond with fear, pity, repulsion, or a sense of superiority. These assumptions and emotions are reinforced by the media. Negative language reflects and can reinforce prejudices. Disabled people wish to change the language used by non-disabled people about them – especially language that is offensive and inaccurate. Environmental Disabled people encounter these barriers in areas such as: • Public transport • Hospitals and clinics • Schools and housing • and marketplaces • Offices and factories • Places of worship • Media and communications • Public information systems Most people think of the physical barriers in this category – e.g. a health clinic is inaccessible for wheelchair users if it has steps and narrow doorways. It’s relatively easy to identify these – in consultation with disabled people – once aware. But communications can also be disabling for those with sensory impairments – e.g. for Deaf people if there’s no sign language; for those with visual impairments if medication isn’t appropriately labeled. Poor communication can have devastating results where important education campaigns happen (e.g. HIV and AIDS). Students with hearing, visual or intellectual impairments are unlikely to access vital information unless their access needs have been met. And since 98 per cent of disabled children in developing countries don’t attend school, they’ll miss out on important education and information. A Ugandan study found 38
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