DART - Disability Awareness Resource Team
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Disability AwarenessAIM
‘DISABILITY
AWARENESS’ ALSO MEANS
‘ABILITY AWARENESS’
The
aim of DA*R*T
is to inform
the public about disability and people with disabilities. This
may involve challenging people’s assumptions about disability by showing that
disabled people are people with feelings who are as individual and as different
as any other group. Unlike most however, we are living in a world that often
overlooks us and presents us with
extra difficulties such as limited access to amenities and facilities. We
feel that part of our task is to discuss and demonstrate the ways in which our
lives are restricted and our choices are reduced; to simply make people aware
that we are here. ‘Disability awareness’ also means ‘Ability awareness’.Our
aim is to get people to focus on
our abilities and needs as people - to look past the wheelchair or the
disability and to see the person individually. DISABILITY
AWARENESS
DISABILITY?
Disability
takes many forms; it can be something born with or the result of an accident or
a disease. It can be a
‘visible’ disability
made obvious through the use of a wheelchair or other aid, or it can be a
‘hidden’ disability that is not immediately apparent, as with conditions
such as epilepsy, asthma, deafness or blindness and many others. People
with disabilities come from all levels of society, from all ages, nationalities,
cultures and religions. People
with disabilities are above all, people. They
share the same fears, prejudices and aspirations as anyone else. SO
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Although
there are many things we are not physically able to do, it is said that people
with disabilities are made more ‘disabled’ by the structure of the world in
which we live. This is a world largely designed for able-bodied people where
allowances are not always made for the special needs of people with
disabilities. Examples
of these are: ACCESS
Although
there are laws that state that all new public buildings (cinemas, libraries,
restaurants, local authority, government etc.) should be accessible to people
with disabilities, there are still many buildings which are not. To
a wheelchair user the built environment is often an obstacle course of high
kerbs, steps, narrow doorways and confined spaces. Finding
a public toilet in a hurry when out shopping is difficult for most people -
imagine what it is like for someone in a wheelchair searching for an accessible
toilet! MOBILITY
Mobility
is a crucial part of the modern fast-moving lifestyle. Most people have a wide
choice of transport; car, motorcycle, bicycle, public transport and, as a last
resort, they can always walk! If a person has difficulty walking, or cannot walk
at all, the choices available are reduced - they often cannot use public
transport and have to rely on other people’s goodwill or expensive forms of
transport like a taxi. Ease
of mobility is an important issue to most people with disabilities, for example,
people with visual impairment have difficulty moving around the community due to
obstacles placed in their way or signs and timetables that they cannot read;
people with epilepsy etc.
also experience difficulties
due to the fact
that they are not able to hold a driving licence. ATTITUDES
GET
TO KNOW US!
Able-bodied
people often don't ‘see’ people with disabilities and sometimes exclude us
from conversations by talking about us as if we weren't there. This can
sometimes make people with disabilities feel isolated. There are some people who
are frightened of people with disabilities or who feel awkward in their
presence. Because they never take the time to get to know anyone who is
disabled, they are often frightened of saying the wrong thing or ‘putting
their foot in it!’ SO
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
ACCESS
A
lot of thinking
does go on nowadays regarding
access within the built environment for disabled people. For example,
dropped kerbs, ramps, larger lifts and wider doorways
are now more common. Awareness
of disability and
special needs is growing and should become part of everyone’s thinking. A
simple ramp instead of a step into a building (provided it isn't blocked by
displays etc!) could make all the difference - not only
for disabled people, but also to the profits of businesses, large or
small - there are a lot of disabled people out there! ABILITY
People
with disabilities, given the opportunity, are able to play an active and useful
part in our society. In
areas such as: THE
PUBLIC AND POLITICAL WORLD
There are a growing number of people with a variety of disabilities taking part in the public and political life of this country, from small groups and local politics through to high-profile Members of Parliament. EMPLOYMENT
In
employment there are already many people with disabilities proving their
‘ability’ in the workplace. Given a workplace that is accessible, a suitably
qualified person with
a disability can often work as effectively as anyone else.
Employers can get money to make the workplace more accessible and many
larger employers are now enlightened enough to take advantage of this (and the
positive public image that follows on from it). In this modern world there are
increasingly more jobs that could be done by people with disabilities - the
dramatic increase in the use of information technology being a good example of
this. SPORT
/ RECREATION / THE ARTS
People
with disabilities have shown that they can take part in a wide range of sports
and recreational pastimes. at all - including Olympic - levels. There
are also a large number of writers, artists, musicians and scientists with
disabilities. ATTITUDES
Attitudes
are notoriously difficult to change and often only change slowly! Negative
attitudes towards people with disabilities can only be altered by improving
contact and communication and also through education. D*A*R*T
believes that the negative
attitudes of some people with disabilities; about themselves, other people with
disabilities and about the world around them also need to be addressed in the
same way! DISABILITY
DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
The
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 states that reasonable steps must be taken to
avoid discrimination against disabled people, particularly in the areas of
access to goods and services, employment and the purchase or rent of property.
From October 2004 this also applies to the built environment. The Disability
Rights Commission is available so the individual disabled person can seek
redress against discrimination. See www.drc-gb.org. AND
FINALLY.....
We
hope that our disability / ability awareness section
and the information provided, will
help the people taking
part to think
more clearly
about
the structure and attitudes of our society and the way in which they
affect the lives of people with disabilities. We also hope that it will help to
dispel some of the myths and fears
surrounding disability. More importantly, that it will make you realise
that what
people with disabilities really want
is simply
to be allowed the chance to make more decisions
about our own lives and to have more of an active
input into the nature and structure of the world in which we live. Please
remember, ‘Disability
Awareness’ also means ‘Ability awareness!’ THANK
YOU FOR READING THIS!
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