tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6342163277621231588.post6438916108322921731..comments2023-08-13T09:45:15.188+02:00Comments on LDN journal: The pill that retains my humanity (Blogging Against Disablism Day)M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17982894362182079013noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6342163277621231588.post-32133427068995504672009-05-05T20:27:00.000+02:002009-05-05T20:27:00.000+02:00Abi,
Actually, if buildings are designed to be ac...Abi,<br /><br />Actually, if buildings are designed to be accessible from the start (as opposed to accessibility features being added on, as an afterthought, at the very end) then accessibility features only adds LESS THAN 1% to the total cost of construction. They only become costly if people say, "Oh no this is ridiculous," refuse to do them, and THEN are forced to add them on afterwards.<br /><br />Which just makes it all the more illogical that so many people are resistant to the idea of accessible buildings, sometimes even after they are told these facts. <br /><br />I think some of it is the dehumanization of people with disabilities that happens in nearly every society (as the blog author discusses here)--they're "Those" people over there, nothing to do with us "normal" folks. And some of it is the mis-perception that disability is something really rare. Most people don't realize that many disabilities are not visible but still require certain accommodations just the same. Or that the reason why people with disabilities are so invisible in many societies is precisely *because* they are so poorly accommodated that PWDs sometimes can't go anywhere! <br /><br />Or else they are adhering to a really narrow definition of disability involving total incapacity to do anything other than live, basically. So the very idea that a person could be able to do all kinds of things that, *gasp*, "normal" people do and STILL be dealing with certain things for which they need reasonable accommodations just utterly escapes many people. Of course, I think the idea that disability = total helplessness and incompetence is in itself partly caused by the psychological need to preserve the "us versus them" myth of disability (those weird, pathetic, pitiable people over there, not us normal folk): it's easier to create a dichotomy between "disabled" and "normal" if any disabled person in your circle of acquaintance can be comfortably subsumed back into the fold of normalcy (Oh, NOT actually disabled then after all, what a relief) simply by clinging to any signs of competence and claiming they "couldn't be done by a disabled person." If people were forced to acknowledge that some of the people THEY ACTUALLY KNOW AND INTERACT WITH RIGHT NOW have disabilities then I think for some people that would feel very threatening ... maybe because disability frightens them because they don't want to picture themselves with disabilities, or maybe just because they can't cope with genuine difference in our bodies and how we manage our daily routines.Andrea Shettle, MSWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16984732076766787818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6342163277621231588.post-51791913028382348062009-05-01T15:34:00.000+02:002009-05-01T15:34:00.000+02:00That thing you said about making all new housing w...That thing you said about making all new housing wheelchair-accessible - I agree totally! I, also, do not use a wheelchair, but am a little embarrassed by the fact that if my friend did come to visit me in her wheelchair, we'd have to carry her upstairs if she needed to use the toilet. It isn't something everyone needs, and making things wheelchair accessible does hurt somebody (the wallets of the people building the housing), but it is certainly the right thing to do.<br /><br />I wanted to post about this, too, but my post was too untidy with it in - it made it clear that I didn't quite know what I was talking about. Thanks for writing about it!Optistatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03000726114121989951noreply@blogger.com