Most of the people have probably seen this movie called The Intouchables. Despite other topics included in the film, what I liked the most is when Driss took care of Philippe; he often forgets Philippe is disabled. And because of Driss’ “forgetfulness,” Driss didn’t treat Philippe with sympathy or discrimination; Philippe was treated with equality.
“Disability is complex, dynamic, multidimensional, and contested.” –WHO World Report on Disability. As the research suggested, a person’s environment has a massive impact on the experience and extent of disability. And there are impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions problems in each different society.
But I’d like to share some of my personal experience with disabilities, as it could go back a long way since I was five. I think society is changing slowly for the better. My experience has brought my attention to disabled people and inspired me to study the disability subject to drive for a better environment.
When I was growing up, I had never considered people with disabilities- they don’t seem to appear in my life, nor I see them on the street either. Until one day, Helen Keller appeared in my textbook, and I started to realize there are people with disabilities. One day I was going to my regular piano lesson on Saturday, I passed by a school for people with hearing and visual impairments, and I asked my mom: “Why does this school look like a cage?” My mom answered:” Because only people with disabilities go to this school, they cannot hear or see, so the fence is designed for them to keep them safe.” I didn’t understand much about my mom’s response, but I had known that people with disabilities could only go to certain places. What happened to me has soon gone through my mind until I am a teenager, and that school I saw when I was a kid is a form of segregation for disabled people.
As a teenager, I have read a couple of articles: one titled “There are over 80 million people with disabilities in China, but how come no one sees them on the street?” And the other one is titled “Build the tactile paving for people with visual impairments, to make them more disabled.” The first article has discussed how people with disabilities survive in society. The conclusion is that it is too difficult for people with disabilities to go out of their homes, so they don’t. The second article has shown some pictures with tactile pavement designed for visually impaired people, but there are different roadblocks or even a trap on the tiles.
After reading the two articles, I realized how difficult it is for people in a wheelchair to go outside their homes. At the same time, I have visited Hong Kong for the first time, the bus system is much more friendly for people on the wheelchair, as there are designated spots on the bus for a wheelchair, and the bus would have a ramp for the wheelchair to get on and off. But at that time, I never thought about making a change in society.
After I went to college for interior design, I have been introduced to the concept of Universal Design- in which every commercial project is required to have the same experience and accessibility for people in a wheelchair. This experience made me realize what needs to change is the environment for people who have disabilities, not people with disabilities.
Stigmatization of people with disabilities is a big issue as well. The general public likes to look at people with disabilities with sympathy. Indeed people with disabilities experience inequalities in many different ways, but they are also humans with fundamental human rights. Some people think that people with disabilities shouldn’t go out of their homes as they are more like a “burden” to society, which has saddened me the most.
Over the years, the situation had some changes as more people notice the issue in society to push for a better result. In the national study in 2007, about 40% of people with disabilities who needed services and assistance received no help. However, over the years, China had also developed policies and responses to address the needs of people with disabilities. Big data shows the unemployment rate for disabled people had also significantly dropped, and little things like more and more elevator buttons in public are equipped with brailles along with the number. However, for disability issues, there is still a long way to go.