 |
Sometimes people without disabilities are not nice to people with disabilities. This is because they do not understand what people with disabilities need. It is also because people without disabilities do not talk a lot to people with disabilities. Scope is an organisation for people with disabilities in the United Kingdom. Scope wants to help people with disabilities:
|
Although important steps have been taken in the past twenty years towards the social inclusion of people with disabilities, a report recently published by Scope, a British organisation supporting the rights of people with disabilities, shows that much more needs be done.
Scope carried out a two year investigation into the attitudes non-disabled people have towards people with disabilities and the impact they have on the latter. The results reveal that even if equality legislation has been enforced, public spaces have been made accessible and there are undeniably more opportunities available for people with disabilities than in the past, negative attitudes still linger in society.
The study found that 57%of the participants believed that prejudice towards people with disabilities still exists in the British society, with a further 28% agreeing that there is a considerable amount of it. Moreover, up to 40% of respondents said they see people with disabilities as less productive and almost 8 out 10 thought they required being looked after. These attitudes do not go unnoticed by people with disabilities, as 40% of those who participated in the research stated that they feel as though non-disabled people do not understand their needs, and more alarmingly, 2 out of 10 asserted that they often experience being treated as a nuisance.
The results of Scope’s investigation reinforce the idea that public attitudes do have both direct and indirect repercussions on everybody’s lives in the community. Therefore, they believe that if major breakthroughs are to be made in improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, they need to correlate with attitudinal changes as well. While a great part of the United Kingdom’s(UK) population still exhibits bias towards people with disabilities, their negative mind-set is grossly rooted in the general lack of understanding and education about disability.
As a result, Scope advises that better education, public information campaigns and a general broadening of the scope of interaction between non-disabled people and people with disabilities will lead to affirmative change. Furthermore, they also appeal to the media, asking for more positive, but at the same time realistic portrayals of disability. As one respondent said: “We need a more realistic view of disabled people – we’re not all heroes or villains, even though I love stories about disabled people becoming heroes, overcoming adversity. But we all have the right not to climb a mountain!”
With the goal of building cooperation bridges within society, Scope has launched the End the awkward campaign, offering tips and tricks to guide the general public towards building a “less awkward” and more inclusive environment where people with disabilities are given equal opportunities.
If you are interested in reading the full report, please follow this link.
