Judging Disability

Ignorance, negligence, superstition, shame and fear are the main feelings that fuel the lack of understanding people with disabilities.

The overwhelming cause is the lack of knowledge of how the observed disability affects the function and behavior of the disabled person.

Society catalogues persons for their physical appearance yet assigns additional “imperfections” to the original disability.

I have several friends that use a wheel chair. They comment that when they are attended at a restaurant or another public place and their wheel chair is being pushed by someone (usually their spouse or a friend), the person attending will ask the person pushing the wheel chair questions directed to the person in the wheel chair!

As if a person that has no mobility in their legs could not think, reason or speak…

These attitudes toward disability, deficiency or difference (as you wish to call it) affect not only the image of the disabled person about the society they live in: This affects deeply the image this person has about him- or herself.

[… continues in Chapter 8 “Diference = Uniqueness”]

“Judging Disability” is an extract (Chapter 7) of Joe Santos’ speech “Deficiência — Diferença”, spoken on 10 May 2016 at Futuridade II, Centro Comunitário Gafanha do Carmo at Centro Cultural de Ílhavo.

Joe Santos is a Co-Founder of Vencer Autismo and dedicates his life to the cause of Autism and supporting Social projects for the love of seeing positive change in the world.

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