Disability refers to the situation when the abilities of the individual are limited by his or her mental or physical disturbances. These people are frequently being oppressed even in modern society but there’s a lot we all can do to make the world a safer place for the disabled.
This oppression of the disabled is called “ableism” which signifies that disabled people are being excluded from the average life of the community. Ableism is expressed on two levels: individual, observed in the discrimination of the disabled in medicine, media, and education, and collective, illustrated by the reinforcement of specific policies regarding such people.
This marginalization stems from the religious premise that disability was given as a penalty for sin. In early Western societies, medics believed that the goal of medicine was to get rid of handicaps and fix the body, not to make the life of an individual more comfortable. It could be suggested that individuals with varying abilities were marginalized since ordinary people could not comprehend why this happened and, therefore, were afraid of something that they could not easily explain and cure.
In modern society, people with disabilities still face numerous difficulties, and, thus, the role of social workers in support of these people could not be underestimated. These social workers help their clients to stop blaming themselves for the problems that they experience because of their limited abilities.
The social construction of disability implies that society via the institutions creates social expectations on health and, thus, disability is constructed around these expectations. In other words, people have specific views on what it means to be a healthy person, and everything beyond that is regarded as a disability. The problem with that way of thinking is that people are guided by the appearance of the disabled and do not bother with their emotional stance and feelings. Therefore, the social construction of disability seems to limit people’s rights with mental or physical issues to coexist in the same society with “normal” individuals. People with varying abilities obtain identity according to the expectations of their illnesses, not their true selves.
With exposure, global interaction, and lots of proof that these affected individuals can indeed do great things if given a chance, there is the need for every hand to be on deck – from government institutions that bring about disability-friendly policies to persons of influence, religious houses, families, friends, and colleagues.
A disabled person should not have to adapt to fit into society, rather, every society should strive to be inclusive of every individual. Removing the barriers against the disabled is the duty of society and not the affected individual.
Make the world more accessible to them. Here’s an example, a lunch supervisor doesn’t have to always help the student with walking impairment lift the tray every school day. What the school can do to push for inclusion is to put the trays at different levels on the shelf so, they can be accessible to that kid in a wheelchair.
Every disabled person can do something. Let us give them room to show their ability in disability.
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