disability fact file
People in wheelchairs
The most common image of disability is of people in wheel-chairs.
Which is why it is where I start the disability fact file.
Many people think that, because people use wheelchairs, they
would be helpless without human-made devices for mobility. But how many of
us walk barefoot down the street? - most of us prefer to wear (human-made)
shoes or trainers. And many of us use a human-made car, bus or train to travel
from one town to another. In our own way, we are all dependent upon
human-made items for our mobility !
Why do people use wheelchairs ?
- Absence of legs (obviously!) due to accident, or being born without legs
- Weakness of leg muscles
- Spinal or brain injury or disease, causing disconnection of leg muscles
from the brain
- Weakness of, or pain in, leg joints, due to arthritis etc
Many people use wheelchairs temporarily, following an accident, illness
or operation.
Some people who use wheelchairs can walk unaided, or with crutches, for
short distances.
How are people in wheelchairs handicapped by Capitalism ?
- Poor access to buildings and facilities, which could
be improved by better design and modifications - eg the installation of ramps and lifts
- Widespread prejudice, especially of young people in wheelchairs - who
are sometimes even regarded, wrongly, as "stupid"
- Unfounded belief that people in wheelchairs are a "safety
risk" or "fire risk"
- Discrimination in employment or leisure facilities, for above reasons
Who else could gain by improvements which help people in wheelchairs ?
- People with babies and young toddlers, who use push-chairs
- Shoppers with trolleys
- Workers transporting goods using trolleys
- Emergency ambulance workers (and those in need of them), who could get
easier access for emergency "stretcher trolleys" in case of an accident
Language to avoid
- "Spastic" (or "Spazz" or "Spack") - not
only highly offensive, it's not even accurate !!!
- "Cripple", it implies we are helpless
- "Tragic" and "Brave" or "Plucky", they
are all patronizing
More politically-correct language
- Instead of "confined to a wheelchair" or "wheelchair bound",
it is more PC to say that someone "uses a wheelchair" or is a "wheelchair
user"
- As a group, instead of "the disabled" (which implies that we
are all the same), it is more PC to use the expression "disabled people"
(which treats us as individuals)
Did you know
- Many people in wheelchairs are otherwise physically very able. A few
even "run" marathons in wheelchairs.
- A person in a well-designed wheelchair can often go faster than
a person on foot
Famous people who use wheelchairs
Links
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