There are several
different models of disability including the medical, the
social and the environmental, however what matters most
in the international arena is the political model.
Disability is not a constant condition. A person's
disability can vary according to location or situation,
for example a person with quite severe impairments can
work in a responsible position, given suitable equipment
and access to the workplace however if social barriers to
employment such as strict medical criteria or other
prejudiced selection criteria based on appearance are in
place employment is not given.
The Social and Environmental models are not separate
models competing for a political correctness award they
are actually interrelated. Even if attitudinal barriers
are overcome the individual will not be able to be
employed without the physical barriers being lifted as
well. Social barriers can be overcome by education and
awareness training for all employers, but this can still
leave the Physical barriers standing if their is not
sufficient funding available. This is an economic barrier
which becomes all the more greater for the individual if
he/she is unemployed
At work in an accessible environment and with equipment
provided, the impact of the individual's impairment can
be minimised. they can be an equal member of the
workforce, yet once outside of work they will be disabled
once again. If for any reason they are unable to drive a
car, they will in all likelihood be unable to use the
public transport system. They will not be able to benefit
from the advantages of equality in the workplace because
they will never be able to get to work in the first place.
If the home is not provided with the
same facilities as the workplace, whether it be an
adapted toilet or a computer communication device. Or if
a carer/enabler is not available at the right time, this
individual may not even be able to get up for work.
Furthermore the cost of these services at home and the
difficulties of finding statutory help mean that it is
often necessary to be working in order to provide a
sufficient income to pay for them all. Regrettably in
most towns social services care policies are still geared
towards a population who are presumed to be either
retired or incapable of work. in spite of their constant
resort to the "dictionary of political correctness"
These kinds of differences and inequalities appear within
the same town, disabled people are divided from each
other and non disabled people by these barriers.
Awareness training alone cannot remove them all, what is
needed is political action not political correctness.
There has to be legislation to re-inforce good social
practise and outlaw discrimination. To compel adaptation
to public transport, the workplace. There has to be both
the money to carry it out and economic penalties for
those who do not.
Disabled people do not only live in
Cities in Western Europe. The individual who cannot gain
work because of a disability in this country may find
better access and better job opportunities in the United
States of America, on the other hand if they lived in
Sierra Leone, there may be none of the equipment
available we take for granted.
How can equal opportunities be provided in Countries
which have recently been at war such as Rwanda and
Bosnia, or Afghanistan. where disabilities are caused not
only by the realities of war such as land mines, but by
the relative poverty in comparison with the countries of
Western Europe and the United States?
Disabled people cannot move from a poor
country to a rich one or one with better equal
opportunities as there are such other factors to be
considered as immigration barriers. A disabled Citizen of
Mexico, cannot take up residence in a Spanish speaking
part of America such as Miami or Los Angeles, to take
advantage of the Americans with Disabilities Act because
he/she is not considered an American. A disabled
inhabitant of Hong Kong cannot take up residence and
access the facilities available in this country because
he/she is not British.
And in this country itself whist we are all legally
speaking European Citizens we are denied the protection
at work afforded to our fellow Europeans. These are not
social barriers, They are not environmental barriers,
they are not even economic barriers, but they are
political barriers.
Disabled people cannot ever be equal if they are treated
differently according to which side of an artificially
drawn border they happen to be born on. The inequality
between nations is as great as the inequalities which
exist between disabled and non disabled people in any
single nation.
This is what the International Day of Disabled People is
all about.
Copyright © 1997 Laurence Arnold & Coventry
Council of Disabled People
This Page was created on, Sunday, February 16, 1997
Most recent revision Monday, March 10, 1997
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