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Ableism and disablism – how to spot them and how we can all do better

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-chapman-1345505">Kelsey Chapman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/angel-dixon-1412256">Angel Dixon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-kendall-210342">Elizabeth Kendall</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katie-kelly-1436986">Katie Kelly</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>When the 2022 Australian of the Year was announced, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-defining-moments-of-dylan-alcotts-time-as-australian-of-the-year/anpkgw2gw">Dylan Alcott</a> wheeled onto the stage. Australian audiences are tuning in to watch TV shows featuring people with disability: <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/7/video/LE2021H003S00?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlMCoiYLY_gIVl1l9Ch2plwHkEAAYASAAEgKiC_D_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">You Can’t Ask That</a>, <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/love-on-the-spectrum">Love on the Spectrum</a> and <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/employable-me-australia">Employable Me</a>.</p> <p>The Disability Pride movement is gaining momentum and people with disability are becoming part of the diversity conversation.</p> <p>On the surface, it would appear we have come a long way in our collective attitudes towards disability. But two of society’s biggest “-isms” still go largely <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-27/harry-styles-concerts-marvel-stadium-accessibility-chloe-hayden/102025124">unnoticed and unaddressed</a>: ableism and disablism.</p> <p>What do these terms mean? And how can we all do better to dismantle them?</p> <h2>Two types of discrimination</h2> <p>Ableism and disablism both refer to types of disability discrimination. The nuance between the two words can cause confusion but are important for acknowledging, detecting, and dismantling the types of barriers people with disability encounter.</p> <p><a href="https://www.attitude.org.au/uploads/120/Perspective%20Shift_Series%201_Study%20Guide_Nov_FINAL.pdf">Ableism</a> is discrimination that favours “able-bodied” people, or people without disability. Ableism prioritises the needs of people without disability. A building designed without a ramp or a lift for people who require them, a lack of captions for a meeting, and stadiums without <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/what-is-a-sensory-space-and-why-are-they-so-important-20230227-p5cnwy.html">low-sensory spaces</a> are all examples of ableism.</p> <p><a href="https://www.sense.org.uk/information-and-advice/ableism-and-disablism/">Disablism</a> is the inherent belief that people with disability are inferior to those without disability. It is discrimination against people with disability, like those shared in the <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2022-03/Issues%20paper%20-%20Rights%20and%20attitudes.pdf">Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability</a>. Disablism can be a more direct, conscious act of discrimination and abuse. Using disability slurs, ignoring someone, or speaking in a patronising way are common examples.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Weekly reminder: If your event doesn't have a virtual option, it's not inclusive or accessible. Thank you for coming to my Twitter talk on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ableism?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ableism</a></p> <p>— chantzy (@chantz_y) <a href="https://twitter.com/chantz_y/status/1653033877105934339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <h2>Ingrained and everywhere</h2> <p>If we are honest, we can acknowledge ableism and disablism are ubiquitous in our language, our homes, children’s stories, media, at work and in our daily social interactions. Indeed, ableism and disablism can be so ingrained in our daily lives that most people are unaware of them.</p> <p>Both forms of discrimination can be subtle and insidious, making them difficult to detect and address. They often operate at systemic levels and are not identified as discrimination.</p> <p>A good example of systemic ableism is the forced segregation of people with disability into <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2022-03/Issues%20paper%20-%20Education%20and%20learning.pdf">“special” schools or “sheltered” workplaces</a> through limited choice and structural support of these options. Although the process of forcing people into these options no longer occurs in such blatantly disrespectful ways, the result is the same.</p> <p>Ableist and disablist attitudes are frequently encountered in daily conversation. Subtle ableism manifests in the use of well-intended “empathetic” comments, like “I can’t imagine losing my eyesight. That would be the worst.” These remarks, even when intended to prompt a connection between two people, reveal deep-seated beliefs and create a greater divide.</p> <p>People with disability, along with other marginalised communities, categorise these types of interactions as “<a href="https://hbr.org/2020/07/when-and-how-to-respond-to-microaggressions">microaggressions</a>”.</p> <p>Disablist attitudes are more overt. Comments like “If you are unable to walk down the ramp then you shouldn’t have gotten tickets to this concert” demonstrate the low expectations and damaging beliefs that impact on people’s opportunities for education, employment and social interaction.</p> <h2>Challenging but worth it</h2> <p>Combating disablism and ableism is a great challenge but one that is worthwhile. A broad spectrum of challenges is at play: confronting and disrupting the status quo, valuing diverse types of knowledge and experience and acknowledging the unconscious biases we all have.</p> <p>At a systemic and societal level, the way we design and deliver systems, polices, virtual and physical environments, products and experiences need to be co-designed in partnership with people with disability – or better yet, through disability-led initiatives.</p> <p>Generating new ideas and better ways of working will contribute to improvements in daily life for all people – just like ramps benefit parents pushing prams and people using mobility aids.</p> <p>The emphasis on <a href="https://anzsog.edu.au/research-insights-and-resources/research/the-promise-of-co-design-for-public-policy/">co-design</a> and engagement with people with disability is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1440-1630.12847">increasingly prevalent</a>. However, it is critical to conduct co-design in ways that are not tokenistic and don’t merely validate current practice. Frameworks like the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1440-1630.12847">Dignity Project Framework</a>, which includes principles of importance for engaging with people with disability, can better support a dignified process of co-design and citizen partnership.</p> <h2>‘Not yet disabled’</h2> <p>At an individual level, we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive future.</p> <p>Disability has been called the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/factsheet-on-persons-with-disabilities.html">world’s largest minority</a> and is a group any person can join at any time in their life.</p> <p>The late disability rights activist <a href="https://judithheumann.com/">Judith Heumann</a> preferred to use the term “not yet disabled” to emphasise that we will all experience impairment and disability at some stage. Thus, we may all confront ableism and disablism at some point. The way to prepare for that time is to actively acknowledge and challenge personal biases, learn about and advocate for accessibility and inclusion in the spaces where you live, work and play and amplify the voices of people with disability at every opportunity.</p> <p>As advocate <a href="https://tiltingthelens.com/about-us/#:%7E:text=As%20a%20passionate%20writer%2C%20podcast,of%20Fashion%2C%20and%20many%20more.">Sinead Burke from Tilting the Lens</a> says in <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogue-disability-portfolio-2023">British Vogue’s</a> May issue, "Accessibility and disability inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and opportunity. This is a movement, not a moment. And it involves all of us.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204541/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />"</p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-chapman-1345505">Kelsey Chapman</a>, Research Fellow Dignity Project, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/angel-dixon-1412256">Angel Dixon</a>, Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elizabeth-kendall-210342">Elizabeth Kendall</a>, Professor, Director, Griffith Inclusive Futures, Griffith University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katie-kelly-1436986">Katie Kelly</a>, Research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty </em><em>Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ableism-and-disablism-how-to-spot-them-and-how-we-can-all-do-better-204541">original article</a>.</em></p>

Caring

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Bride's reason for barring brother-in-law from photos

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A woman has shared her shock online after her invitation to her sister’s wedding came with a shocking request.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Initially, the woman’s husband wasn’t invited to the ceremony at all. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But when it was confirmed that he could come, the woman’s sister requested he stay out of the family photos because he was in a wheelchair.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The woman took to Reddit to explain the situation, writing that her sister was getting married next month.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My husband and I were both planning on going but when we got the invitation it was only for me,” she </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/brides-request-to-cut-brother-in-law-out-of-wedding-photos/b8007193-258d-43f7-a761-eb0f32bfdf51" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">explained</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When I called my sister and asked about it she said my husband was of course fine to come but she requested that he not be in any family photos.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My husband is in a wheelchair. I’ve been married to him for 8 years. He has been in a wheelchair since he was 16 and my family has always ever known him to be in his chair,” the woman continued.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 422.9559748427673px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845662/reddit.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/8d1fbb94bc0c4435b97b488fd0b3180a" /></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Reddit</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to her, her husband wasn’t allowed in the photos because her sister was afraid he would take attention away from her due to his visible disability.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“She justifies this by saying when people come over and see our family photo they always ask about him because he’s the only one that is in a wheelchair so he stands out,” she explained.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“She says she wants to be the main focus in her photos.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The woman said she was “livid” at her sister’s request, telling her sister she was being a “selfish bridezilla”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I told her we wouldn’t be coming,” she wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve been getting calls from parents and relatives telling me I need to apologise to my sister because now she’s upset.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She said she was angry that her family weren’t supporting her husband.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My husband hates being a burden and he says he’s fine with not being in the photos. Which made me even angrier because now he feels bad about himself for something I feel is unwarranted,” she added.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When she asked whether she was in the wrong for fighting for her husband and not apologising, others responded with support for her decision.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The bride is the a--hole,” one person wrote, adding, “Some people are this shallow and self-centered”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s really difficult to believe that the family would take the bride’s side on such an obnoxious request and be upset with op [the original poster],” another said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A missing family member stands out,” one person noted. “So the whole attention whore thing won’t work out the way she intended.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This makes me sad that people have had that experience of exclusion due to such things,” another shared.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This would absolutely be the hill I’d died on,” one person declared.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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Young woman hits back at claims she “doesn’t look disabled” enough

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A young Melbourne woman has hit back at critics who dispute her use of disability parking spots because she “doesn’t look disabled”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rhiannon took to </span><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@daddyrhi?referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fhoney.nine.com.au%2F&amp;referer_video_id=6981250889914830081&amp;refer=embed&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TikTok</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to explain that she has been receiving criticism for using disability parking spaces even though she is “legally disabled”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I am legally disabled and as much as old motherf***ers would like to square up with me about it, I’m legally disabled,” she said at the start of the video.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rhiannon has fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes muscle pain and tenderness throughout the body, often accompanied by fatigue and problems with memory and concentration.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Starting to experience symptoms when she was 20, the model was diagnosed with the condition at 21 after seeing multiple doctors and pain specialists.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the clip, she can be seen holding up her disability parking permit, which is usually displayed on the left-hand-side of the car’s windscreen, and says, “See this, [this permit] is really hard to get.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I park in my disabled parking, and put up [my permit] - tell me why this old f***er comes up to me and thinks that it is their business to go, ‘You don’t look disabled’.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m about to make you legally disabled in a minute, I will tell you that much,” Rhiannon said, before explaining that some people don’t understand that disabilities aren’t always physically visible.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Do you want me to cut off my f***ing legs so that I look disabled enough for you?” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What the f***. Like, ‘Oh let me get out of the car and be bent over and limping just so I fit your idea of disabled.’ Shut the f*** up.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The video soon went viral, receiving 226,000 likes and 1.3 million views in just one day.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commenters were quick to share their support and similar experiences of their own.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I have a sticker on the back of my car that says ‘Invisible disabilities are still disabilities’ … it happens CONSTANTLY,” one user commented.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I get it all the time. I have arthritis and [am] on chemo. I can literally walk into a shop and barely make it back. And still get abused. Lord feel,” another wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a follow-up video, Rhiannon explained her condition for viewers who didn’t know what fibromyalgia was, joking that if she had known her other video would get so many views, she “definitely would have sworn less”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rhiannon explained that she doesn’t use the disability parking spots very often, as she understands “there are people who are not as lucky as [she is] in [her] disability, and need it more” since some days she feels “perfectly fine” and can take a different spot.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the day she posted the original video, she explained she was going to an appointment to help with her pain and that she was “finding it a harder day than normal and felt the distance walking from another car park was a bit too much for [her]”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She said she didn’t understand why people had an opinion on where she parks, and that if she could “give up” her condition and be able to park in a different spot, she would.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“To anybody that is going through what I have been now, my heart is with you, I’m sending you all the love in the world,” she said at the end of the video.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I know it’s really hard, just don’t give up.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: daddyrhi / Instagram, TikTok</span></em></p>

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