Disabled people have existed throughout human history, so you may wonder why we hear so little about the progress of their rights. Disabled people are an under-represented minority. For centuries, governments globally have been inherently ableist in their legislation and treatment of disabled people.
A deep dive into disability history
Ableism often arises from the fear and ignorance that is still present in the general public. In 2014, the disability charity Scope found that 67% of non-disabled people feel uncomfortable interacting with disabled people. That statistic alone tells you how bad ableism is in modern society. We need an honest look at the disability paradox and the pursuit of happiness within disabled lives, to quantify how deeply ableism runs in society, specifically in the UK.
Samsung ran a study in May 2022 to analyse accessibility in the workforce. They found that 45% of the people in the study said that they were not comfortable talking about or using the word disability or disabled and didn’t want to talk about disability in the workplace.
On 21 November 2023, Rishi Sunak announced that those with mental and/or physical disabilities must either work from home or lose their benefits. This shows how unaware people are about the true impacts of disability; even if they give all the people on benefits jobs, that doesn’t mean those jobs are going to last – with a lack of consideration of people’s specific needs. This further perpetuates the idea that disabled people are lazy, their disabilities are their fault and their job to work through and accommodate constantly.
This change also violates the UK Government’s legislation – The Equality Act 2010 which specifically protects disabled people against employment-based discrimination, by use of lack of funding against disabled people. While the Act stands for anti-discrimination and equal laws, no other demographic has been forced into work like this.
Why are we forcing the disabled to work?
My hypothesis as a disabled person is that it all comes down to the disability paradox. This relates to the idea that our personal relationship with disability defines how we experience our view of the world and our interpersonal relationships. There is a big knowledge gap between the disabled and non-disabled population, coming down to vastly different perceptions of disability. Despite misconceptions of quality of life overall, the disabled community tend to report a very good or excellent quality of life. Yet there is a widely known stereotype within the non-disabled community that disabled lives are tragic and pitiful.
My fiancé and I are examples of this paradox – we both have disabilities which manifest differently but have a very good quality of life and high hopes for the future. Admittedly, that might be largely due to each other but also because we have the support we need to thrive.
Ugly laws
But where did all these stereotypes and misconceptions begin? In my opinion, they began with legislation like ‘the ugly laws’, making it illegal for disabled people to appear in public in the US, and an active law up until 1974. Laws like this directly impact the movement of disability rights – the mid-70s are not so distant. Despite being repealed in America, such laws make the disability rights conversation nuanced. How much we can hold the everyday person accountable for in terms of their own ableism?
Disability is inherently hierarchical; only those with the most visible, complex and tangible needs receive the little support governments have now put in place for disabled people.
UK financial schemes like personal independence payments (PIP) provide claimants up to £748.59 a month, subject to the highest eligibility criteria. This also applies to Universal Credit. The problem is, people in power are very conscious of who uses these systems. They know that disabled people depend on this money and the systems to get even a shred of independence and autonomy, which human beings inherently rely on to feel mentally sane and content with themselves. The fact that people use these structures as a means of power and control against people who cannot control their circumstances is just sickening.
We may all have a disability, one day
What I find confusing is that we may all be disabled one day, even politicians currently in power. They are making their life harder in the long run by making society inaccessible for disabled people. They will be elderly one day, with some form of support needs. Policies and legislation exist on a completely artificial level; politicians and lawmakers are doing themselves a bigger disservice than they think.
While powerful in the short term, they will have no quality of life in the long term. Like any other disabled person, I would wager that when older, they may have the motivation to change policy, but by then they would have aged out of their societal position. Even within the same social circle, those in power would not listen – disability issues would not affect them yet.
Accessibility isn’t rocket science
It is estimated that 16% of the world’s population is disabled. Despite so many being affected by disability, it makes no sense that so much of the world is inaccessible. It was not until 2022 that flights were made accessible, allowing people to fly in their mobility devices, like wheelchairs.
Although this has been possible in cars and public transport for years, on flights this will not come into effect until mid-2025. I wonder how it took almost 100 years for the industry to come up with two floor restraints and a seat belt attached to the floor for the chair. It is not exactly rocket science – it just took somebody who has money to care enough to do it.
What baffles me is the fact that this affects everybody. Yet disabled people are often seen as subhuman – this makes no sense when so many who are disabled or neurodivergent are extremely intelligent, highly self-aware and successful.
Why do we ostracise these people who create the things that we want in the world? Many who are neurodivergent, including myself, work in or study the creative industries; our minds being very vivid and often visual, we enjoy doing creative work and people appreciate the work that we do.
We manage to get on TV shows, paint beautiful paintings, make music and create great experiences that people love. Is it known that we are disabled or why our brains work that way to create these things?
A system in need of change
So much of human rights and equality comes down to the need for change and the need for justice. That does not serve the people who act as uninterested oppressors.
Just because the world is made in a hierarchical system and primarily for able-bodied white men who are straight, and cisgender, does not mean that the world should function this way. It means that we are not even functioning in the most optimal way. I say this as someone who is no expert on science or the best way to build the universe, but I do have real, lived experience.
A lot of this comes down to the perception of socialisation and social norms. On the one hand this is extremely relieving – we know exactly why these things are happening, where the roots of the issue are, and why concepts like ableism, homophobia, and racism exist. It is also so frustrating that these problems are so simple to identify and yet so hard to solve or implement changes.
I think it is okay to hold space for both these things to be true simultaneously. I also think that’s why the disabled and neurodivergent have such a hard time with things like pattern recognition and mental health – we analyse patterns, structures and social cues day in and day out, to fit in with normative society. So, we know how to run societal systems well and fairly.
Difference incentivises fear of disability
We often do not have the social currency for solutions; we are not palatable enough to be let into able-bodied spaces. However, given the right tools and resources, disabled people could at least fix a lot of the world’s access problems and probably wealth redistribution as well. Those who are marginalised, especially in intersectional ways, know the difference between equality and equity. Those who have all the privilege have likely never heard that terminology.
They have refused to let us help them because difference incentivises fear, meaning that we aren’t allowed into the important spaces. Gay marriage in the UK was legalised in 2014, but disabled people still do not have equal marriage rights – their benefits get cut the second they get married. When I get married to my husband, I will only earn 55p for every pound that he makes. How is that fair?
That is evidence that my life is less than his, because he can walk, and I cannot – the only difference between us. I hope that in time disabled people will get more rights and that as a society we will progress to eventually understand how superficial and stupid we have been; however, I doubt that will happen soon because humans don’t love change. There’s nothing we can do about subconscious, psychologically wired human quirks on top of power issues. Disability rights have made progress, but we have a long way to go until we are seen as equals in society.
Coming soon, co-authored with my fiancé, Leo Otoiu: Intersectionality – marginalised people can be happy.
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