Blogging against disablism day

Are you disabled? If you are, the chances are you've been faced with some kind of disablism at some point. Today is the day to 'name and shame', tell our stories and point out that not everyone is the same.

Certain elements of the media would have us believe that there are disabled people who are worthy of help and assisstance, and those who are not. Do we agree with this? If you restrict assistance to only those who are or have become disabled via no fault of their own, you find yourself in some very sticky situations. You would consider the paraplegic victim of a car crash as only elegible if they hadn't been to blame for the accident. What about if the same patient knew the driver of the vehicle was over the limit, and got in the car anyway? Are they then responsible for their own disability?

If you are elegible for a Blue Badge, how often do you face discrimination for using it? How often are you challenged when you park up, legally, by members of the public who feel they have the right to demand your reasons for possession of your badge? I often feel completely vulnerable when I park in Disabled spots and get out of the car, for I quite obviously have no disabilities. I wonder how many people in the area are looking at me, trying to work out what my 'problem' is. Of course, when I gather my child from her car seat and strap her into her special needs buggy, I can tell those same people have looked away, moved on now they can justify the use of that space. I have a friend suffering from MS, on her good days, she can walk almost without any noticable issue, I don't know how many times she has been challenged. What gives people the right to assume that we are all taking more from society than we are entitled to?

As time passes, I am more and more aware of how much discrimination there is in the world, and how hard those who are disabled have to work to be accepted, and, as a mother, it terrifies me.