Disability is a normal part of societyA big group of communities. A society usually has rules and people in charge..
A society is a big group of communities.
The United States is one society.
Society is supposed to help everyone get what they need.
But society doesn’t always do that.
Our society hurts people with disabilities.
Our society says that disability is a problem.
It says that people should try to cure disability.
It says people should try and be less disabled.
People with disabilities are not the problem.
Instead, society is the problem.
Society needs to help people with disabilities, not hurt us.
Society shouldn’t try to change disabled people.
We should work to make sure people with disabilities can get what we need.
Disability isn’t as big of a deal if things are accessible.
AccessibilityWhen disabled people can easily use something. We can easily get around somewhere. We feel like we belong there. means disabled people can easily use something.
We can easily get around somewhere. We feel like we belong there.
For example:
Charlene is blind. She goes to a restaurant.
They do not have a menu in Braille.
The restaurant is too crowded to get around easily.
The waiter doesn’t try to help Charlene.
People nearby talk about her disability while she eats.
The restaurant is not accessible to blind people.
Charlene goes to a different restaurant.
The restaurant has bumps on the floor to help Charlene find a seat.
They have a menu in Braille. The waiter also says he can read the menu to Charlene.
People nearby make friendly conversation with Charlene.
They don’t ask rude questions about her disability.
This restaurant is accessible to blind people.
There are things about some disabilities that can be hard.
For example, autism is a disability.
Autism might make it harder for someone to talk or get dressed by themselves.
Accessibility doesn’t make disability go away. But it still helps a lot.
Disability is a part of life.
Disabled people will always be a part of the world.
Many disabled people will always need help to live our daily lives.
That is okay!
Disability makes us different and interesting people.
We need to talk less about fixing people and more about fixing the world!