It's interesting you should mention this now, since I was just listening to Ouch on the BBC. One of the presenters was mentioning a time when someone tapped her on the knee and said something to the extent of "God has cured you, get up and walk." I guess the one benefit was the guy at another table was so embarrassed on her behalf that she got a free meal from it, but yeah...
The problem is that if people don't have disabled friends or family, they tend to make their assumptions from other sources. Television and the news do a wonderful job of portraying the average disabled person as someone who isn't really disabled and gets loads of money from the government. I know there are people who hide their disability from people because they're afraid that they'll not get hired.
When I was younger, I remember buying some of the anti-disabled stories (never met a person and thought they were faking it, though); then I went to university and saw people who needed written notes before class or extra time in exams or to be able to eat during class (to name a few). Our department was great for taking care of people, though I heard not-so-positive stories from other subjects and worse from other universities.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-05-08 01:54 pm (UTC)The problem is that if people don't have disabled friends or family, they tend to make their assumptions from other sources. Television and the news do a wonderful job of portraying the average disabled person as someone who isn't really disabled and gets loads of money from the government. I know there are people who hide their disability from people because they're afraid that they'll not get hired.
When I was younger, I remember buying some of the anti-disabled stories (never met a person and thought they were faking it, though); then I went to university and saw people who needed written notes before class or extra time in exams or to be able to eat during class (to name a few). Our department was great for taking care of people, though I heard not-so-positive stories from other subjects and worse from other universities.