This is a fascinating topic, and I wish you all the best on this. However, mind if I throw a smallish wench? I sometimes wonder if this is more of a Western phenomena than anything else. Not that we here in Asia don't find disabilities horrifying, but we treat and view our disabled very differently.
Hear me out: something that has always happened when I bring friends around Taiwan, is that they always remark that there are "a ton" of people in wheelchairs, blind people, very old people, mentally handicapped, disfigured people [missing limbs, or obvious scars], and otherwise disabled. Although, yes, some of these people are begging, majority of them are not. They're storekeepers, people rushing to work/school/play, and everyday folks.
The majority of publicly accessible are wheelchair accessible, and the sidewalks in Taiwan and China [I use these as examples since I've lived here] are marked by special tiles for the blind. I dont believe we necessarily have 'more' disabled people [though it is possible], but I believe that the Chinese don't treat them as unable to work and contribute to society. Everyone has a place, and there are trades [though I wonder about these sometimes] for them as well. I can't read Chinese so I can't tell you what goes on in literature, but watching tv shows and movies, handicapped people do come up quite often. Of course... being Chinese and you know how we're all into martial arts films.... Toph Beifong is not an anomaly in our media hahaha
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-07-21 10:49 am (UTC)Hear me out: something that has always happened when I bring friends around Taiwan, is that they always remark that there are "a ton" of people in wheelchairs, blind people, very old people, mentally handicapped, disfigured people [missing limbs, or obvious scars], and otherwise disabled. Although, yes, some of these people are begging, majority of them are not. They're storekeepers, people rushing to work/school/play, and everyday folks.
The majority of publicly accessible are wheelchair accessible, and the sidewalks in Taiwan and China [I use these as examples since I've lived here] are marked by special tiles for the blind. I dont believe we necessarily have 'more' disabled people [though it is possible], but I believe that the Chinese don't treat them as unable to work and contribute to society. Everyone has a place, and there are trades [though I wonder about these sometimes] for them as well. I can't read Chinese so I can't tell you what goes on in literature, but watching tv shows and movies, handicapped people do come up quite often. Of course... being Chinese and you know how we're all into martial arts films.... Toph Beifong is not an anomaly in our media hahaha