Disability Week a chance to reflect
01-September-2010
By Tygar Taylor
Since our kindergarten years, we’ve been told ‘treat others, as you would like to be treated’, and this month organisers are hoping this maxim rings true.
Encouraging people to make their communities more welcoming to those with a disability, the aim of the campaign is to reduce feelings of awkwardness and hopefully transform the way society views the issue.
Almost a year after an off-road accident, paraplegic Finbar Mills, 22, said the problem is not people in the community being outwardly negative but people being too nice because they don’t see people with disabilities as ‘normal’.
“People always come up to me and say ‘high-five buddy’ and it’s completely patronizing, or pat you on the back and say what an inspiration you are and you just ask, ‘why?’” he said.
Sick of people constantly singling him out for no reason, Mills feels most people in the community don’t understand how their actions affect the disabled.
“I’ve been medicated for depression, mainly because you experience everything from embarrassment to feeling degraded to being disrespected.
“The world operates in a whole new way now, you know, so much so that it has a massive impact… just getting around and trying to do what you’ve got to do, can be a living hell.”
While one in five Queenslanders have a disability, and the number throughout Australia has exceeded four million since 2003, the disabled population is in need of changes.
Mills says those changes consist of structural – such as better footpaths and general access to facilities – and an overall better understanding of what it’s like to live with a disability.
Carol Haffke, from the
Spinal Injuries Association, says this is exactly what their organisations aim to deliver.
“Our 2,000 members and clients throughout Queensland, who all have spinal cord injuries, should be able to access every aspect of life and contribute to the community and their region,” she said.
To do that, the organisation is advocating for a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to transform the lives of people with disabilities, their families and carers.
“It’s a no-fault insurance scheme that provides funding for people with a disability for personal support, therapy, aids and equipment, home modifications, and employment training,” said Haffke.
“It would assist everyone with a permanent disability, no matter how, or when, their disability is acquired.”
The
Productivity Commission is currently carrying out an enquiry into a NDIS, with the final report to be released on 31 July 2011.
The official launch of Disability Week will be held on Saturday 4th September at Airlie Beach.
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