Today’s post is on barriers that people with disabilities face. Honestly I thought that barriers would be such a simple topic, but when you really begin to think about how a person can be prevented from doing even the most basic tasks it gets complicated really fast. In this context I would define a barrier as “the absence or existence of something the limits a person’s ability to function in society”. There are so many barriers but I believe the major types are Physical, Attitudinal, Systematic, and Participational.
Physical Barriers:
When people think of physical barriers we think “stairs”. Physical barriers are so much more than that. A physical barrier is anything in your environment that limits your ability to function properly. Let’s take an apartment building during a fire. If you are a person who uses a wheelchair, how do you get out? Can’t take the stairs. You aren’t allowed to use the elevator? Are you supposed to wait for the fire department when the building is on fire? Or how about if you are blind and you need to use the elevator by yourself. How do you know for sure that you are pressing the button for the ground floor?
Participational Barriers:
Participation barriers are very subtle and probably the easiest to miss. The ability to participate in the decision making process or provide feedback is so key in removing other types of barriers. Imagine that you lived in a world where everything was designed by people who are 10 feet tall. Think about how this would play out. All the clothes you buy are too big since everything in the store is for people that much taller than you. You are forced to make alterations just to make things fit and you always look out of place. If only you could tell the designers you exist and that what they are making doesn’t work. It would be such an easy fix if you could provide feedback or be a part of the decision making process. This is how many people with disabilities feel on an everyday basis. The world doesn’t fit and they are forced to make band aid solutions and feel out of place. Being able to participate in decisions that affect you is so important. People with disabilities need to be part of the design and decisions need to be made with their input in mind. Participation barriers can come in many forms such as not employing people to design technologies and systems for public use, or seeking input from people with different disabilities on how policies or equipment affects them. Even just having accessible feedback systems so that everyone can lodge a complaint to notify the organization of an accessibility issue.
Attitudinal Barrier:
This focuses around how society views individuals with disabilities. On one side you have pity and overprotection. These are people who don’t believe that individuals with a disability can function in the world. Hearing the words “you are so brave” is usually the calling card. On the other side there are the people who feel that the disability is just an excuse not to do anything. Just suck it up, and stop whining all the time. They both really just boil down to stereotyping.
Systematic Barriers:
These are barriers that are related to laws, policies, strategies that affect the public. In many parts of the world there are laws in place that prevent individuals from opening up bank accounts all the way to denying political rights. Not all of the barriers are overt. I have seen many job postings for office work that had the requirements to lift a minimum 30lbs. This is a very subtle way of screening out individuals with physical disabilities from applying for jobs they would otherwise be perfectly qualified for.