What is ailism and how "harmless" phrases lead to discrimination

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We pretend that there is only room for healthy people in the world, and we make a serious mistake.

What is ailism and who does it affect

Eyblim is discrimination against people with disabilities and the creation and dissemination of stereotypes about them.

Eyelism has many manifestations, sometimes not the most obvious. Most often, people with disabilities (there are 12 million of them in Russia) become targets for discrimination, in particular those with disabilities of the musculoskeletal system or mental development. But in a broad sense, everyone who, for health reasons, has difficulty in taking certain actions, which are elementary for an ordinary person, can suffer from eyism. For example, a depressed person may find it difficult even to get out of bed and tidy himself up, while a social phobia may find it difficult to ask for directions or go for an interview.

How discrimination manifests itself

Refusal to hire

Only 28.8% of able-bodied people with disabilities work in Russia, although there are quotas that should help them in this. Sometimes employers find loopholes in order not to take a person with disabilities: he cannot always work full time, special conditions may be required for him.

Some people with disabilities do not try to get a job on their own because they find it difficult to move around or are scared to be ridiculed. For some, the only way out is to be remote.

Lack of a barrier-free environment

Even in large cities it is very difficult to get around in a wheelchair or with a cane. The ramps, if any, cannot be used without the risk of twisting your neck. Lifts are missing or not working. Everywhere there are stairs, sills, curbs, broken asphalt. For visually impaired people, there are no tactile tiles and braille inscriptions. Voice announcements in public places are not duplicated with scrolling lines - which could make life easier for the hearing impaired.

There are many experiments on YouTube that show how “accessible” environment is really inaccessible for people with limited mobility.

Because of this, many find themselves locked in their own apartments, unable to move without an assistant, work, and live a full life.

Rights violation

They do not pay benefits, do not provide free medicines, treatment vouchers and wheelchairs. For example, a mother of a child with a disability from Kazan cannot get an apartment required by law. And the girl, who is not even able to eat herself, is recognized as fully capable and deprived of benefits and benefits.

The solution to these problems is mainly in the hands of the state and little depends on the average person. But there are other forms of discrimination for which each of us is responsible.

Ridicule and bullying

It may seem that this is happening in a children's team. But adults, unfortunately, can behave more disgusting than any school bully.

In Chelyabinsk, the residents of the high-rise building did not like the fact that a development center for children with special needs was located on the ground floor: the residents of the house were unpleasant to look at people with disabilities and did not want to lose part of the parking lot. In Moscow, the neighbors of a wheelchair child deliberately broke a folding ramp. The deputy said that there was no need to breed disabled people, and the traffic police inspector asked the Paralympic champion if she was physically disabled or morally.

Unfortunately, there are many such stories. And on the Internet, a person with poor health can even run into direct insults, death wishes and completely fascist arguments about who has the right to live and who does not.

Using diagnoses as insults

The person could not answer the question correctly - they say to him: "What are you, down?" He lost his temper and hit someone - "Well, you are crazy!" These words are scattered without hesitation. This equates bad deeds and diagnoses, stigmatizes those who are sick or have disabilities, creates dangerous stereotypes: all mentally ill people are aggressive, all people with Down syndrome are stupid.

In some cases, these insults can even remove responsibility from a completely healthy person: “Insulted? Did you start a fight? He's just a schizophrenic! Antisocial actions are justified by a fictitious diagnosis and they offer to close their eyes to them, instead of condemning at least in words the one who committed them.

Spreading stereotypes

"People with disabilities constantly need help", "All people with autism spectrum disorders are inadequate" - these and many other stereotypes have taken root in society and continue to be actively broadcast. And they are by no means harmless: it is because of them that people with disabilities are perceived wary or even hostile. They find it difficult to lead a social life, find work and friends, study and pursue a hobby.

Calls to abandon an unhealthy child

A woman who has given birth to a child with a serious pathology may be offered to write a refusal and leave the baby in the hospital. The argument is simple: “Why do you need this? You will also give birth to a healthy one”. As a result, the child does not grow up in a family, but in an orphanage, does not receive love and quality care, and is deprived of the opportunity to adapt to real life.

Special attitude

People with disabilities are often perceived as small children. They can be pitied or asked many tactless questions about their condition, emphasizing in every possible way that a person is not like everyone else. When the diagnosis comes to the fore, and not personal qualities, it is very unpleasant.

What can be done to reduce discrimination

• Treat people with disabilities and developmental disabilities with respect, just like anyone else. If possible, give them help if they need it. Do not interfere with the installation of ramps, do not occupy parking spaces for disabled people.
• Do not offend such people, refuse to make hostile statements about them.
• Do not use medical diagnoses in an inappropriate context. Do not support stereotypes about people with special needs.
• Remember that those around you may be experiencing difficulties. Therefore, it is important to put ramps, if you have your own store or cafe, to accompany text information with audio version or Braille (for example, a menu in a restaurant, price tags in a store), and on the contrary, duplicate the voice information with text.
• Talk to your children and explain to them that people with disabilities are just like us. They should not be laughed at, should not be pointed at, and should not be avoided.

Most of the problems faced by people with disabilities can only be solved by the state. But each of us is able not to close our eyes to injustice, to fight against false attitudes and help if asked for.