"Socially Excluded and Ignored"-The Disabled

Abstract

There are still widespread misconceptions and stereotypes about people with disability. These include that they are a danger, a burden, and a threat. It is not uncommon to hear people express the view that people with a disability would be better off in institutions with people of their own kind. There also appears to be a common belief that people with disability are not able to make significant contribution to the community, and that they are somehow not of equal value as human beings and members of the community. Many people have low expectations of people with disability, believing that they cannot learn or are not able to do anything useful. They are often denied opportunities to experience life, to explore their potential and achieve success, because it is assumed that their potential is limited. It is often stated that people with disability are tolerated in the community, but tolerance is not acceptance and genuine inclusion.

In a society where the values that predominate are power and wealth, physical prowess and beauty, intelligence, competition, autonomy and self-control, many people with disability are marginalized and devalued. It could well be that many people are fearful about engaging with and including people who live with disability as a result of lack of knowledge, and that people with disability are treated as 'the other' rather than involved.