Systemic and physical barriers degrade disabled people – reforming political structures is salient to broader disability movements

The social model of disability states that there are six different types of barriers people with disability face. Barrier removal requires expertise, collaboration, advocacy and legal backing. Everyone can play a part in educating themselves about these barriers and learn how to create new pathways to ensure our society is as accessible and inclusive as possible. Attitudinal barriers Attitudinal barriers are created by individuals who can only see the impairment and not the person with a disability. At its worst believing in the stigma attached to disability can result in bullying, isolation and even violence. On the flip side of this, people can be incredibly patronising using people with disability as ‘inspirational porn.’ Although this belief has no malicious intent, people with disability do not exist to make others feel good. Being condescending can cause just as much damage as being purposefully hurtful. Stella Young spoke about the effects different attitudes have on the disabled community in her 2014 TED Talk, “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much.” “I want to live in a world where we don’t have such low expectations of disabled people that we are congratulated for getting out of bed and remembering our own names in the morning. I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement for disabled people,” said Stella. This barrier is the underlying issue of all the other barriers. People may be unaware of their negative attitudes which is why it is important to make a conscious effort to unlearn these stereotypes. Everyone is deserving of the same respect and rights no matter their disability. Physical barriers Physical barriers refer to environments that are inaccessible due to the way they were designed. Examples include buildings with no wheelchair access, ineffective lighting that creates poor visibility for people with low vision, sidewalks that are too narrow for walking aids or doorknobs that are difficult to grasp for people with arthritis. There is already a lot of change being made in this space, like the introduction of wheelchair-accessible beach mats and low sensory quiet hours at grocery stores. However, there is always more to be done. Architects, designers, builders, and town planners need to put accessibility first to ensure everyone can enjoy society, rather than a select few. Systemic barriers Systemic barriers are the laws, policies, practices, or strategies designed by the government or organisations that discriminate against people with disabilities. The systemic barriers often stop people from living their day-to-day life. Someone in a wheelchair may struggle to get places if their local train station does not have a ramp or someone with sensory processing issues may struggle to complete work if they are denied a reasonable adjustment of using noise-cancelling headphones. Unfortunately, discriminatory laws and policies are often only changed after immense pressure from advocacy groups. Alastair McEwin AM is the Commissioner for the disability royal commission and strongly believes that removing systemic barriers is key to achieving inclusion. “My drive for the work I do is, quite simply, to ensure that in the future, no disabled person has to experience discrimination or barriers to mainstream society in the same way I have experienced discrimination and barriers as a deaf person,” said Alastair.