Make Geelong Accessible and Inclusive for People with a Disability

Segregation:

• the state or condition of being segregated, set apart, separated, or restricted to one group:

• the act or practice of segregating; a setting apart or separation of people or things from others or from the main body or group:

• the act of keeping one person or thing separate from another person or thing:

• the policy of keeping one group of people apart from another and treating them differently

It’s confronting, isn’t it? No one wants to see themselves as complicit in that. However, can you really say that it doesn’t apply to people with disability in society today?

I have seen things move so far, just in the last eight years, which gives me great hope. People are generally familiar with the medical as opposed to the social models of disability, even if they don’t know their names.

As a refresher, the medical model of disability places disability entirely within the individual and focuses solely on the medical diagnosis. The only option is to reduce the level of disability in that person through medical intervention. It is accepted that their quality of life will inevitably suffer.

The social model sees people as being disabled by barriers within society, whether they are architectural mistakes, social exclusion, or prejudice. It is these barriers that make it difficult for people with disabilities to achieve their goals and potential in life – not a physical illness. The people themselves are a part of normal human diversity.

I think that we have come a long way towards accepting the social model of disability in policy and planning. I just don’t think people quite get it.

I have been reading quite a few reports that plan to try to increase accessibility to structures in the future. They hope to change planning permits so that disabled people can have the same access to places and events as everybody else. They are going to have a word to business owners and try to encourage them to undertake inclusivity training.

That’s very nice. But this isn’t optional. Segregation is not okay.

I saw many people in and discussion group this morning who had examples of the segregation of disabled people. Please, take pictures and notes and upload them here. If you would prefer anonymity, message them to me or give me an address. Let’s see what we can get and then we can decide what we can do with it.

Make Geelong Accessible and Inclusive for People with a Disability updated their business hours.