Disability is a very common characteristic and occurrence within the human condition. People with disabilities are sometimes reluctant to identify due to fear of stereotypes or discrimination.
Stereotypes and different biases are very common when interacting with people with disabilities. Our culture has taught us, often incorrectly, certain attitudes, assumptions, and conclusions about all people with disabilities. The best way to combat this tendency is to see every person as an individual.
The inclusion of people with disabilities into everyday activities includes methods and guidelines designed to recognize and eliminate barriers for a full participation in society, the same as people without disabilities. Unfortunately, people with disabilities face more frequent barriers than non-disabled people. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a barrier as any factor in someone’s environment that through their absence or presence, limits functioning and establishes disability. Some of these may include:
- A physical facility that is not accessible.
- Shortage of relevant assistive technology.
- Adverse attitudes towards people with disabilities.
Services, systems, and policies that are nonexistent or hinder the involvement of all people with health conditions are evident in every part of life.
What are some of the types of common barriers that are experienced by people with disabilities?
Barriers make it very difficult and sometimes impossible for people with disabilities to participate in all areas of life. Keep in mind that there can sometimes be more than one barrier that occurs at any given time.
Attitudinal Barriers
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word disability?
Some people think of wheelchairs right away and that can unfortunately have a very limiting view on how we are able to establish accessibility, inclusion, and diversity in society.
Other examples of attitudinal barriers include:
- Stereotypes: This idea that everyone who has a disability must always need help or assume that they have a poor quality of life is an example of stereotyping disabilities.
- Stigma, prejudice, and discrimination: These types of attitudes may be related to what people think about when they hear about disabilities: people with disabilities can sometimes be pitied and seen as victims, perceived to need to be cured or viewed as heroic and inspirational.
How can we change this?
People with disabilities simply want to be treated like everyone else and appreciated for their strengths. Some of the ways we can improve and reduce attitudinal barriers is by forming acquaintances with people that have disabilities and avoiding assumptions.
Learn some disability awareness and etiquette and try speaking directly to that person and not through a companion. It is okay to feel nervous or uncomfortable around people at first and it’s also okay to admit that. Whenever you encounter these situations, think about the person first, instead of their disability. The rest will fall into place.
Communication Barriers
Communication barriers are frequently experienced by people with disabilities in the areas of understanding, hearing, speaking, reading, writing and any other way that the person may use to communicate. Common types of communication barriers may include:
- Written messages.
- Auditory messages.
- Language.
How can we change this?
People with vision impairments may not be able to read something because the font is too small, and this can be eliminated by simply providing larger-print versions of the material. Also, providing alternate ways that work with a screen reader may also help if the person uses an assistive technology device.
Auditory messages can become accessible to people with hearing loss if they include captioning or subtitles and are accompanied by sign language interpreting. Additionally, modifying language to be shorter and more succinct can be understood easier by people with cognitive impairments.
Physical barriers
Physical barriers refer to structural obstacles that make mobility and access difficult for people with disabilities. Examples of physical barriers include:
- Narrow doorways.
- Doorknobs.
- Steps and curbs that block a person with a mobility impairment from entering a building or using a sidewalk.
- Stairs without ramps.
- Countertops.
- Bad lighting.
How can we change this?
Removing or modifying some of these physical barriers can improve mobility and access for people with mobility impairments. For example, widening a narrow doorway may allow someone in a wheelchair to access a room or replacing doorknobs with lever handles to make them easier to operate. Not only that but removing or preventing physical barriers becomes more welcoming to everyone (including families with small children, parents with strollers, shoppers with bags or carts or travelers with luggage).
Policy Barriers
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2019 that almost 48% of people aged 16 and older with a disability who were not employed (either unemployed or not in the labor force) reported at least one barrier to employment.
Policy barriers are frequent and related to an overall lack of awareness or enforcement of existing laws (including the Americans with Disabilities Act) and regulations. These require programs and activities to be as accessible to people with disabilities as possible.
Examples of policy barriers may include:
- Rejecting qualified individuals with disabilities the opportunity to participate in or benefit from federally funded programs, services, or other benefits.
- Denying individuals with disabilities access to programs, services, benefits, or opportunities to participate because of physical barriers; and
- Denying reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities, so they can perform the essential functions of the job for which they have applied or have been hired to perform.
How can we change this?
Staying up to date with disability laws, regulations, and guidance to prohibit discrimination based on disability is a start (and required by law). Here are several different types of guidelines.
Conclusion
As a society, once we accept that people have different abilities, our responsibility changes to include everyone and find ways to remove as many barriers as possible. It is a shared social responsibility to help people with disabilities live independent and fulfilling lives and this makes it easier to address the challenges that people with disabilities experience. The only way to achieve this goal is through respect, dignity, and promotion of the rights of people with disabilities.