Friday, March 07, 2008

Changing the Perception of Disability

There are people with disabilities among us. I know because I am one.

As with any group that is seen to be different than "normal," there are preconceived notions. Many of those notions lead to discrimination and/or exclusion (what else?????). Changing those notions can benefit society as a whole as well as the group. Let’s talk about the group of people with disabilities. What can be done to improve those notions?

Increase Awareness and Education
How do we let Society know about disability? TV and movies have a way of making things part of the norm simply by including characters or situations in story lines and commercials. It has been done for years now, and it is becoming more commonplace to see a character or extra or an episode situation with disabilities. That is a good start.

1 comment:

Diane J Standiford said...

Indeed. And now a governor of NY is legally blind. :-)