BEHIND THE HEADLINES: The perception of disabled people in society

This statistic seems somewhat surprising in a society which prides itself on tolerance, but many Gwent people whose lives have been affected by disability say sadly this does not come as a shock, as SOPHIE BROWNSON reports.

A NEW report conducted by the Disability Matters Consortium has called on advanced disability training as statistics show that only five per cent of Brits chose ‘confident’ as a top three term to describes how they feel when they meet a disabled person.

Today’s poll which interviewed 2,064 British adults online between January 7 and 8 to identify how disability-aware adults are, has shown that a quarter of the public lack confidence speaking to disabled children, with young adults, aged 18 to 24-year-olds, most likely to feel this way.

Compared to adults over 65, those in the young adult age group were very much less disability-aware and lacked confidence approaching the subject.

It also highlighted that one in five adults say they feel ‘awkward’ when they meet a disabled person. To coincide with the release of the poll findings, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is launching a programme called Disability Matters, a website funded by the department of health, providing engaging e-learning resources that enable employees to address attitudes and beliefs towards disability.

Ieuan Coombes, 22, from Caerleon has cerebral palsy, and is an ambassador for the Serennu Centre and volunteers for Monmouthshire Sports Development. He said the statistics have not come as a shock but believes there needs to be more education on disability.

“(There needs to be) education programmes and seminars with people looking to find out more about disability,” he said.

“Schools do stuff like personal development in that they cover topics like sexuality and racism and I have always been an advocate that they should include disability in that.

“One of the main concerns is that people are unsure how to react and how to integrate with people who are disabled.

“Often they go for the sympathy approach and see their condition as tragic – something which limits them – but I think it is really important to understand that irrespective of the limitation, someone has many positives that they can go on to achieve.”

A spokeswoman from the disability charity Scope agrees.

“Attitudes towards disabled people still have a long way to go,” she said.

“Not enough people know a disabled person, or know enough about disability.

“Many people feel awkward around disabled people, and worry about saying and doing the wrong thing.

“As a result, disabled people often experience negative attitudes, in the playground, in the street, and from employers.

“Last year, Scope launched a national advertising campaign End the Awkward, to get people thinking about what we can do to include disabled people more in our lives.”

This comes as the poll found that younger people are much less confident than the older generation about communicating with disabled people, with 28 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they would not be confident communicating with a disabled child in comparison to just 19 per cent of over-65s.

Newport tot Kara-Jay Horton has Turner syndrome, a condition which means she only has one X-chromosome. Her mother Kelly said people struggle to communicate with her daughter.

“(Kara’s) speech is delayed so communication is a problem,” she said.

“Clinton (her father) and I quickly understand what she is saying because we are around her all of the time, but other people find it hard and struggle to understand what she is saying.”

Another issue brought up in the poll shows that 86 per cent of Brits say if they had a disabled child, they would worry their child would find it harder to get a job, with 82 per cent of people in the poll believing there should be more training in the workplace to ensure employees feel confident about working with disabled people.

Ms Horton said that she worries about Kara’s job prospects due to the fact she needs to have regular time off for appointments.

“Kara’s hearing is one of her biggest problems,” she said.

“She is going to need to have tests regularly so I do worry this is going to impact on things like jobs.”

A Disability Wales spokeswoman commenting on the report said disabled people experience many barriers like this every day.

“(Often) the most difficult barrier of all is the attitude of other people towards them,” she said.

“Disability equality training must be incorporated into the education system across all sectors in order to raise awareness and help shape positive attitudes towards disabled people.”

An MS Society Wales spokeswoman agrees: “At the MS Society we regularly hear from people with MS who have felt ignored or judged because of their disabilities.

“As a result people with MS find it hard to talk about their condition with others.

“There are 100,000 people with MS in the UK, and better understanding of the condition as well as the challenges facing people with disabilities could have a real, positive impact on lives.”

'Living with disability can be isolating'

Jenni McCabe is a Parkinson’s sufferer and a member of the Parkinson’s UK Newport branch.

In response to the report she said: “I fall over a lot because of Parkinson’s and people think that I’m drunk.

“They cannot understand why I’m saying on the phone and look at me sideways.

“Younger people seem to be more embarrassed than older people [when it comes to disabilities.]

“I was in a wheelchair last Christmas and people were talking over me to the person behind me.

“I felt isolated.

“I don’t define myself by my condition.

“I am sill the lady I always was not just a lady with Parkinson’s.”

Dr Karen Horridge, Clinical Lead for the Disability Matters Programme and fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said: “Much needs to be done and can be done to improve everyone’s attitudes and confidence around disabled people of all ages.

“Disabled people – there are 11.6 million in the UK - have equal rights to make their own choices, to take part in everyday activities, go to school, work, travel about and access services, the same as anyone else.”

'Improving confidence is the key'

Rhiwderin resident Sarah Ganderton's son William, aged 11, has severe global development delay and autism, and attends the Serennu Centre weekly for a range of services.

She said the statistics in the report did not come as a surprise to her, and said in her own experience she found it was lack of experience in communicating with disabled people that caused the issue.

She also said a lack of understanding that some disabilities are not physical does not seem to resonate with some people, particularly the older generation in terms of the behaviour of her child.

“I think a lot of it comes down to lack of confidence.

“It is a lack of awareness that’s why I think the e-learning to make people more aware will be fantastic.

“I am a firm believer that we have to get young disabled people out into society.

“It’s about that confidence in communication.”

For more information visit:www.disabilitymatters.org.uk