willdawg80
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Post by willdawg80 on Mar 5, 2018 18:00:25 GMT -5
I'm curious as to how many of you feel that there's a difference in the treatment of PWDs in countries other than the US. If so, what kind of differences do you notice? Feel free to be as honest as you like to be.
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arisa
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Post by arisa on Mar 5, 2018 21:45:42 GMT -5
I'm not sure, but I'm from Canada. I think it's more age group than anything. My friends would either laugh and assume I'm joking and tell me to find a "buff, handsome husband from my faculty at school because apparently I'm very attractive" and "become a power couple" or just ignore it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2018 22:07:07 GMT -5
I'm not sure, but I'm from Canada. I think it's more age group than anything. My friends would either laugh and assume I'm joking and tell me to find a "buff, handsome husband from my faculty at school because apparently I'm very attractive" and "become a power couple" or just ignore it. I think that's a pretty universal attitude to the "hypothetical" wheeler. Many people, when told nothing more about someone than they're disabled, conjure up a stereotypical disabled person that needs constant care, doesn't contribute to society or to a household and can't be happy. It sucks but we have to break that stereotype. |
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Post by Hopper on Mar 6, 2018 3:54:53 GMT -5
I don't think there's an example I can give that can speak on behalf of everyone in the UK but personally there's a strange mixture of respect from friends, family and colleagues and mostly well-meaning misjudgement and patronisation from strangers.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2018 4:08:41 GMT -5
I'm not sure, but I'm from Canada. I think it's more age group than anything. My friends would either laugh and assume I'm joking and tell me to find a "buff, handsome husband from my faculty at school because apparently I'm very attractive" and "become a power couple" or just ignore it. I think that's a pretty universal attitude to the "hypothetical" wheeler. Many people, when told nothing more about someone than they're disabled, conjure up a stereotypical disabled person that needs constant care, doesn't contribute to society or to a household and can't be happy. It sucks but we have to break that stereotype. If we could break it is the key. I don’t think it’s breakable. Too many people have the sheep mentality |
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Post by LaMara on Mar 6, 2018 6:05:32 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I should answer since this is obviously a question aimed at pwds, but as a dev I really pay attention to anything disability related so here's what I've noticed. I'm an italian who lives in the UK. I have the impression that british people are better at hiding their patronizing pity than the italians, who are more "motherly" towards pwd and tend to offer help when they very obviously don't need it... but in Italy we also have shitty infrastructures and bad habits, like I heard multiple times of shop owners not allowing guide dogs in the shop (even though the EU law says guide dogs can go anywhere they want), or the very stereotypical parking in the disabled parking spot because no one ever uses it (and then the wheeler pops up and is fucked). I'm not sure about the UK as a whole, but in London people tend to ignore pwds or just be polite, infrastructures work much better than in other countries so that's a plus. I've seen so many wheelers on buses in London, while in Italy it happened once and the guy couldn't get on the bus anyway cause the ramp was broken... Also, I think the paralympics in 2012 where advertised and covered so well in London that it actually impacted people's opinions. I work with kids and once I caught one of them staring at a wheeler and when I asked her why she said she thought he might be a famous athlete (he wasn't, I would have known!  ). One thing I've never ever seen anywhere in Europe, but US pwds have mentioned many times, is that thing when strangers come up and say like "Can I pray for you?" or "God will heal you". That's just something so far from our culture, probably in the whole continent... |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2018 9:48:38 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I should answer since this is obviously a question aimed at pwds, but as a dev I really pay attention to anything disability related so here's what I've noticed. I'm an italian who lives in the UK. I have the impression that british people are better at hiding their patronizing pity than the italians, who are more "motherly" towards pwd and tend to offer help when they very obviously don't need it... but in Italy we also have shitty infrastructures and bad habits, like I heard multiple times of shop owners not allowing guide dogs in the shop (even though the EU law says guide dogs can go anywhere they want), or the very stereotypical parking in the disabled parking spot because no one ever uses it (and then the wheeler pops up and is fucked). I'm not sure about the UK as a whole, but in London people tend to ignore pwds or just be polite, infrastructures work much better than in other countries so that's a plus. I've seen so many wheelers on buses in London, while in Italy it happened once and the guy couldn't get on the bus anyway cause the ramp was broken... Also, I think the paralympics in 2012 where advertised and covered so well in London that it actually impacted people's opinions. I work with kids and once I caught one of them staring at a wheeler and when I asked her why she said she thought he might be a famous athlete (he wasn't, I would have known! ). One thing I've never ever seen anywhere in Europe, but US pwds have mentioned many times, is that thing when strangers come up and say like "Can I pray for you?" or "God will heal you". That's just something so far from our culture, probably in the whole continent... Yes it’s true especially in the southern US. The Bible Belt as I like to call it. Where I reside! Lucky me! My uncle who died when I was 8 did so fully believing before I left this world I would run up a hill with no assistance. Because God was gonna heal me. If so, God hasn’t decided to go to work yet. |
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Post by laur on Mar 6, 2018 10:12:58 GMT -5
Also, I think the paralympics in 2012 where advertised and covered so well in London that it actually impacted people's opinions. I work with kids and once I caught one of them staring at a wheeler and when I asked her why she said she thought he might be a famous athlete (he wasn't, I would have known! )... I studied abroad in London during the 2012 Paralympics and was also excited by their amount of TV coverage. I accidentally ended up by one of the events one day too and it had huge billboards and everything. As a dev, I definitely was extra alert over there upon noticing all of it.  |
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Post by LaMara on Mar 6, 2018 12:47:25 GMT -5
Also, I think the paralympics in 2012 where advertised and covered so well in London that it actually impacted people's opinions. I work with kids and once I caught one of them staring at a wheeler and when I asked her why she said she thought he might be a famous athlete (he wasn't, I would have known! )... I studied abroad in London during the 2012 Paralympics and was also excited by their amount of TV coverage. I accidentally ended up by one of the events one day too and it had huge billboards and everything. As a dev, I definitely was extra alert over there upon noticing all of it. Every year they have paralympic anniversary games plus last year I managed to go to one of the parathletics events. In those occasions there are giant posters everywhere with the most famous athletes, some of them are hot af, like Jonny Peacock or David Weir |
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Post by shape on Mar 6, 2018 13:39:17 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I should answer since this is obviously a question aimed at pwds, but as a dev I really pay attention to anything disability related so here's what I've noticed. I'm an italian who lives in the UK. I have the impression that british people are better at hiding their patronizing pity than the italians, who are more "motherly" towards pwd and tend to offer help when they very obviously don't need it... but in Italy we also have shitty infrastructures and bad habits, like I heard multiple times of shop owners not allowing guide dogs in the shop (even though the EU law says guide dogs can go anywhere they want), or the very stereotypical parking in the disabled parking spot because no one ever uses it (and then the wheeler pops up and is fucked). I'm not sure about the UK as a whole, but in London people tend to ignore pwds or just be polite, infrastructures work much better than in other countries so that's a plus. I've seen so many wheelers on buses in London, while in Italy it happened once and the guy couldn't get on the bus anyway cause the ramp was broken... Also, I think the paralympics in 2012 where advertised and covered so well in London that it actually impacted people's opinions. I work with kids and once I caught one of them staring at a wheeler and when I asked her why she said she thought he might be a famous athlete (he wasn't, I would have known! ). One thing I've never ever seen anywhere in Europe, but US pwds have mentioned many times, is that thing when strangers come up and say like "Can I pray for you?" or "God will heal you". That's just something so far from our culture, probably in the whole continent... Totally agree, in Spain is pretty much the same. Particularly regarding the disabled parking spots and ramps in buses. As far as I know people in Rome is more aware about at least helping instead of ignoring. Not that I thought it was patronizing. But again it also depends on the city. Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia... I bet they're much better in infrastructure. About an integrated society... Breaking stereotypes is the key, as it's been said... And learning how to behave with others is not usually human nature's best quality. |
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Post by laur on Mar 6, 2018 16:48:11 GMT -5
I studied abroad in London during the 2012 Paralympics and was also excited by their amount of TV coverage. I accidentally ended up by one of the events one day too and it had huge billboards and everything. As a dev, I definitely was extra alert over there upon noticing all of it. Every year they have paralympic anniversary games plus last year I managed to go to one of the parathletics events. In those occasions there are giant posters everywhere with the most famous athletes, some of them are hot af, like Jonny Peacock or David Weir That sounds rad. Just more reason for me to love London and want to go back to visit!  |
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Post by LaMara on Mar 6, 2018 17:25:50 GMT -5
Every year they have paralympic anniversary games plus last year I managed to go to one of the parathletics events. In those occasions there are giant posters everywhere with the most famous athletes, some of them are hot af, like Jonny Peacock or David Weir That sounds rad. Just more reason for me to love London and want to go back to visit! If you ever visit, let me know! I know all the best restaurants I wish I knew some London devs! It's such a big city, I cannot possibly be the only one  |
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napoleon
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Post by napoleon on Mar 9, 2018 11:31:06 GMT -5
well I come from Bermuda, so things are very different there, as a very small island. One irony was that I worked with a woman who was the head of the Bermuda Human Rights commission...and because she was in a chair, she could not go to parliament and see amendments being debated to bills which she herself had tabled. One of the reasons I left, in fact, was their lack of disability infrastructure. To an extent I don't blame them though...tiny island after all.
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Post by shape on Mar 9, 2018 12:33:53 GMT -5
well I come from Bermuda, so things are very different there, as a very small island. One irony was that I worked with a woman who was the head of the Bermuda Human Rights commission...and because she was in a chair, she could not go to parliament and see amendments being debated to bills which she herself had tabled. One of the reasons I left, in fact, was their lack of disability infrastructure. To an extent I don't blame them though...tiny island after all. So because it's a tiny island you don't have the right to get into government facilities? I disagree |
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pneilson
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Post by pneilson on Mar 10, 2018 1:35:50 GMT -5
I'm an American living and working in Europe that just vacationed in Africa. Not sure what the perspective the original post was trying to get at....the average person on the street, public buildings and spaces, or private residences and businesses, a mix or all of the above?
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