Disability Attitudes We Face In Society

Last Updated on 23/09/2023 by Crip Life

Many disabled people face discriminatory, ableist and patronising attitudes and comments almost on a daily basis. It can affect their confidence, self-esteem and wellbeing. Here, we share Emma Purcell’s radio documentary that she produced and recorded as part of her journalism degree in 2016 and she briefly discuss if disability attitudes have changed over the years. 

As part of my final major project at university, I decided to investigate non-disabled people’s disability attitudes towards disabled people.

I interviewed several disabled people who say they’ve experienced discriminatory, ableist and patronising attitudes and put it together in a 15-minute radio documentary.

Appalling support in hospital

I first spoke to someone called Jordan who has multiple impairments. Due to her health conditions, she frequently has to stay in hospital.

She explained how the staff would treat her differently by talking to her parents instead of herself, walking into her room without knocking, and not supporting her properly with things like medication and urine samples. Jordon’s family even made a formal complaint against one nurse who was extremely rude, impolite and supported her unsafely.

Rude behaviour towards disabled students in public

I then went to speak to disabled students at my former school and college Treloar’s to find out how they feel they are treated by society. Treloar’s is a charitable organisation that supports disabled children and young adults in special education, therapy, care support and independent skills.

The students I spoke to – Sophie and Issac – both say they’ve gained confidence and learnt lots while at Treloar’s but away from campus, they feel society still patronises them and can be ignorant or rude towards them.

Different attitudes in different countries

Next, I got an opinion from a disabled person from overseas who felt disability attitudes are much better in the UK than in other countries.

Vincent, who is registered blind and from Belgium, told me that in England he had great support at the Eurostar station, where a lady offered him a coffee and spoke to him pleasantly and in a friendly manner.

Whereas in Belgium, he says most people tend to avoid talking to disabled people and when they have to, they usually act as though disabled people are just “deranged or hard of hearing” and mostly shout a lot and humiliate the disabled person.

Legislating disability attitudes

Finally, I spoke to a campaigns officer at RNIB who told me changing physical barriers such as accessibility and assistive technology, is getting much better thanks to legislation. But legislating people’s attitudes is much harder and may take a lot longer to fully achieve.

Listen to the full documentary here:

Please note: I’m aware I refer to “cripple” as an offensive word in my introduction to this documentary, despite this site being called Crip Life™. I recorded this content back in 2016 when I was unaware of Crip Theory and other social movements.

Have disability attitudes changed?

I produced this radio documentary seven years ago, and in that time, I still find a mix of good and bad disability attitudes.

Personally, I still find patronising behaviours from health professionals whereby they talk to my mum or carer rather than me.

I also think disabled people continue to be excluded from accessing products, services and/or events. This is due to businesses, organisations and/or authorities continuing to lack disability awareness and do not consider the needs of disabled people. Also, it can be assumed disabled people don’t want to and could not be included. But with the right practical support and social attitudes, they certainly can.

On the plus side, there is more disability representation in the media, with more disabled actors and presenters appearing in TV shows and films, more disabled contestants taking part in game shows and reality TV programmes and more disability stories featured in fictional and factual content.

Therefore having disabled people in the media spotlight is hopefully teaching the rest of society what life is like living with a disability, that we can have fulfilling and productive lives and maybe change disability attitudes for the greater good.

Have you faced discriminatory, ableist and patronising attitudes or comments? How did you deal with it and how did it affect you? Share your stories in the comments box or on social media.