Common Misconceptions About Disabilities

There is an element of unknowing when it comes to disabilities. Much of this stems from the lack of conversation surrounding disabilities and how they work.

For many people the topic of disabilities is uncomfortable for them to talk about because there is so much negative stigma concerning disabilities. For example if you think of handicapped parking the symbol for that is a wheelchair marked on the pavement. However, this symbol does not even begin to cover the vastness of the people who legitimately need spots like these. In fact while many people who qualify to park in these spots do have visible disabilities a great majority do not. Handicapped parking passes could also be given to older people if they have trouble walking distances or people who suffer from invisible diseases.

Unfortunately, some people do not realize that the qualifications for a handicapped parking pass does not require you to have a visible disability and this misinformation can lead people to take matters into their own hands. Sadly, this exact situation happened to a University of Kentucky student, Lexi Baskin, in 2017. Baskin was leaving a meeting with one of her professors when she went out to her car, which was parked in a handicapped spot, only to find it covered in notes and posters calling her lazy and saying she should be ashamed of parking there. Quick to respond Baskin posted to twitter a series of pictures of her note covered car and captioned it “Reminder that you have no idea what’s going on in people’s lives. I have cancer and radiation treatment. I’m legally allowed to park here.” This post has since been shared over 40,000 times and Baskin later told Lex18 News that she has forgiven the person who covered her car in signs and hopes that her story will reach them and open their eyes to the many different forms disability takes on.

Dorothy Condon, who has worked as a human rights officer, a case manager within programs, and an investigator for the department of mental health, explained how people can misunderstand the vastness of disabilities because the symbol of the wheelchair is what they have been raised to associate with disabilities. People assume having a handicapped accessible elevator or ramp is enough, but they don't have braille or strobe lights for the deaf or hard of hearing, they think because they have made one accommodation it is accessible, but it is not fully accessible to everyone.

One of the biggest challenges people with disabilities face even to this day is the fact that tey are commonly viewed as being incompetent and unable to make descisions for themselves. For those who work with people with disabilities, despite common belief, their job is not to tell the client what to do, but it is to listen and work with them to allow the client to live how they want to live. For example, it is general knowledge that smoking is bad for you, however some clients may wish to smoke and it is their right to make decisions for if they want to smoke. They have the right to make good decisions and bad decisions just like the rest of us.

People with disabilities are just like everybody else. They are able to make their own decisions and live fulfilling lives.. Many disabled people can date and get jobs, places like goodwill, grocery stores, and Walmart are known for hiring people with disabilities. Though many people would not view working jobs like these as a way to live a fulfilling life, it is important to remember that these jobs are important for our society. Also, living a fulfilled life is objective, even if someone is doing something that you could not necessarily see yourself doing, if they view their life to be full that is all that matters. Unfortunately, people still don't always see disabled people as being like everyone else and view a disabled person as being their disability instead of seeing them as they really are, which is a person who has a disability. This backwards thinking is detrimental for our society because when you only look at someone for their disability you can not see who they truly are, it would essentially be the same as seeing and judging someone solely based on their hair color. This is only a small part of who they are and there is so much more to them that is often overlooked.

Though there is still much work to be done in order to normalize disabilities and start conversations to educate people more on this topic, as a society we are moving in a promising direction for our future.