Disability - the Paralympics.

The Paralympics is certainly heightening awareness of disability and accessibility issues here in Vancouver.  And this is in a city, on a continent, which already has a pretty good track record when it comes to accessibility for people with physical disabilities.  In the US I wondered whether this was simply about volume - there seemed to be a very large number of people in wheelchairs.  But is that because they are able to be out and about, or because there are more people with physical disabilities?  And is it a function of the population size (there are more people overall, so more will have disabilities), or individual size, reflecting the health of the population - many were very obese - but again, is that a cause or effect of being in a wheelchair?

Whatever the cause, and whatever the demand, there is no doubt that the physical environment here is an improvement on the physical environment in Australia, in terms of accessibility to a large proportion of the population.  

All of the buses can be lowered so there is no step on from the street.  Few shops and restaurants have steps at their entrances.  Buildings in the US are required to be built to a certain standard of access, and they are accredited as such with a notice at their entrance.   I read an article the other day in which a guy in a wheelchair commented on Sydney’s lack of accessibility, with almost all restaurants having 2 - 3 steps at their entrance.  He said that he later found out this was to mitigate against flash flooding.  I wonder if that’s true?  I’ve never heard of it!  

Consequently parents with prams and strollers, and older people who are still mobile but can struggle with steps, are all out and about much more.  

And when people are out and about, we see them, and we acknowledge as a matter of fact that these people are part of our everyday environment - not ‘special’, not handicapped.  People are not disabled by their environments anymore.

Though - there are still issues with toilets not being accessible.  An external environment can be brilliantly accessible to a wheelchair, but if the occupant of the wheelchair can’t access the toilets, then the whole environment isn’t really accessible.  Meeting such a basic necessity is pretty fundamental to true accessibility.

Another article focused on the increasing number of paralympians who are military veterans.  It says that “by the next Games, the Summer Paralympics in 2012, it’s estimated that one in every seven U.S. team members will be a veteran”.  How sad is that.   And how ironic, too, given the Olympic and Paralympic goals of bringing the world together, and resolving conflict peacefully.

There are some who argue the Paralympics shouldn’t be held as a separate event, in the way that men's and women's events are both part of the one Olympics, despite differing levels of physical expectations and performance.  Hold the events at the same time, not accentuating the ‘otherness’ of people with a disability, they say.

Angus and I are going to some Paralympic events - a sledge hockey game, if we can get tickets, and we’re going to Whistler this weekend where all the ski events are being held.  Angus saw the Paralympic torch as it passed through UBC while he was at the sports program there.