David Cameron hopes that the Paralympics will change our attitudes to disability. In the interview he gave to Channel 4’s Alex Brooker just before the opening ceremony (which I cannot for the life of me find a clip of), the Prime Minister said that he wanted us all to focus on what was possible rather than what was impossible with regards to disability. A laudable aim? Not necessarily, when you consider his government’s record on disability.
The government’s policy of cutting benefits and trying to move more disabled people into work has been a miserable failure. Hundreds of people died last year after being declared “fit to work” by Paralympics sponsor ATOS, while over 50,000 people (over one third of all claimants delcared fit for work) have had their Work Capability Assessment overturned on appeal. Yet by framing the Paralympics in the narrative of “what is possible” David Cameron continues to steer us all down the line of believing that there are only two options for the disabled: be a Paralympic athlete or be a benefits scrounger.
Having spent the last two weeks watching disabled people break world records and achieve the seemingly impossible, we can perhaps be forgiven for falling for the “what is possible” narrative. We have, after all, acquired a whole host of new heroes: Ellie Simmonds, Alex Zanardi, Kylie Grimes, Sarah Storey, Johnny Peacock, Hannah Cockroft, David Weir, Terezinha Guilhermina have all become household names synonymous with courage and perseverance in the face of adversity. It is a hugely empowering story for the disabled and able-bodied alike. Arguably though, it is not the full story, and the question we should be asking is not “what is possible” but “how is it possible”.
Throughout the Paralympics, we have seen glimpses of where the narrative breaks down. We saw Mirjam de Koning-Peper not start at the S6 100m freestyle because her condition – which is variable – had deteriorated. We heard athletes thank a dozen people – coaches, physios, funders – who have supported them and enabled them to get to where they are. We saw Ade Adepitan demonstrate how he could actually turn his wheelchair in the bathrooms in the Paralympic village – the first Paralympic village with that particular feature! We saw, albeit briefly and only on Channel 4’s brilliant The Last Leg, armless athletes struggle to get out of an Olympic swimming pool with no ramps. No matter how much courage and perseverance you have, individual achievement does not happen in isolation.
Unfortunately, we still live in a society where the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against disabled people. With the government’s sustained two-year campaign of painting anyone on any kind of benefits as a scrounger, we have seen disability hate crime soar. People are having their benefits taken away, being declared fit to work in an economy with an unemployment rate of 8% and with no support to help them make a successful transition into work. They are being put through extremely stressful assessments which often exacerbate their conditions. By all means, our attitudes to disability should change – but the first people to change their attitude should be David Cameron and his cabinet.
Yet we have also seen how the right support and the right investment can enable anyone to achieve their full potential. Lottery funding and the rare corporate sponsorship have enabled athletes like Hannah Cockroft to shine. Channel 4 has invested £600,000 in training and developing their amazing team of disabled presenters. In these rare and exceptional cases where we have bothered to create an even playing field, we have managed to all but obliterate the boundaries between the disabled and the (temporarily) able-bodied. Yet that takes time, it takes investment and dedication from all of us as a society. Can we all commit to doing that? Can you, Mr Cameron?
3rd option for disabled and chronically sick people… Be a world class genius. After all, if Stephen Hawking can do it, why can’t the rest of us? (I’ll gloss over the unspoken 4th option)
I have seen so many disability campaigners hijack these games to try and make their point and I’ve found it sad. Sad that for just ten days we couldn’t just celebrate greatness and let the athletes be athletes and not a disabled symbol. However this is just my opinion and I haven’t commented on any blogs and such as I know my opinion is unpopular and I’ve seen commenters dismiss such an opinion and in some cases respond with rudeness. (Not that I am suggesting this is the case with your readers.). But I have a question about this post. Why do you mention the swimmer whose condition deteriorated or the way they all thank coaches etc. Why is this a negative? Because they need help? I genuinely don’t understand why this was mentioned in a negative context.
I’m not attacking the blog post. I just want to know why as of all the things I’ve read over these ten days, all the negativity, this has puzzled me the most.
PS I am severely disabled, in case it matters.
The reason I mention these things is that at the moment we as a society are not supporting disabled people in a way that enables them to achieve their potential or even in many cases live a dignified life. What we’ve been seeing on telly for the last two weeks are some exceptional cases, and the first person to politicise it, to tell us that all disabled people could have this if only they stopped getting benefits and just tried, was David Cameron. And that’s a narrative I can’t support.
I’m no fan of Cameron. Not by a long chalk, but I have never got the impression that is what he is saying. I’ve never heard anyone imply such a thing, politician or otherwise. I think the games have inspired people to not limit themselves and I think it has made some able bodied people see the ability and not see people as a write off. It’s obviously not everybody and I don’t think those with a negative attitude towards the disabled will have bothered to watch the games anyway, some people will never change. But instead of looking at the negatives of the games can’t we harness the positives and go on from there. It may sound a fantasy but things COULD change.
I know some people’s attitudes have changed. Particularly children’s. I work in a school and they have found new heroes in the Paralympians.
Some do look at it differently but society won’t look at someone in a wheelchair and wonder why they aren’t training for the 400 metres. Let’s give the able bodied society some credit.
“… society won’t look at someone in a wheelchair and wonder why they aren’t training for the 400 metres…”
I wish this were true. I use a power chair, and I’ve been asked why I’m not in the paralympics at least three times over the past week. Yes, it was a joke. Yes, it was said with a ‘twinkle in the eye’. But it got less funny each time, and positively nausiating to have to listen to how “inspirational” it is to watch those “poor people” who do such amazing things. All the while looking at me with a mixture of pity and condesention. Then being told “good for you, love,” because I was using a bus.
I have never experienced hate crime, but I’ve had plenty of occasions to wish I had the strength and energy to slap a few stupid expressions off some faces. Usually it happens at sufficiently long intervals for me to find the humour in the situation, but with the spotlight on “super crips”, it has started to get me down.
My attitude is not helped by beinng in the middle of fighting for my benefits, every morning wondering if today is going to be the day the letter arrives that takes away my only means of living independantly. Yes, I probably should lighten up, and celebrate the achievments of the amazing paralympic athletes. Unfortunately, living in fear makes celebrating rather difficult.
I don’t feel any resentment towards the athletes for working hard and being well supported in their training. But, while the world is watching, it is important to highlight the people who are not medal-winners, and who are dying every day due to lack of support and political discrimination.