Differently Abled

I must admit I never thought much about disability in the past and I am sure that I am not unique in that respect. I was born in the 1960's and growing up in London we had very little contact with anyone with a disability except for the blind man who used to come into our school to tune the piano. At that time I think it was a case of "out of sight out of mind".

Although I am sure that my awareness of disability is to a large extent driven by the fact that I have a daughter with a chromosome condition I do detect a shift in attitude in the UK.

Recently I was watching a TV program called "Weekend Escapes" which showed a family spending the weekend on a boat on the Norfolk Broads this is nothing unusual as there are lots of travelog programs on TV. The difference here was that the program was presented by actor Warwick Davies who has dwarfism. The program was not about disability and just showed Warwick and his family doing what any other family would do on the Norfolk Broads with no mention of their physical condition or the challenges they face. In my view this is true progress, showing people for what they are doing the sort of things many of us do in a way which is not patronising.

Warwick Davies and Family

I think one of the key drivers of this shift in attitudes was the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Demand for tickets to the Olympic Games was overwhelming and many people were left disappointed. I am certain that the initial interest in the Paralympics was to a large extent due to demand from people who could not get tickets for the Olympic Games and wanted to visit the stadium. Once the games started people were interested in the games in its own right as a sporting event featuring the best athletes in their respective events and athletes like David Weir and Ellie Simmonds became household names.

Ellie Simmonds

David Weir

Attitudes to disabled are still not perfect and frequently there are stories of people making derogatory statements about disabled people.









Yesterday (11th May 2014) the disability charity Scope launched a TV advertising campaign "End the Awkward" which is described by Scope as "specifically to get a new, younger generation thinking about what we can do to include disabled people more in our lives."

Hopefully these adverts will continue to help change attitudes.  People with 22q have some incredible talents and it is important for all of us to recognise people for what they are good at rather than focusing on what they cannot do.