Advocating Physically Disabled in Australia - Essay Example

The Physically Disabled in Australia 2006 Introduction A disabled person is one who has limitations in performing tasks of daily lives. The limitation may be in the nature of self care, mobility, communication, schooling or employment as classified by the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps published by the World Health Organization (1980, cited in PDCA, 1998). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, there were about four million disabled people in the country that year, with about 81% of the disabled being 85 years old or more. About 5.9 percent of such people had severe disabilities, that is, they were dependent on help for self-care, mobility or communication (PDCA, 2003). The figures can be compared to similar ones reported in 1998, when 3.9 million people in Australia were disabled; 3.2 percent had severe disabilities and 84 percent were of 85 years of age and above. In 1993, there were 3.1 million disabled. There has been a continuous growth in the number of disabled persons, both male and female, in Australia since the first such survey made in 1981. There have been more people who are severely impaired and need help for their basic existence and the pattern of the disabled population has been constant. The 1998 survey found that although diseases, disorders and injuries are the main causes of physical disabilities, musculoskeletal disorders like arthritis being the most prominent, those with mental disabilities are more severely impaired - 49 percent of mentally disabled persons are severely so – than those with physical disabilities (29 percent of total). Typically, those with dementia (94 percent) need complete support and 47 percent of those with intellectual or developmental disorders have severe disorders. Usually, most people who are severely impaired receive help from the family. However, it is also typically the case that people who have partial disorders receive less help than those with severe disorders. About 4 percent of disabled persons reported not having received any help in 1998. Formal assistance in the form of home care or volunteers was available to half of the disabled persons, whether those requiring core assistance or mild. Of all Australians over the age of 65, about 54 percent were disabled of some sort, whether due to old age, disease or injury. Such people’s requirement for assistance, mainly in the form of property maintenance, healthcare, transport, communication and housework were mostly met by families and relatives. In 1998, there were 2.3 million caregivers to the 3.9 million disabled in Australia. Most of the caregivers are informal, partners, children, relatives or friends being the main caregivers. Although both men and women were reported to be caregivers, women - 70 percent of the primary caregivers - made up most of the numbers. Nature of the Problem Whether people with disabilities are taken care of by formal or informal support, they continue to live with daily hurdles. For example, they face problems in accessing public buildings that may have steep staircases, narrow doors or insufficient parking space. Particularly in areas like northern Queensland or western Australia, physically challenged people have great discomfort. The disabled-friendly housing is also not available to all. Even if the facilities are provides, the cost of equipment and modification of vehicles, home appliance and personal care may be prohibitive. In general, people with disabilities find it difficult to use public transport hence forced to use the more expensive taxis or personal vehicles. Medical help is difficult to get access to and/or too expensive for people who already have to bear great expenses for their disabilities. Community healthcare systems are limited, even if they exist, for the enormous requirements. Besides everything else, people with disabilities face immense hurdles in getting employment and education. The attitude in the professional and academic worlds is also not always too helpful even when the disabled are included. As a result, they have lower and/or fluctuating incomes, which make their support systems even weaker. PDCA (2003) found in the survey that people with disability face a range of obstacles to employment, including infrastructure and equipment obstacles, and attitudinal barriers; there are additional costs of living for people with disability; there are additional costs of participating in the work force; and People with disability need to be seen as individuals with widely divergent needs PDCA (2003) reported a number of case studies in which people with disabilities faced lack of supporting infrastructure in their daily lives. For example, a woman who uses a wheelchair needed a pap smear. For lack of an adjustable table, the medical treatment that is usually done in the doctor’s chamber had to be done in the hospital operation theater, involving more costs to the patient. A quadriplegic man using a wheelchair faced severe spasms at night and was taken to the St. George’s Hospital in Sydney. After a wait of four and half hours, he was told that the hospital did not have the facility for treating the disabled. A paraplegic man suffering from flu was first not diagnosed by his General Physician, then incorrectly at the hospital for Gilliam Barre syndrome and only later by a specialist for Transverse Myelitis, which is associated with paraplegia. The Australian medical system was found inadequate to deal with the problem and had to consult American doctors, more experienced with the disease. The hospital staff found it difficult to handle a male cerebral palsy patient who needed an X-ray because of his involuntary movements. The staff went to the extent of putting a sand bag to weigh him down and threatening him. Maguire (2003) demonstrated how the community has become accustomed to the insensitivity towards the disabled. He described his travails over getting the authorities of the Sydney Olympic Games to publish the program in Braille or on the internet in an accessible form for disabled persons like him. Not only was neither facility not provided, his demand over the radio in a phone-in program got responses like the following: “One woman said, "I don't know what it must be like to be blind, and my heart goes out to them - but he should get someone to read him the book". Shortly after this, a blind man rang in and said, "That Maguire's nothing but a bloody troublemaker: doesn't he realise that we just have to accept things and not rock the boat".” The community, in general, takes the group of people with disabilities as the segregated one, much like racial segregation. Such apathy cost Maguire a lengthy legal battle and complaint to the Disabilities Discrimination Act (1992) and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission to meet his demand. Bilqis (2006) reported a survey by Chris Stewart and Stephen Sparrow in 1003 in Dandendong, one of the most culturally diverse locations in Australia. It was found that leisure activities are not accessible to most of the linguistically different or disabled people. In their photograph series, ‘Journeys’, they showed the problems of inclusion that the disabled people faced. For example, one photograph showed the reluctance of a disabled person to access a leisure activity while another showed the same person enjouying herself in the company of a person who helps her. Problems of Disabled Students No other sphere is perhaps as discriminatory against people with disabilities than education. Flynn (1997, cited in Dempsy) reported that 76 percent of parents of disbled children surveyed felt that the children faced discrimination in schools. They were refused admission in normal schools, separate conditions were applied for their enrolment, school services, programs or facilities were either denied or were limited for them, discipline policies were selectively applied on them or the authorities failed to deal with instances of bullying or harassment. Schools have often attempted to deal with the problem of disabilities in a manner separate from those for regular students. However, only school programs fail to have any impact unless they incorporate families, communities and the entire social environment in the fold. On the other hand, dealing with disabled students in segregated classrooms are also bound to fail since this alienates such students completely from the social mainstream. Christenson (1992, quoted in Dempsy) argues, “Rather than a few students being seen to have ‘special’ needs, schools must regard all students’ needs as part of the fabric of human experience and must become open, inclusive and responsive institutions which celebrate rather than eliminate human difference.” To achieve such social justice, schools must make available all facilities and programs to all students, including those with special needs, while at the same time the teachers and staff should be responsive to their needs and requirement to enhance their self-esteem. In particular, the students should be seen as part of the mainstream community and not separate from them. Elkins et al (2003), in a survey 354 Australian parents of disabled students – mostly autistic spectrum disorder and a few learning deficiency or attention deficiency disorder – found that most parents favored inclusive education environment and only some parents felt that the children required special attention in class. Wolfensberger (1995, cited in Dempsy) shows how simple measures can empower students withs special needs and make them feel valuable. For example, special students may be put in charge of the coffee shop in the school, where disabled students serve coffee from the vending machines, make out the bills and receive payment, plan menu and make budgets. Such simple practices make the students contribute to society as well as make them feel valued and part of the community. Non-academic functional training like a vocational activity, independent money handling or traveling helps students with intellectual disabilities to come to grasp with daily lives. Newcastle and Mcquarie Universities have been pioneers in providing inclusive education for students with special needs in Australia (wikipedia). Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 The Disabilities Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992 was passed in order to promote rights of the disabled in education, housing, education and access to goods and services (wikipedia). Although most states in Australia, except in Tasmania and Northern Territory, already had legislations for the disabled by then, the need for a common federal legislation was felt. The objectives of the DDA were spelled out as: "To eliminate, as far as possible, discrimination against persons on the ground of disability in the areas of: work, accommodation, education, access to premises, clubs and sport; and the provision of goods, facilities, services and land; and existing laws; and the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs; and to ensure, as far as practicable, that persons with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law as the rest of the community; and to promote recognition and acceptance within the community of the principle that persons with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as the rest of the population.” Complaints on the DDA are heard by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Although DDA has brought about a forum for the disabled to put across their grievances, there is still room for improvement, as the Productivity Council found in 2004. Manu disabled people continue to live with below average income (lower by 44 percent) or on pension, in public housing facilities. Conclusion The group of people living with disabilities tends to feel marginalized in all societies. It is up to the community to provide an inclusive environment that makes them feel productive and valuable. In Australia, the legislation has been largely supportive but much is left for the social infrastructure to be more disabled-friendly. In particular, housing, medical care and access to services need to be greatly improved for the disabled. Most important, however, is to make education and employment opportunities more accessible and inclusive. Works Cited Bilqis, Service for Diversity – Inclusive Model for Diversity, Infoxchange Australia, 2006, retrieved from http://www.disabilitynews.infoxchange.net.au/news/detail.chtml?filename_num=73624 Dempsy, Ian, Principles and Policies for Integration and Inclusion, retrieved from http://www.designpoint.com.au/pdf/books/integration-text.pdf Elkins, John, et al, Parents’ attitude to inclusion of their children with special needs, Journal of Research in Special Education Needs, Vol 3 No 2, 2003, retrieved from http://www.isec2005.org.uk/isec/jorsen/JORSEN%20Article%201%20-%20ISEC%20Content.pdf Maguire, Bruce, Making a difference - Reflections on using the Disability Discrimination Act, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2003, retrieved from http://e bility.com/articles/dda.shtml Physical Disability Council of Australia Ltd (PDCA), Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2003 retrieved from http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/health/physical.doc Physical Disability Council of Australia Ltd (PDCA),Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 1998, retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0e5fa1cc95cd093c4a2568110007852b fc0848d8195f79f0ca256f0f007b1094!OpenDocument Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_Discrimination_Act_1992_(Australia) Read More