Disabled People and Discrimination - Essay Example

Running Head: DISABILITY MODELS AND THE DISABLED PEOPLE Disabled people and discrimination Barbara Ashton Centre for Disability Studies TheDisability Discrimination Act 1995, compelled employers to cater to the requirements of the disabled people, while recruiting employees. This marked a significant divergence from the earlier system that had depended on allocation of employment quotas for the disabled people. The approach to tackling discrimination differs from measures to promote gender and racial equality (discrimination, 2007).The climax of a long drawn out battle to enforce the rights of disabled people was the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) on the 8th of November 1995. The Disability Rights Commission was incorporated in the year 1999 by parliament under the aegis of the Disability Rights Commission Act 1999 or the DRCA. Some of the objectives of this commission are to prevent discrimination against disabled people and promote equal opportunities for disabled people (The Disability Rights Commission, 2007). Due to criticism from various quarters regarding the insignificant success achieved by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, another act, namely the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 was enacted by Parliament. Some of the objectives of this act were to prevent discrimination against disabled people by transport operators, simplify procedures for disabled people who want to rent property and make it mandatory for the public bodies to ensure that disabled people were bestowed with opportunities that were similar to those that were made available to individuals without disabilities (The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), 2007). It had been the long established practice to take recourse to the medical model in order to address the problems faced by disabled people. In this model the emphasis is on the physical impairments of the disabled people. This model had been primarily used for the purpose of sanctioning welfare benefits and services to disabled people (Christie & Mensah-Coker, 1999. P. 23). The medical model is beset with several defects. One of these defects is that the medical model considers the relationship between disabled people and the society to be a static relationship. Another major defect with the medical model is that it concentrates on the disability of an individual and not the extent of the interaction of disabled people with society (Christie & Mensah-Coker, 1999. P. 23). Some counties like Somerset have made ambitious plans to improve the available services for disabled people. In this context the Somerset County Council has collaborated with Lifeways, Mencap, Mendip Housing and a few other organizations. The expectation is that these endeavours will provide the required competence, experience and innovation to the disabled people with learning disabilities (Sales, 2007). Another important model that describes the problems of disabled people is the social model. This model defines disability as an externally instituted defect and social constraint and considers impairment to be an abnormality of the body or mind that could become the focus of methodical alienation within society. However, this model is deficient to the extent that some problems faced by disabled people are due to physical impairment. This important aspect of the problems that affect disabled people has been overlooked by the social model (Christie & Mensah-Coker, 1999. P. 23). The dearth of the disabled person's point of view in discussions involving citizenship is universal (Meekosha & Dowse, 1997. Pp 49 - 72). To achieve equality, disabled people require independence and participation. Societal obstacles rather than the disabling impairment, completely disrupt the disabled person's endeavour to be a full and equal citizen (Definition of civil society, 2004). The level of health care delivered to disabled people is abysmal. This was established by the DRC report Equal Treatment: Closing the gap. The level of neglect and discrimination being accorded to people with learning disabilities is such that it has resulted in their death on several occasions. It was opined that the Government would have to take greater precautionary measures in order to reverse this abhorrent trend in healthcare (McMillan, Ian, 2006. P. 4). The Oxfordshire Council had decided to discontinue single tenancies for disabled people. In future disabled people with learning disabilities would be required to stay in group homes. The reason given for this change is that there is a funds shortage due to the increasing number of older people and youth with intricate health care requirements. This outrageous act is analogous to the adage Rob Peter to pay Paul (Ahmed, 2006). Employment opportunities have been hindered due to the fact that disabled people are less likely to be adequately qualified in comparison to non - disabled people. The comparative figures showed that the percentage of disabled unemployed people was more than twice that of non - disabled people. Disabled people had to countenance a number of problems while availing themselves of transportation facilities and accessing the built environment. It was observed that the various modes of transport and the structural design of buildings and other structures were not conducive to the welfare of disabled people. This had resulted in disabled people facing a number of problems while utilising the extant systems at their place of work and while commuting to their place of work from their residence (Walsh, Stephens, & Stephen, 2000). The following cases reveal that the employers did not adhere to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. In Vernon v Roper, the appellant was not allowed to avail himself of the facility of a motorised golf cart by the golf club. The Court held that the club had intentionally violated its legitimate responsibility to make alternative arrangements which would have enabled the appellant to avail himself of the services of the golf club. The Court had also held that permitting the claimant to use his golf buggy may constitute making reasonable alternative adjustments (Vernon Roper v Singing Hills Golf Course Limited). In the Glover's case, the claimant was a blind man and utilised a dog to navigate and assist him. The claimant went to a restaurant to have a sandwich to maintain the level of his blood sugar. The restaurant's staff had obstructed his entry into the restaurant on the plea that there was not enough room to accommodate his dog inside the restaurant. The Court had considered the acts of the restaurant staff as discriminatory against the appellant and awarded damages to him (Glover v Hannah's Cafe). In the case of Jones v Post Office, the Court of Appeal had reviewed the medical assessments in employing disabled people. The Court had ruled that Tribunals should not challenge a systematically conducted risk assessment provided this assessment resulted in a reasonable conclusion and the opinions of relevant medical professionals had been taken into consideration (Jones v Post Office, 2001). In the Kirton case, the appellant had been suffering from prostate cancer. He was operated upon for radical retro pubic prostatectomy and pelvic node clearance. Due to this operation, another problem had developed which made him incontinent. The pleadings of the appellant that he should be given the status of a disabled person under the provisions of Disability Discrimination Act were however refused by the Employment Tribunal. The Tribunal considered the condition of the appellant as a result of the contra indications of the treatment he took. The Court of Appeal disagreed with the findings of the Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. It held that when determining whether a person's disability falls within the scope of the definition of disability or not, consideration of the contra indications arising out of an operation was essential (Kirton v Tetrosyl Ltd ). In the twentieth century occidental societies it became the practice to consider disabled people as being equivalent to people with defective minds and bodies. Some of the categories considered were people who had been crippled, restricted to a wheelchair or suffering from cerebral palsy. In addition, persons suffering from deafness, blindness, mental illness or mental handicap were also included in this classification. Nevertheless, the academicians were of the opinion that disability constituted an individual and medical issue. Unlike gender, ethnicity and race that were generally considered to bring about social tyranny, the effects of disability were not considered to have such effects even as late as the 1980s. Several of the disabled critics stated that the existing descriptions of disability in the social sciences as being inapplicable and theoretically backward (Abberley, 1987) and mainly 'disablist' (Oliver, 1996). However, the cultural and academic definitions of disability were not at any great variance and tended to corroborate and protect each other (Linton, 1998). The overriding personal tragedy theory of disability was more or less taken for granted. Credible and relevant explanations Vis - a - Vis societal reactions and behaviour regarding psychosomatically impaired people with real or attributed impairments were not forthcoming. The medical viewpoint and social theory in the twentieth-century, considered disabled people as persons suffering from impairments that were physical, sensory or cognitive in nature. Moreover, it considered such disabled people to be incomplete, and consequently, incapable of fulfilling societal duties and functions. The upshot of such a lack of ability made these disabled people dependent on the robust who were productive (Safilios-Rothschild, 1970). Such pessimistic and cynical correlations rendered disability equivalent to a personal tragedy (Oliver, 1983). In the individual and medical approach disabled people are considered to be people with a disorder at the individual level; moreover, it is believed that such people have drawbacks that are similar to individual functional limitations and that any treatment choices in respect of disabled people have to be made on the basis of medical knowledge and practice. Thus, a great deal of importance is attached to energetic self - reliance and aggressive accomplishment, especially in employment. The consequence of this approach is that disabled people tend to be viewed as deficient (Topliss, 1982). The greater part of the twentieth century was witness to the personal tragedy approach, which was enforced in a number of educational and charitable institutions. Further, this approach was implemented by resorting to medical and psychological mediations. As a matter of fact, a considerable number of disabled people were confined to segregated institutions and the reason provided for such action was that it was to protect their interests and to prevent them from being a burden to other members of society. The regimen that disabled people were subjected to in these institutions was harsh and those who were segregated for longer periods were considered to be socially non - existent and had to dourly await death (Miller & Gwynne, 1972). The causality of these models virtually relegates to the background the personal experiences of disabled people and the economic context. Although, there is universal agreement that frequently there are crucial mental and emotional costs connected with impairment, these models regarding disabled people enforce a paradigm that is founded on what the robust assume life to be with some form of mental or physical impairment (Oliver, 1983). The Medical Model depicts disability as the association between disabled people and their impairment. The Social Model, on the other hand, describes disability as the relationship between disabled people and their environment. The Social Model originated due to the efforts of the disabled people. The Social Model was developed by disabled people themselves in 1974. The validity of this model lies in the fact that it was formulated on the basis of the personal experience of disabled people. The uniqueness of this model lies in the fact that it considers disability and impairment to be dissimilar (UPIAS, 1976). The contention of researchers like Liz Crow, in their analysis of the Social Model, that impairment in the context of the disabled people had been relegated to the background served to rekindle the drooping morale of the disabled people because of the fact that it as it regenerates the inclusion argument (Crow, 1996). In some instances, the impact of impairment is so overwhelming that it is accorded greater importance and greater relevance is attached to it than to various political activities like for example the efforts of the DAN members to bring about the abandonment of the extant disabling transport systems. Pain and fatigue are caused by a number of psychosomatic reasons that are not the exclusive preserve of disabled people; and their causes are not only physical but also psychological. Furthermore, pain and fatigue are on several occasions the result of economic and social issues. In this context Professor Barnes opined that sociological and political solutions were required, in order to address the manifold divestitures that disabled people were forced to countenance. He also stated that this pain and exhaustion were beyond the pale of therapeutic intervention (Woodward, 2005). The present trend is that in several European countries, health and social service agencies have commenced to enforce an enhancement in the available dissimilitude for disabled people at all organizational levels. The aim of this endeavour is to make the public sector employees compatible with the available workforce, customer base and community outline at all levels. The ILO Code of Practice on Managing Disability in the Workplace (2001) illustrated the significance that is accorded to dealing with the problems of disabled people. Due to this the Health and social services have to concentrate to a greater extent on dealing with disability at work in order to better the workforce and to improve its capacity to provide better and more effective customer service (International Labour Organisation, 2001). The National Health Service or NHS was established in 1948. Irrespective of the stage of life occupied by the patient, the NHS provides care. It main objective was to furnish free medical service for mental and physical sickness. The expectation of its promoters was that it would bring about a significant improvement in health standards and a reduction in the number of people availing themselves of health care. The reality proved to be otherwise and there has been a drastic increase in the number of people with ill health (National Health Service (NHS), 2006). The United Kingdom has been a laggard in respect of the development of Centres for Independent Living, which are also known as Centres for Inclusive Living. However, the situation in the US, Europe and Scandinavia has been very promising and such centres have proliferated rapidly (Elder-Woodward, 2005). In the United Kingdom there are several programmes that provide work experience, monetary assistance for self employment schemes, grants for making suitable changes to the work place in order to accommodate disabled people and arrangements to teach and hone the skills of disabled people. However, the reality is otherwise, there are very few disabled people who occupy senior and top management posts in the health and social service sector. Further, the number of disabled people in the general workforce is abysmally small. Several advocates of disability rights have opined that disability is a socially constructed occurrence, due to which most of the problems faced by disabled people are due to a biased social order. Industrialization and historical eventualities have engendered a social system that excludes disabled people. For instance, work places, public transport, etc, have been designed with the non - disabled people in mind. The nostrum suggested by exclusionary social practices was social re-engineering and not personal renovation of the disabled (Kirby, 2004. Pp. 229 - 246). Work Book Pillinger has opined that a need has arisen adopt an approach that is based on a better strategy, formulate ideal practices, promote leadership, engender a change in the culture, better interactions in the community and encourage development while addressing the position of disabled people (Pillinger, 2003). He also stated that the difficulties faced by disabled people are not addressed to any significant extent (Elder-Woodward, 2005). According to Simone Aspis it was important to stress that she had been confined to a residential special school. As per her testimonial, the ambition of disabled people was to ensure that every child, irrespective of the degree of impairment had a right to attend a mainstream school (INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SEMINAR, 1996). She stated that these children would be sent to special schools only to learn that they were to be segregated for the rest of their lives. Several children, who had attended these schools, would subsequently be sent to sheltered workshops, sheltered day centres, adult training centres, residential homes and psychiatric hospitals. The learning outcome of a special school is the acceptance of exclusion from general society (INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SEMINAR, 1996). Penny German stated that the general opinion in respect of disability was that it was negative and tragic. She suggested that disabled people should be considered as humans in the first place (INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SEMINAR, 1996). Since, disabled people describe disability as oppression; it should be given primary importance and the first place in people's thought while considering the issues of equal opportunities. According to them the phrase disabled people is a political term, which stresses their inequality. Describing disabled people as being people first and foremost has made them believe in this statement. Their desire is that their necessities should be recognized as civil rights and they want to lead their lives independently. They want to be treated in the same manner as non - disabled people (INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SEMINAR, 1996). A study conducted by Clayton in 1983, revealed that access to employment and training held equal importance for both the disabled people and the non - disabled people. However, the former group expressed dissatisfaction with the training opportunities and career development options that had been made available to them. As a result they considered themselves to be disadvantaged in their access to employment (Neath, 2003). Tom a lecturer with the National Mobility Centre was compelled to discontinue employment as his new office was inaccessible by public transport, due to his impairment. Although the purpose of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was to force employers to consider the needs of the disabled people, Tom was not benefited by this Act (Neath, 2003). Mark was employed by the Army; he developed an Ocular problem, which affected his night vision. Despite being aware of the fact that he could not see properly at night, he was allotted guard duty at night. This caused him a lot of difficulty in discharging his duties. As such the Army authorities had disregarded the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Neath, 2003). In spite of these hurdles, it is a well known fact that unemployed disabled people not only have a very positive attitude towards employment but also strive very hard to obtain it. Moreover, most of these disabled people seek employment and retain the job that they have (Walsh, Stephens, & Stephen, 2000). In the year 2001 the UK Government released a White Paper with the title Valuing People. Four principles, namely, those relating to rights, independence, choice and inclusion were introduced and these principles have the capacity to profoundly affect people with learning disabilities. It was declared in this paper that the main objective was to enable these people to express their difficulties so that they could significantly better the quality of life that they were leading (Department of Health, 2001). Despite the white paper Valuing People; there has been a signal absence of improvement in the services made available to disabled people. Further, such people have been subjected to social exclusion and government programmes to assist these people are conspicuous by their absence (Not Valued Enough, 2005. P. 5). With regard to the facilities being extended to disabled children, the report, The Foundation Stage: A survey of 144 settings, had disclosed that several of the early years services had brought about satisfactory results in education. However, in one third of the instances, the norms in communication, language and literacy did not match the expectations. Moreover, this report stated that though the teaching in respect of children was effective, it was not sufficiently stimulating for abler children (Cooper, 2007. P. 2). "Divided and packaged ... Upon which our saviours depend" The sufferings of the disabled people were revealed by the investigations conducted by the Healthcare Commission into the learning disability services. In one such investigation conducted at the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust, it was discovered that abuse of patients was universal. Further, it was noticed that the staff were incompetent to address the needs of the patients. The situation in the Orchard Hill Hospital was equally dismal. The hapless patients were not allowed to mingle with the community and they were permitted just a few hours of activities in a week (Lyons, 2007 ). It is essential for those who provide health services to disabled people to realize that these people have been assured of the same rights as the non - disabled by the Human Rights Act 1998. However, on several occasions these rights have been violated in order to make it convenient for the service personnel (Perry, 2007. P. 37 ). "Our babies are threatened ... they sacrifice our health." Abuse of disabled children has not been eradicated. 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