Attitudes towards disability have changed in the past century, and are continuing to change. This past month, we were able to celebrate the amazing athletic achievements of the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. In 2012, possibly to coincide with London hosting the Summer Olympic and Paralympic games, the BBC released a film “The Best of Men“. The film is a dramatization of how treatment of spinal cord injuries following the Second World War led to the creation of the “parallel Olympics”.
Currently on Netflix is the film Breathe, based on the true story of a man paralyzed by polio. With support from friends and family, led by the determination of his wife, he redefines what quality of life means for someone with a severe disability.
Today, there are still attitudinal barriers to overcome. Last November, the Down Syndrome Society launched a campaign against the S-word “Sorry”. Yes, you should still say sorry if you owe someone an apology, but it’s use in the context of a birth announcement is not recommended.
Another interesting twist on the idea of “bad” vs “good” words is an article called The F-words in Childhood Disability: I Swear This is How We Should Think! Take our favourite model, the ICF, and replace all the terms with F-words. This approach is not only attention grabbing, but these new words also make the ICF model more accessible everyone to talk about. The CanChild.ca website has a variety of resources to help facilitate these conversations.
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All RTASA members are welcome to write a a post for this blog. Sharing reflections on how disability and/or rehabilitation are portrayed in the media, or passing along interesting resources are just two of many possible topics welcome here.
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