“We believe that if Oliver had not have had the labels of autism and intellectual disability attached to him, he would absolutely have not have been prescribed psychotropic medications,” McGowan said.
As the panel discussed social fragmentation, Ms Kayess agreed it could lead to loneliness and said those living with a disability were highly exposed to it. “That specific [physical] segregation is structurally embedded for people with disability, the way they’re segregated in education, the way they’re segregated in terms of residential care and services,” she said.
What happens when an entire population group is absent from decision making forums? It makes it possible to forget them. The people who are most affected and should be central considerations in emergency responses are left out.
This can generate a skewed impression mental illness causes violent behaviour, which reinforces myths, increases stigmatising attitudes and cultivates fear among the public.
Sometimes, when people ask their perennial questions, or just look at us in a certain way, we can almost hear them say it: “Go on! Do that thing you do, where you remind me how my own little problems aren’t so bad. Do that ‘inspiration’ thing that makes me feel better about myself for admiring you.”
In 2019, the NDIA adopted a Supported Decision Making Framework which details, among other things, strategies to strengthen decision making supports. In reality, the low expectations of the decision-making ability of people with disability which pre-dates the NDIS have perpetuated into the Scheme. Consequently, there has not been any consistency in the implementation of supported decision making processes nor any monitoring of the extent to which a substitute decision maker considers the person’s will and preferences. The allocation and use of nominees for substitute decision making is in direct contradiction to the commitment to supported decision making outlined in the NDIS Act.
As a disabled person, there are days I don’t want to leave the house. I wish I could say I don’t care what society thinks or assumes about me and my body. But the truth is, when my body is judged, ostracised, othered — I do care. Some days I have to really push myself.
The take home message is that it was always possible, all the time that employers where saying it was not. It is a form of ableism in the sense that it’s concentrating on that proportion of society who fit within a particular norm.”
In this course you will learn how to be inclusive for the LGBTIQA+ community and look at how to advocate for LGBTIQA+ people with a disability. This is a free online course available to anyone through the DARU website.
“I got bullied because of my disability, I used to get called a cripple or a spastic everywhere I went. That stuff made it really hard for me — and I believed them. I believed I was less than them.” Alcott said that changed when he went to his first wheelchair tennis tournament, where he said his eyes were opened.
What do you really need to know about disability? If you’re not disabled yourself, and don’t have a child, spouse, brother or sister, or parent with disabilities, how knowledgeable and up to date on disability issues are you expected to be?
Justine Martin, 49, and Karen Dare, 40, who both have multiple sclerosis, met in Melbourne in 2015. Sharing the condition has allowed them to be open with each other about their bodies – and their dating experiences.
How often do you see a person with a disability reporting the news or telling their own stories? The media frequently reports stories about people who live with a disability, rather than allowing people to have their own voice. So how do we change that?
Deciding who is and isn’t disabled, who does and doesn’t deserve accommodation, is complicated. Most efforts to distinguish fakers from “real” disabled people usually do more harm than good.
Lockdown is over and for lots of us life is returning to some sort of “normal”. But for many Australians living with a chronic illness or disability, social isolation is still their main way of staying healthy and safe, and the challenges posed by the virus are far from over.