Fiona
Forgive my leaping into your message to Joanna - but the perils of posting
to the list!
I am despreately concerned by your message - particularly when you make
comments like: "I think the Social Model should be extended to include us
and those with similar impairments. Certainly the disability movement should
take this on board."
I fear that your understanding of the social model has been adversely
affected by theoretical debates, rather than through contact with the
'disability movement'. Precisely because the social model emphasises the
non-medical effects of having an impiarment (exclusion, discrimination,
poverty etc), it is actually the (albeit imperfect) model that permits those
with 'non-traditional' impairments to be included.
Whilst the 'disability movement' is, by its very nature, an enormously
diverse group, and whilst all social movements have to survive
power-struggles and selfish motives, my contact with the 'movement'
throughout Europe and North America has yet to expose individuals who would
seek to exclude people with impairments from their number.
I am quite sure that your comments have been influenced by a negative
encounter, but please do not blame the 'movement' for that incident.
The suggestion that people with MS 'don't fit' into the disabled community
terrifies me. Whilst I am all for impairment-specific organisations, can I
also suggest that you explore cross-impairment disability groups who are
principally engaged in advocacy and independent living, which tend to have a
very different feel from the self-help groups.
I am genuinely horrified by the experience suggested by your message and
would be happy to explore any issues in greater depth.
Unfortunately the sometimes rarefied atmosphere of academic lists,
particulalrly those that manage to foster open debate, can contribute to a
view that the disability community is an exclusive one. In my experience,
it is the 'academic' origins of the list, rather than the disability
subject-matter, that is key.
For many of us, the common-thread that links disabled people with vastly
different impairments and social situations, across the globe, is the
experience of exclusion. I apologise if your contact with the wider
disabled community has produced yet more exclusion because, as a disabled
person myself, I must share responsibility for that experience, but please
do not write the 'movement' off when individuals may have been the problem.
Best wishes
Richard Light
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