Dear all,
Both Laurence and Ian's messages to the list underly the need for
communication between people with and without disabilites and the need for a
common langauge, well understood by both sides without breaking
communication by doing so,as a part of a social integration process for
people with disbailites.
The other point which is not considered that this kind of basic infformation
may prove useful for people with disbailites themeselves who do not have
much in social contact with people with different disabilites.
The some kind of disability equality training where terminology and
communication issues are dealt is cited as one way dealing with the social
intregration issues for people with disabilities.
Ozcan Konur
[log in to unmask]
http://www.city.ac.uk/~cx639/index.htm ( still in construction!)
----Original Message Follows----
From: Laurence Bathurst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Disability "etiquette" brochure
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 23:30:08 +1000
Hello Ian
I don't know that I have heard anyone dispute the need for information,
awareness, or competencies. I think its the picture that the word
'etiquette' conjures. I will hopefully be producing a brochure myself to
provide guidelines to staff and students regarding 'student's disclosure of
mental health status' So indeed I do see value in information. There have
also been a couple of projects in NSW recently looking at barriers to
inclusion in community sport and recreation services and facilities for
people with a disability, particularly people who have aquired a brain
injury. The overwhelmingly significant response from community sport and
recreation providers (Gyms, Clubs, Tennis Centres, etc) is that they don't
even wish to respond. Those that do participate in forums, cite almost
unanimously that it is their own ignorance of disability and thus a fear of
including them that is their main barrier to promoting their service to
people with a disability and oddly enough (not) the people with
disabilities who have been surveyed in concurrent forums have cited the
attitudes of the service providers as their greatest barrier to
participation. So yes. My suggestion is that disability competence
(cultural competence for a broader application) must be included in all
University courses, apprenticeships, traineeships etc as a core part of the
professional competency standards for all people providing services or
facilities to the public.
Oh one more thing. Has anyone seen the famous episode of Fawlty Towers
where Basil tries not to mention 'the war' in front of his German guests?
And of course because of the anxiety, he mentions the war with every
statement he makes. Imagine people with etiquette guides walking around a
busy campus muttering to themselves "don't mention the disability" :-)
At 12:33 PM 6/23/99 +0100, you wrote:
>I have been following this thread with interest. There is a tendency to
get
>all worked up about the rights and wrongs of producing a booklet and to
>forget that there are still a large number of people who have no
>understanding of disability issues.
>
>At DISinHE we produced a booklet entitled "Teaching Everyone - Disability
>and Technology, a guide for Lecturers" this booklet was sent out to all
>HEI's within the UK with copies going to the Pro Vice Chancellors and
>Principals, other copies went to the heads of IT services and Libraries.
We
>also sent a number of copies out to each disability officer.
>
>The result was that a few people were very critical and made a lot of fuss
>about the content and the target audience. However we were overwhelmed by
>the number of requests for extra copies some 5,000 and these requests are
>still (some 6 months later) coming in. We have therefore produced a pdf
>version which people can download from our web site www.disinhe.ac.uk and
>print off for themselves.
>
>The moral is that we should never under estimate the need for basic
guidance
>in helping people to understand the implications of ensuring a fair and
>equal opportunity for all staff and students.
>
With best regards
Laurence Bathurst
University of Sydney
School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
East Street (P.O. Box 170)
Lidcombe NSW 1825
Australia
Ph+ 61 2 9351 9509
Fax+ 61 2 9351 9166
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Note: This is the e-mail address for my home as well
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