What is ailism and how "harmless" phrases lead to discrimination

What is ailism and who does it affect

Eyblim is discrimination against people with disabilities and the creation and dissemination of stereotypes about them.

Eyelism has many manifestations, sometimes not the most obvious. People with disabilities are most often targeted for discrimination (there are 12 million of them in RussiaThe Ministry of Labor named the number of disabled people in Russia), in particular with dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system or mental development. But in a broad sense, everyone who, for health reasons, has difficulty in taking certain actions, which are elementary for an ordinary person, can suffer from eyism. For example, it may be difficult for someone who is depressed to even get out of bed and tidy themselves up, and social phobia - ask for directions or go for an interview.

How discrimination manifests itself

Refusal to hire

Work in RussiaThe Ministry of Labor named the number of disabled people in Russia only 28.8% of able-bodied people with disabilities, although quotas exist

Article 21. Establishing a Quota for Employment of Disabled Peoplewho should help them in this. Sometimes employers find loopholes in order not to take a person with disabilities: he cannot always work full time, he may require special conditions.

Some people with disabilities do not try to get a job on their own because they find it difficult to move or are afraid of being ridiculed. For some, the only way out is remote.

Lack of a barrier-free environment

Even in large cities it is very difficult to get around in a wheelchair or with a cane. The ramps, if any, cannot be used without the risk of twisting your neck. Lifts are missing or not working. Everywhere there are stairs, sills, curbs, broken asphalt. For visually impaired people, there are no tactile tiles and braille inscriptions. Voice announcements in public places are not duplicated with scrolling text - which could make life easier for the hearing impaired.

There are many experiments on YouTube that show how inaccessible it really is "Accessible" environment for people with limited mobility.

Because of this, many find themselves locked in their own apartments, unable to move without an assistant, work, and live a full life.

Rights violation

They do not pay benefits, do not provide free medicines, treatment vouchers and wheelchairs. For example, the mother of a child with a disability from Kazan cannotToo good conditions: in Kazan, a mother of a disabled child has been fighting for an apartment for two years to get an apartment laid down by law. And a girl who is not even able to eat herself is recognizedHow sick children “suddenly” stop being disabled fully capable and deprived of benefits and benefits.

The solution to these problems is mostly in the hands of states and little depends on the average person. But there are other forms of discrimination for which each of us is responsible.

Mockery and bullying

It may seem that this is happening in a children's team. But adults, unfortunately, can behave more disgusting than any school bully.

In Chelyabinsk, residents of high-rise buildings did not like itResidents of a house in Miass do not want to see disabled children: enter through the windowthat on the ground floor there is a development center for children with special needs: the inhabitants of the house were unpleasant to look at people with disabilities and did not want to lose part of the parking lot. In Moscow, neighbors of a wheelchair child deliberately brokeThe Moscow prosecutor's office will check the fact of deliberate breakdown of the ramp for a child with a disability folding ramp. The deputy saidYekaterinburg deputy outraged help to disabled children and children who are weak from birththat there is no need to breed disabled people, and the traffic police inspector askedThe Ufa traffic police inspector asked the Paralympic champion what kind of disabled she was - "physical" or "moral" the Paralympic champion, physically disabled or morally.

Unfortunately, there are many such stories. A in the Internet a person with poor health can even run into direct insults, wishes for death and completely fascist arguments about who has the right to live and who does not.

Using diagnoses as insults

The person could not answer the question correctly - they say to him: "What are you, down?" I lost my temper and hit someone - "Well, you're crazy!" These words are scattered without hesitation. It equates bad behavior and diagnosis, stigmatizes those who are ill or has features, creates dangerous stereotypes: all mentally unhealthy people are aggressive, all people from Down syndrome stupid.

In some cases, these insults may even remove responsibility from a completely healthy person: “Insulted? Did you start a fight? He's just a schizophrenic! " Antisocial actions are justified with a fictitious diagnosis and offer to close their eyes to them, instead of condemning at least in words the one who committed them.

Spreading stereotypes

"People with disabilities constantly need help", "All people with autism spectrum disorders are inadequate" - these and many others stereotypes rooted in society and continue to be actively broadcast. And they are by no means harmless: it is because of them that people with disabilities are perceived wary or even hostile. They find it difficult to lead a social life, find work and friends, study and pursue a hobby.

Calls to abandon an unhealthy child

A woman who has given birth to a child with a serious pathology may be offered to write a refusal and leave the baby in the hospital. The argument is simple: “Why do you need this? You will also give birth to a healthy one. As a result, the child does not grow up in a family, but in the orphanage, does not receive love and quality care, is deprived of the opportunity to adapt to real life.

Special attitude

People with disabilities are often perceived as small children. They may be pitied or asked many tactless questions about their condition, emphasizing in every possible way that a person is not like everyone else. When the diagnosis comes to the fore, and not personal qualities, it is very unpleasant.

What can be done to reduce discrimination

• Treat people with disabilities and developmental disabilities with respect, just like anyone else. If possible, provide them with help if they need it. Do not interfere with the installation of ramps, do not occupy parking spaces for disabled people.
• Not insult such people, to refuse hostile statements against them.
• Do not use medical diagnoses in an inappropriate context. Do not support stereotypes about people with special needs.
• Remember that those around you may be experiencing difficulties. Therefore, it is important to put ramps, if you have your own store or cafe, accompany the text information with an audio version or in Braille (for example, a menu in a restaurant, price tags in a store), and voice - on the contrary, duplicate text.
• Talk to your children and explain to them that people with disabilities are just like us. They should not be laughed at, should not be pointed at, and should not be avoided.

Most of the problems that people with disabilities face can only be solved by the state. But each of us is able not to close our eyes to injustice, to fight against false attitudes and to helpif requested.