h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Disability - A20428472
Author: GrumpyAlembic - U7670313

Disability is a huge topic and needs an introduction

A good start.

Some points to address:

Is a person's disabilty merely a function of their own physical/mental capabilities, or is it also a function of society?

In a society where all public buildings have ramps and all public transport has proper access, a person confined to a wheelchair becomes less disabled. If webmasters build sites which conform to W3 standards, blind people become less disabled. If more people learn sign language, and the deaf are taught properly in their own language, the deaf become far less disabled.

(For both the deaf and people with reduced mobility, time spent attempting to "overcome the disabilty" can steal from time spent in education, in turn causing other handicaps later in life.)

TRiG.

Absolutely, even to the point where disability can be the norm in certain closed communities or societies and then 'normal' people are the misfits.

My piece is just a starting point and does not seek to provide answers

I just think it's worth spending a little more time on examining the social models.

I was reading a book on autism. I forget the author or title, as I was just browsing in a bookshop. He called autism 'the extreme male brain'. He told of how it impaired social functionality, being in some cases an extreme disability. And then he recounted how he'd met a man with severe autism who was not at all disabled, as he lived in a society which accepted him.

He also mentioned that the counterpart to autism, the extreme female brain, has never been diagnosed, though it almost certainly exists. That's because society, as a whole, is more accepting of people who are bad at maths and good at making friends than of the opposites.

So, though the extreme male and the extreme female brains are equally functionally impaired, only one leads to a disability. It's purely a function of society.



Chapter 7 of Michael Oliver's book Understanding Disability: From Theory to Practice, is good reading, and some of his thoughts should go into this entry.



There are constant debates in the field of Deaf Studies about whether deafness is a disability or an ethnicity.

TRiG.

Thanks for coming back, I am with you all the way.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a continuum from those who require 24x7 to those who 'fit' into society - look at Temple Grandin for example.
This is true for many disabilities. If a person's eyesight is not so good, nor hearing and so forth - limiting what they can do, are they disabled? At what point does 'normal' become disabled in a given context.

Perhaps an entry on the societal context of disability is overdue?

Just an update - I've added a paragraph. Tell me if its OK

We're getting somewhere, alright. I think it's a bit vague, though. I may come back with a more concrete suggestion later, when I've had time to think.

TRiG.

Morning TRiG

Look forward to that.
GA

I'm amazed that there hasn't been anything in the Edited Guide on this before. This one comes close and you could link to it: A505568. Also you mentioned accessible web design, and there's this entry to link to: A1161235, and there's this one on Makaton: A920071 and a coupole on Aspergers: A592148 and A10450694. I'm sure there are others listed by disability.

Can I ask a basic question? Where are you going with this entry? Are you intending it for the edited guide, or an article in the Post?

'Disability implies that something is impaired or not fit for use.' Yes - and 'invalid' is even worse = not valid. Mind you, in the old days, they would have left disabled children exposed on the hillside to die - they used to do that with twins too.

I know you said you were asking questions and opening up issues. Would it help to have some headers?

I'm not sure if a longer piece would help as each topic or group of issues really deserves their own entry. Where do you stop? I'm no expert and my intention was to be a bit provocative, not definative and to, perhaps, encourage others to contribute.

As I'm new and have jumped in feet first I welcome the feedback and happy to consider any suggestions.

I can see where you're coming from on this and there's definitely a need for an entry on disability. You're in the right place to seek ideas. I'm not sure whether the entry needs to be all-encompassing. It could be a jumping off point for other entries. It probably needs a bit of thought to choose how to shape it.

I would suggest having a look round at some entries on similar topics as a guide for structure. There was one I was thinking of suggesting you looked at for structure before I made the previous posting, but I didn't because it was a bit long. You could use the 'search h2g2' function for this - or you could look at the examples here: A53209, if you haven't already had a peek at them.

It might be worth saying, take your time on this. I remember as a newcomer, I felt I had to get things right immediately, whereas the more experienced I got, the more relaxed I was about submitting an entry when it was right and not to do it in a hurry.

Entries for the Edited Guide are meant to be balanced, so if your intention is to be provocative, you would need to state the balancing viewpoint.

Mind you, if you are intending to be provocative, you could finish the entry with a question for the reader to consider and make his/her mind up on the issues. It's not done that often, but it's a perfectly valid way to finish a piece.

An you could use it as a springboard to do further entries on aspects of disability. You wouldn't have to decide that you; you could decide later.

This author seems to have - this ought to be moved to the Flea Market.

Alex

Seconded

Hmm, some interesting points for discussion and a large dollop of humour, as a 'disabled' person due to an accident, and the carer of a 'disabled' person due to disease, I think this warrants more than a casual dismissal.