Hi, I’m Maria. I’m a Disability Equality trainer and access consultant based in London. I’m passionate about disability rights and have worked my whole career, in the UK, Italy and US, to promote greater inclusion for disabled people. No, I’m not some crusader, just someone who has had to deal with so much ignorance and obstruction because of my own disability that I have plenty to say on the matter.
I also would like to see more bridges between ‘mainstream’ thinking around disability and the thinking of disability rights campaigners. I would like to see disability as less of a fearful and awkward subject to talk about and help others see it as part of the human condition. I very much welcome your comments on my blog, I hope it will be an opportunity for some constructive discussions.
Posts by Maria
While it’s understandable that like Charlotte, millions of disabled people with severe impairment do not want to be a ‘burden’ – it’s important that they are enabled to live with dignity through appropriate care: all of them still have a lot of living to do and much to contribute. Perhaps Charlotte would have not been so hasty in her quest for euthanasia if she felt confident her family would receive the best support necessary.
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I am appalled at what I feel is a misguided attempt by a charitable organisation to raise funds to help those affected by Motor Neuron Disease Association.
With so many people believing they would be better off dead than disabled, horror-style “awareness” campaigns such as this one alienate disabled people even further from the rest of society.
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A few nights ago I decided to stay up to watch “Hear and Now”, an award-winning documentary about an American Deaf couple who, after a lifetime of living with deafness decide to get a Cochlea Implant (CI) at the age of 65.
I wished I had seen this documentary 30 years ago, and perhaps many issues that affected me growing up with deafness might have been better understood and accepted.
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As an advisor in accessible environments, I often get remarks from bewildered building managers who are surprised that anyone would spend money to improve the accessibility of a building. “Surely disabled people should not be allowed to enter certain areas…to be on the safe side?” they ask.
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Highlighting disabled people’s ability may be inspiring for some, but on its own it doesn’t really raise awareness of disabled people’s human rights. Sometimes it makes the rest of us feel that we don’t count unless we’re really, really ‘special’.
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Often the thing that leads to embarrassment and awkwardness in communication between disabled and non-disabled people is fear of doing the wrong thing.
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Liz Carr has written an open letter to Noel Martin, who in 1996 was attacked by Neo-Nazis and as a result was left paralysed from the neck down. He is planning a trip to Switzerland to commit legal suicide and Liz Carr has written to him to ask him to reconsider.
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Recently someone asked me how to address a question that came from one of their employees: ‘Why are we learning about disability? Surely we should address other diversity issues, such as racial and cultural discrimination first?’
This led me to ask myself why disability equality training is often seen as a ‘low priority’ topic.
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Our western culture tends to promote a medicalised view whereby disabled people are considered to be damaged, sick or even freaks of nature. Disability is feared as something that is as abnormal and not a part of who we really are as human beings.
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