Saturday 10 May 2014

A little bit awkward…

You may have heard about a survey that was published in the week and concluded that 2 out of 3 members of the British public admit feeling uncomfortable around disabled people. I can’t say I am surprised and in all honesty, the percentage is probably higher than the results suggest. I’ve said on this blog before that this is down to ignorance in my opinion, backed up by the statistic that an incredible 43% of the population do not know anyone with a disability. An article looking at these recent findings and Scope’s advertising campaign to eliminate this daily awkwardness is available to read online: http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/08/two-thirds-of-britons-are-uncomfortable-around-disabled-people-its-time-to-end-the-awkward-4720862/

Even ‘Wheelchair Boy’, who bemoans these patronising or awkward people, will sometimes meet a fellow disabled person and not know how to behave around them. I guess I’m as bad as everyone else. Not because I’m ignorant. It’s because of human nature when it comes to seeing someone who is different from the norm. As T.V. presenter (from The Last Leg) and fellow disabled person Alex Brooker admits, “I get curious as well, and I do a double take. It’s just curiosity, that’s all.” I know how I would like to be spoken to so I start overthinking the situation and I ending up acting just like every other muppet that I’ve slagged off on here.

The fact that only 7% out of the 2000 asked in the survey had been on a date with a disabled person is again not a shock.  I’ve been single since time began and I’ve always moaned about girls not looking past the disability (although my horrible personality probably counts against me as well) and giving me a chance. However, I must admit to having double standards so I cannot criticize women who reject me. This sounds awful but I probably wouldn’t go out with another disabled person so I can understand why most able-bodied women wouldn’t touch me with a barge pole.


Bye for now!

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