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Principles
Civil rights cover all parts of life, including the right to financial support for the extra costs of disability and of being included.
The voices of disabled people must be central to public policy-making and laws about civil rights.
Disabled people should be asked about all policies and programmes that directly affect them.
Enough money is essential to get rid of discrimination and to make sure that disabled people are included in society.
Basic to civil rights is including all disabled people in policy-making, such as people with learning difficulties, people with sensory and physical impairments and survivors of the mental health system.
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What kind of practical help can I have?
A communicator for people with hearing difficulties
A reader for someone with visual difficulties
A support worker for someone who needs help getting to and from work
Alterations to a vehicle or help towards taxi fares or other transport costs for someone having difficulty getting around
Alterations to equipment
Alterations to premises or the working environment, such as installing alarm systems or adapting a lift.
Your employer should help by:
Changing work hours
Arranging extra training
Transferring certain duties to other employees
Plus, the company must make adjustments to help your career development, like making a training venue accessible to wheelchair users
You just have to be able to show that the change is necessary for you to work effectively and productively
And if they fire me?
They'd have to have a very good reason. For example, if your disability makes it impossible for you to do your job.
They'd have to prove that the problem couldn't be solved by an adjustment of any kind.
If you have any complaints, take them up with your employer first.
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Disability: Is it Different For Girls?
Being a female and having a disability both have ramifications for the individual. In our society and in our schools, each of these descriptions engenders preconceived notions, expectations, and stereotypes. In both instances, it is the negative stereotypes that hold girls back or unnecessarily channel them into certain types of programs and jobs.
Typically, boys are encouraged to be sturdy, to dare, to go out and meet the world. They are expected to become self-supporting, in anticipation of the day when they will have to support a family. Girls, on the other hand, being perceived as more passive, are sheltered. As the future "nurturers" of society, they are rewarded for their sensitivity to the needs of others and their ability to cooperate rather than aggressively pursue their own interests.
How do stereotypes of male and female behavior and potential affect children with disabilities? To begin with, many adults feel that children with disabilities need more help. Boys with disabilities can often escape the disability stereotype of helplessness or dependence by aspiring to such traditional male characteristics as competence, autonomy, and work. Girls with disabilities, however, confront two stereotypes: the "passive, dependent" female and the "helpless and dependent" person with a disability. As a result, they often get a double dose of assistance that can lead to a kind of a dependence called learned helplessness.
There is no doubting that society bombards us, via television and magazines, with images of the "ideal" female. Probably the ideal most damaging psychologically to many people with disabilities is this society's emphasis on physical beauty or attractiveness. While thousands of dollars are spent on cosmetics, physical fitness, clothes and hair-stylists, most of us fall far short of the ideal. Yet, we all strive for it. However, the gap between the ideal and reality varies from person to person, and many women with disabilities are affected more negatively.
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