Does NZ need a disability awareness week?
Red October 17th, 2007 23 Comments
I’ve noticed that the rest of the world seems abuzz with disability awareness weeks at the moment, a quick trawl through the internet reveals various initiatives going on here, here, and here.
My question for you is this: do we need a disability awareness week here in NZ? What could it accomplish? What activities/events would you like to see incorporated? Should we jump on this bandwagon, or are we already well served with awareness campaigns such as the upcoming Blind Awareness Week?
Leave a comment below and let us know what you think!
Yes we do need a Disability Awareness week in NZ. The hardest thing to change is people’s attitude towards disability. Just last week I was speaking to a group about sailing for people with disabilities and one person missed the whole point I was making about an inclusive society. He felt disabled sailors should have some sort of sign on their yacht so other boats on the water could give them a wide berth! I can tell you being on the harbour most weekends I can control my boat a hell of a lot better than many so called able-bodied harbour users. My point is this. As a person with a disability who has bills to pay a business to run etc all I want to be able to do is access my community in the way people without disabilities do. I would never expect someone with or without a disability to crawl onto a train for example. Is that too much to ask? An awareness campaign focused on positive change and a society build around “Universal Design” principals gets my vote.
Great site I’m off to a game at Eden Park in the very near future!
Fantastic Red, keep it up. You are doing so well.
I think we should have an awareness week. As a 16 year old girl who has 2 disabilities I think that more people should be aware of what it means to us to have a disability
I think a disability awareness week is a jolly good idea. Followed by a disability awareness society. I am trying to instigate services for sex and intimacy services for the disabled (intellectual, physical and emotional).
I have people willing to provide the services and others willing to train but try getting the right feedback from the disability organisations??!! It is a tricky area I know, but is it not a human right just like being fed?
Saw you on the telly tonight…. well done.
Who built your website??? was it you??
Hi; This wife of a quadriplegic/tetraplegic wishes to share a couple things. 1990 it was “the year of the disabled” here in New Zealand and earlier still – early 1980`s a telethon was run on t.v. for the disabled. My hubby who became disabled in 1972 [yep we oldies] and I told all our relations to donate to this telethon. They did. Disabled then applied to the Lotteries Board if they felt worthy of a little of the million or more raised during the telethon for disabled. We applied for the cost of handcontrols for hubby`s vehicle [he is pre ACC - so used to begging
) ]; anyway; reply came that he was not disabled enough to be considered for any funding. Remember; he is a complete C6/7 quadriplegic/tetraplegic. So – do we in 2007 need a disabled awareness week! I do think we have come a long way from the ignorance that used to be about – don`t you?
@ Mary: sex and intimacy services are certainly, well, non-existent, what responses have you received so far? And yup I built and run this website myself
@Jan: I like the idea of a telethon hehe! I can’t believe the treatment people such as your husband received – I guess I’m lucky in many respects, things are certainly a lot better now than they used to be! And you’re right, we have come a long way, I just think it’d be nice to have disability seen with a positive spin such as an awareness campaign, not always just whinge-whinge-whinge..
I am usure if a bisability week is the way to go. My thinking is that one week a year is good for those who wish to do something because it gives them an outlet and at the end of it they can say “didnt we do well” and the disabled are forgotten about for the rest of the year by the vast majority. Rather I think we need more constant reminders like Red on TV with the close up thing etc. There was once a TV show which was based on the disabled and starred the disabled and it was not only entertaining it was an awareness thing. Its that type of high profile thing that is needed. I can sympathise with Jan trying to get funds for her hubby. The telethon was a chance for some to show they were “Doing Something” but when the crunch came the dollars were to tightly protected and didnt go where they would have had the most impact on the people who were disabled. I wouldn’t mind betting they money went on ‘projects’ where the wise could get the kudos, which is a waste of resources and fairly deflating for the people who matter. They have the huge build up and high expectations then the week comes, it goes, and the disabled are then left to crawl back into their holes, deflated and dejected.
No, I think a “disabled week” would make the ‘disabled weak’. Lets aim for an awareness all year round and I think this is best controlled by the disabled. These are the people who really know the ropes and there are some very good brains amongst them and there is some real drive within.
So keep pushing Red. Keep thinking. Keep at it and remember Winston Churchills famous speach to the seniors at Eton. “Never, ever, ever, ever give up. Never”
Kia ora,
I work in MH and we have just had a very busy Mental Health Awareness week. It would be great to have disability awareness week.
Cheers
Barbz
NZ needs more awareness!
There are some great advertising campaigns out there; such as the great success that the mental illness/depression campaign has had with John Kirwan. But personally I believe there is a huge gap that is not catering for the physically impaired portion of the disabled community.
Far to often I am ‘mistaken’ for having an intellectual impairment. I strongly believe that education and awareness can help begin to eliminate these prejudices.
Anna you make a really good point – people do make judgments about your intellectual capacity based on your physical predicament huh! And whilst I agree that people need to look beyond the wheelchair/walking frame, I’m inclined to agree with Steve about ‘disability week making the disabled weak’ – perhaps there is so much of a ‘disabled whinge’ stereotype going on that any more ‘awareness’-type ads would only serve to reinforce that stereotype, thus defeating the purpose?
Yes, point taken Red. However – I believe tonight on CloseUp you have made society more aware of barriers that face people with impairments and at the same time shown the huge capabilities and vital roles that we disabled members of society have.
I’m not saying we need to have ‘cheesy’ ad campaigns, and Steve is correct that one week in the year isn’t the best angle to take either. But I am saying something is better than nothing. It’s a matter of finding that right *something* that really hits home.
And perhaps you have set the bar tonight Red!
Well Red, firstly ‘Nice Site’. The response I have had so far to the intimacy services has been good just not quite proactive enough. There is a lot of talk around this subject but finding the best people to approach is tricky as there are so many personal feelings around the subject and so many people are hung up about sex and intimacy in general, and even more so when it comes to disabled people. I am beavering away trying to find the right angle and the right people. I also believe that there should be some kind of funding to help with it as it is a form of therapy, mental, physical and emotional. But I am very wary of how to approach that without the media/general public jumping on it and blowing it out of proportion.
Any inroads or people to contact within organisations that may be open to looking into supporting these services would be greatly appreciated. We also need a website built to offer the services nationwide and encourage advertising of available services and providers. Have a communication channel made available and offer information to all concerned and interested.
Do you know anyone who may want to come on board with that?? I am already putting in many hours per week free of charge doing the groundwork so it wouldn’t be a paying gig. But my goodness it could be a feel good exercise for the person involved??!!????
Hi; The “oldie” wife here again. Interested in your efforts Mary. Maybe of interest is telling you that years ago [when I was on the NZ Disabled Committee] I went with Eve Rimmer [she was a well known paraplegic sportswoman] to a conference in Christchurch with the theme “Sex and the Disabled”. A Doctor [I have forgotten his name] from Australia who specialised in this area came for the weekend with his wife. About 300 people attended – disabled and able-bodied [like myself]. It was a fantastic weekend. We all learnt heaps and he had many sex aids [sorry I don`t know right labelling] on display for sale etc. Just an idea – something like this again for the younger generation of today might be an idea.
Well done on this site too Red
Cheers Jan, We are working on setting up workshops … 300 people is a good turnout. I also sell sexual aids of many varieties, and we have someone in the pipeline who will look at adapting things for those who may need a vibrating friend with bigger on/off buttons or a larger handle. I already deal with a few disabled persons providing them with the right people to cater for their intimate needs, but I wish to make it something that is more widely accepted so the provision of services will be better and the stigma on both sides will eventually fade away. (Not gonna happen overnight I know!) But it would be nice to get the discussions happening at least in my lifetime.
Hi. I’m a “PWS”; & our “ISAD” on-line conference in in progress, even as we speak. The following is from that conference: “The stated purpose of International Stuttering Awareness Day is “to promote awareness and understanding and to show appreciation for people who stutter and the speech language professionals who work with them.” An important part of ISAD is about creating awareness and understanding of stammering amongst people who do not stammer. Many of us have a vision of a world which understands stammering; and the campaign we are running is helping us get there – and could help you too.
Unfortunately, stammering is a low interest subject, largely because people who stammer don’t much like talking in public and talking about their stammers. Thus the public hardly ever see anyone stammering, especially in key arenas such as national media. The purpose of this campaign is to seek support for PWS and to encourage comparison between society’s attitude to stammering and mobility disability.
I am fully aware what awareness days/weeks are all about & encourage you to pursue it vigorously.
Well our Minister of Disability Issues talked a lot about a “disability awareness campaign” similar to “like minds like mine” way back in 2001 when the NZ disability strategy was fresh and new.
But where is it?
A quality disabled led TV campaign could go along to dilute the tiresome ignorance and prejudice we have to endure.
It would be far better than an allocated week or a day where disability provider organisations run round holding contrived and naff events.
You know Matt McCarten has a stammer, Drew – is he involved in awareness?
Hi. I work at the Taranaki Disability Information Centre and while there is a lot of talk about needing a week there are two days a year that can be used to get the message out. First is December 3rd which is the International Day of People with Disabilities. Second is a day that is organised by the NZ Federation of Disability Information Centres and this is on the 1st Saturday in May and called “May Day” – Disability May Affect You Day. In Taranaki we have events organised for both days and for May Day we have a number of events being planned up to then. There is a strong network of organisations and working together to raise awareness an impact can be made. It is not so much if someone will allocate a week to disability awareness but creating a week and just doing it.
Every year there is a disability awareness week held in Queensland where I live. It is organised by the Queensland Government. At the same time, the Minister for Disability Services holds a conference/Forum either in Brisbane or, like this year, mini forums around the regional areas of Queensland. Usually the Minister attends at the end of this conference and make some comments. Other junior politicians and public servants also attend the entire conference.
I do not know if this actually achieves anything — financially speaking — but I am amazed every year at how many more small communities around the state hold local events. The number of communities that do so grows every year. At the very minimum, Disability Awareness Week does actually raise consciousness about people with disabilities. People with Disabilities in remote and regional areas get the chance to socialise, if they choose, which is good for the mental health of a person with a disability if nothing else.
The week is actually called Disability Action Week. Communities can advertise their events in the week is promoted through the government website http://www.disability.qld.gov.au/actionweek/ .
Please note: I not condoning anything on this government website. I am also not saying that Queens land does anything better than New Zealand. In fact, when it comes to individualise funding — you Kiwis are streets ahead of Queensland.
Have an enjoyable day.
Cheers Vicki
YES
defiantly! no doubt about it!
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