People with disability are disabled by society - from the CEO
A new documentary series on SBS looks at how millions of Australians are affected by stigma and prejudice. It gets to the heart of what people really think about disability, old people and obesity.
Posted October 07, 2021
There’s a new documentary series on SBS.
It looks at how millions of Australians are affected by stigma and prejudice. It gets to the heart of what people really think about disability, old people and obesity.
This new series uses university surveys to find out what Australians think.
Some of the findings are:
• 72% of respondents without disabilities said they felt sorry for people with disability
• 72% agreed that people sometimes make fun of people with disability.
It’s no wonder five-time Paralympian Kurt Fearnley believes people with disability are not disabled by their bodies, but by society.
Kurt Fearnley said, ‘I hope that when somebody watches this, the dream would be for them to look around at their own environment right now, and ask, is disability represented in my workplace? In my kids’ school? Is it represented in my local sporting club? Twenty percent of the population are out there with disabilities wanting to be a part of the community. Why aren’t they in yours?’
The three-part series aired in August, starting with the topic of disability. If you have access to SBS On Demand, I highly recommend you watch it.
Darren Mathewson