Understanding Disability

Continuing Issues

Canada is acclaimed internationally for the database that has been developed on disability and citizens with disabilities. In 1991, The Health and Activity Limitations Survey (HALS) Reported that approximately 16% or 4.2 million Canadians of all ages have a disability. In some isolated areas and Aboriginal communities the rate of disability is as high as 30%. These trends continue today.

In Canada, 65% of adults with disabilities earn less than $10,000.00 per year, while only 5% earn $30,000.00 or more. Some people with a disability have never held any job, and many, if not most, work in temporary and low paying jobs.

The reasons for this high rate of under employment and unemployment among people with disabilities can be found in a physically inaccessible work place, reluctant and ill informed co-workers who create an uninviting work environment, rigid recruitment and interviewing policies, and a highly competitive work force.

Employment

Even the majority of people with only mild disabilities are less likely than other citizens to be fully employed. Moreover, the work force participation rate for women with disabilities is significantly lower than for men and consequently so is their income.

Canadians place a great value on being employed and the status it brings to the individual. Employment is a mark of full citizenship. Employed people pay taxes to support the infrastructure of their country, province and community. They contribute to the growth and betterment of themselves and their future. However, some people with disabilities can never be employed.

Their physical, mental or emotional condition excludes them from employment and the dignity and self-esteem that comes from “earning your way through life.” Some people see those with disabilities as having no value to society. This battle has yet to be fought with rigor and leadership.

Generally, Canadian society encourages workers to get ahead through competition. Free enterprise is predicated on such an abiding principle. People with disabilities leave the starting gate already a lap behind because of educational or literacy deficiencies, and societal “type casting”. Consequently, people with disabilities find it very difficult to dispel the illusion that they are not “good employees”.

Income Sources

Most disability income that is not generated through employment is provided by various governmental programs, each with a different structure and requirement.

Eligibility is not necessarily based on need but often based on how the disability is acquired be it work related or non-work related.

Workers Compensation and Canada and Quebec pension plans are available to people who have been employed and who have contributed to these plans. But 65% of people with disabilities who are employed earn less than $10,000 per year and their ability to claim back for subsequent injury is minimal. Since many people with disabilities have never worked, they have never contributed, and they are usually ineligible for training or retraining from these programs.

Other sources of income include welfare, social assistance, family allowance, and child tax credits. Seldom is this enough to live on. The current workfare debate just complicates the issue when payments are intentionally kept low in order to encourage recipients to “make something of themselves”. For people with disabilities this situation is a lose-lose proposition.

In many regions of Canada, assistance to people with disabilities is based on a concept of “unemployability”. Ultimately, this destroys self-esteem and also leaves the individual ineligible for employment training, rehabilitation or job retraining.

In the final analysis, poverty itself, is a hazard for people who already have to deal with health issues associated with a disability. Some might say, this is tantamount to institutional eugenics.

Accessibility

The concept of accessibility is often focussed on the idea of wheelchair access. The installation of ramps, automatic door openers and modified washrooms are all very important for access and egress. These modifications are of great benefit to any number of people, not just to wheelchair users. Pregnant women, people with baby carriages, people with walkers and canes, and people with visual impairments find these modifications useful.

Retrofitting buildings to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities can be very expensive, but modifications in building standards can reduce the cost substantially. If city by-laws require accessibility to be a ‘built in’ feature of construction, the initial expense is virtually non existent. Some modifications are astonishingly simple. For instance, a new building designed with street level access, wider doorways (or open concept), non-slip flooring, levered door handles, and Braille signage at an accessible level may increase the cost of construction by a fraction of what it would cost to retrofit these buildings.

Literacy

Considerable sensitivity is required when discussing the link between disability and literacy. This is a difficult subject to broach for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the need to ensure respect for the individuals who may be dealing with the issues involved. A person with a disability is not necessarily illiterate and a person with low literacy skills is not necessarily disabled. However, a person who has a disability and has low literacy skill is doubly disadvantaged. One possible cause of low literacy skills among persons with disabilities may be found in society’s attitude that people with disabilities are not equal partners in society. Whatever the cause, the outcome is very expensive for all Canadians.

According to a leading Canadian consumer group on disability, the Canadian Association for Community Living:

"Literacy is no longer simply about committing to helping people to read and write; it is about recognizing communication as a right. Literacy no longer means focusing on individual skills in reading and writing; it is about focusing on the ability of communities and institutions to make inclusive communication possible. Literacy no longer questions and assesses the skills of individuals with disabilities; rather, it puts the onus on community members to develop the skills to communicate with people with disabilities. Literacy is about communication - any type of communication - because those of us who do not read or write still find many ways by which we make ourselves understood. This too is literacy."

Literacy also includes knowledge of systems and access to information about those systems. Because of the way many of us view persons with disabilities, we often withhold information about those systems from the individuals with a disability. Understanding of the knowledge is also important. When we do share knowledge or information, we are often remiss in clarifying how that knowledge may best be used.

Another aspect of this complex situation involves the right to an equal and equitable education. We need to understand how these rights of persons with a disability to education are affected because of the disability.

In this light, the issue of literacy is not restricted to the teaching of reading, writing and numeracy. It is also about effective communications and responses by Canada’s institutions. Activities to be supported should include effective systems responses to provide greater participation and greater quality of life for Canadians with weak literacy skills as well as Canadians with disabilities.

Accessibility to information and communication is equally important. Braille signs and publications, large print documents properly bound, telephone listening devices, translators, and auditory walk signals at street corners all contribute to the independence, confidence and security of people with disabilities. These modifications are not an inconvenience to non-disabled people and can, more often than not, prove to increase everyone’s comfort level. Participation in routine daily activities is an increasing reality for more and more people with disabilities. As Canadians become accustomed to technologies and practices that break down artificial barriers, everyone benefits from a world that is accessible.

The computer age is extremely beneficial to an increasing number of people with disabilities. The potential improvement for employment and social interaction has never been better. The technology exists now to allow people with disabilities to live independently as never before. Computer programs allow people with a variety of disabilities to interact with the rest of the world. Voice recognition programs can be used both on the job, and at home. Scanners give access to standard print material that can be translated into auditory presentation. The Internet has allowed an increase in communication around the globe and increased integration of people with disabilities in venues that were closed in decades past. However, these devices cost money, and given the financial realities faced by people with disabilities, they are not as available as one would wish. Access to assistive devices is still one of many areas that must be improved.

Access to policy making and decision making is also an imperative. Many people with disabilities are still frozen out of the decisions that have a direct bearing on their lives. More often than not, good intentions fall short of the mark. Initiating programs for someone is patronising; initiating programs with someone is partnership.

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