Response from Jane Sleeth Sr Ergonomic & Inclusive Design expert OPC regarding What is Disability?

Think Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing, visual disaiblities, mental/cognitive

This response stems from an excellent discussion taking place in the Accessibility Group with Linked In. I thought this was worth sharing as the general public through no fault of their own thinks of the wheelchair as soon as the word DISABILITY is mentioned.

“Bill and Axel this is a great discussion you are having. I could not agree as both a Physiotherapist and an Ergonomic/Accessible Design expert. When I run workshops and public talks about disability the first slide I put up asks the question; when you think of a disability what comes to mind first? 90 some odd percent in the room are very honest (and have little or no exposure to people with disabilities they think) say “wheelchair”. We then spend the rest of the talks discussing all of the other disabilities that exist and what this means in terms of accessing all aspects of life and community. The great thing is that people then thank our team for illuminating them about this and then they all identify someone in their family or friends who have a disability that they did not consider before. If all of us can continue this type of education I think we will get there over time. Keep up the great work and let’s all keep talking.  Jane Sleeth”

So when you hear the word “Disabled” what do you think of? Is the AODA in Ontario just about “the wheelchair or scooter”?.

Let’s move the conversation about the 17-20% in our communities who still cannot access the workplace, the local pub, the recreational facility in a positive way.