Barriers Of Disability

Disability is a word that often brings negative connotations with its perceived meaning. According to the World Health Organization, disability is known to be a complex phenomenon, which has shaped our everyday interactions (2016). Being able-bodied allows you to fit into the societal definition of normal in which you are capable of your own individual achievements. However, being disabled creates barriers, which are often hard to cross and only leave society with forcing pity upon you. Of course, much is out of good will, yet from early depictions of disability, known examples dating as far back as the early 1930s, we are only left to frown upon it. Media plays the upper hand in how we construct our beliefs and values. As a society we collectively …show more content…
When a disabled person does something that we believe they were not capable of, we claim it to be overcoming an obstacle. However, with our societal conditions, it is more so of learning to live with the obstacle. Shakti and Abed do not challenge the societal barriers, but rather create solutions that help them continuously move forward. Disabled individuals are just as capable to live their lives as normally as the rest of us. However, this is often to an extent due to the barriers put in place by society.

Attitude Live, a New Zealand company, is one of the many organizations that have taken upon the task to educate citizens about living with a disability. Most documentaries allow disabled people to share their thoughts on the supposed barrier free society, which we live in. Cameras follow them over the course of a few months as they face the challenges at hand. Shakti Krishnan is one of the many interviewed for their ongoing series. The thirty minute documentary films Shakti’s progress as he prepares to move to Auckland for University all while living with Spina …show more content…
Of course, both examples do this splendidly as they form their own solutions to live in the larger world. In the second documentary the audience is shown Haneen Abu Ayash, a 25 year old with a balance defect which leaves her unable to get a job. When asked about her feelings she states, “It 's not wrong to exercise my right or to know that I 'm like the rest of the people.” Unlike Shakti’s peers, Haneen’s social circle deems her unworthy of doing anything capable of, what is considered, a normal human being. Specifically, in third world countries the role of woman is to be a housewife, if she cannot complete even the simplest tasks then she is deemed worthless. Muna Zayed, 14 years old, also wishes to change amongst the community as her having a disability has left her without friend as they are too scared to play with