A Disabled Person in Denial

If there is any part of this that your body cannot cope with, it is something you cannot do. just like some of us cannot play netball. Why cant we just accept we cant do it and leave the people able to to follow the queue and ride etiquette to have fun amongst themselves

Sarah Helen, if you propose ‘missing the point’ as an Olympic event for the games after next, I’ll second you. Needless to say we’d be entering you for the event and doubtlessly you’d bring back gold medals, especially one in the freestyle category.

Sure, if your impairment is such that you can’t run, don’t be too upset that you can’t get a place on the wing for Chelsea. If you have osteogenesis imperfecta looking for a career as a boxer might not be advisable. However, these are things that limit you due to the nature of the impairment, not disability.

Because you cannot physically run means you cannot play professional football. No amount of reasonable adjustments will rectify this. Similarly, if you are prone to easily broken or fractured bones there are no reasonable adjustments possible to counter the likelihood of serious injury – even when your opponents only a punch bag!

For most theme park rides the user does not have to have special skills or abilities. Therefore, provided the ride itself does not present a threat to the user, why shouldn’t disabled people be able to enjoy these thrills?

Stretching such logic to its most preposterous limits would mean because a train is too high to board we should just accept we can’t board the train and leave the people able to board to do so and enjoy the ability to use trains.

Why stop there? If you have vision impairment and need adapted equipment to enable you to work, just accept that there is somebody who can do the job unaided and so let them have the benefit of employment. For, to do otherwise would be rank selfishness on the part of the blind woman.

Reasonable adjustments can be made for queuing, with little or no cost to either he service provider or its other customers. However, if people regard disabled people receiving reasonable adjustments as some sort of benefit, then there is little hope for us ever-achieving equality. What kind of society are we on the outermost fringes of that would begrudge another human being the most insignificant of concessions.