Disability through an unpopular lens!

The whole system is designed to be ableist and that’s why the able-bodied feels that the need of persons with disabilities are secondary and that’s the reason why the needs, services, presence and performance of the disabled plurality becomes anomaly to the able-bodied.

Praseeda Sujatha

We are learning, unlearning, re-learning a lot of things which were normalised by the society. Still, there are a lot of things which need more engagement and discussion to bring about a critical discourse. One among such less spoken topic is disability, discourses on disability, politics of disability and so on. This article talks about a very common thing which we might have engaged or might be still engaging in, yet failed to look at it through a different lens. 

From olden times to modern times, the able-bodied consider persons with disabilities as “receivers of sympathy/charity/services”, or to put it in simple terms, “the able-bodied” ‘give’ them services and “the disabled” receives it.  And here’s the whole question, “who are these able-bodied/abliest system to ‘give’ them services”? Isn’t it an inherent right of everyone to exercise their entitled rights? In that context, there are disabled activists, human right activists, social workers, NGO’s etc who are extensively working in this field to create new discourses and to bring about a rights-based approach in the field of disability. 

On another note, there are many videos these days, where the disability has been used as “positivity spreading materials” to keep the non-disabled people motivated. Disability has also been used as slurs to degrade someone or something which is not right to the society, for example, using phrases like “are you deaf, are you dumb, are you blind or are you having any mental illness to act like this or even asking someone that ‘are you having a spine’” , is profoundly and inherently oppressive. 

When the able-bodied people use statements like “If they can do that, why not us”, we have to understand that it is deeply problematic and also it is like you are giving the worst excuse for you being an abliest, and it is as equal as you being a casteist, racist, sexist, homophobe and what not. These are some instances where disability and lives of persons with disability have been merely capitalised and used as “Inspiration porn” (A term coined by Stella Young). You might ask me “what’s your problem, if the person with disability has no issues with it nor the persons who are motivated by it”, this is exactly where the problem lies, it’s not just the case of disability, almost all the privileged one’s engage in social service or motivational speeches because they have considered the marginalised as ‘unfortunate’, and thus privileged becoming the ‘saviours’. What if we don’t need that business here?

If one says it’s the failure of the state and the hierarchical and oppressive system, that the marginalised are still marginalised, most of the people tend to oppose and ignore the political and social reasons behind it. A lot of persons with disabilities consider their lives as positivity spreading stories because they themselves have internalised the fact that the world is nothing but an ableist world, where the maximum you can do is create stories out of their lives so that they can at least get attention which otherwise the society and state ignores to give them in terms of equity, equality, equal opportunities, rights, economic and social security, inclusivity etc. 

Recently I was having an argument with my friend over this, he said “what is the problem with you, I have seen a boy with autism singing amazingly well, it’s god’s grace that the child sings and the child is the special child of god”, let us unpack what’s the actual issue with it, the first thing is the pre-conceived notion that the disabled people might not exhibit any skill/talent is problematic, when you romanticise the disability, it is also equally problematic. I’m not saying that you don’t need to pay attention to their talents, but try to ponder on it, why is it that the able-bodied become “extra” awestruck when child with intellectual disability, or any person with any disability exhibits any talent? Isn’t it an internalised stereotype that the disabled individuals “cannot practice any skill like the able-bodied”, is the real problem? What we have to understand is that almost everything we do is one or the other ‘skill’ and we are conditioned to believe that everyone has to do it like the able-bodied. 

“The whole system is designed to be ableist and that’s why the able-bodied feels that the need of persons with disabilities are secondary and that’s the reason why the needs, services, presence and performance of the disabled plurality becomes anomaly to the able-bodied,” said Sabari, my friend, a disabled activist. It’s up to you to think on it. Also, when the able-bodied use terms as ‘normal’, ‘special child’ or ‘differently abled’ or even ‘divyangjan’ for that matter, it is also deeply problematic. Because, when the able-bodied use such terms, it’s like directly or indirectly “othering” the disabled people. Also, will the non-disabled would be agreeing to call them as “differently abled” because they have some or the other so called ‘ability’? I suppose NO. 

Everyone have their own identities, some persons with disabilities might prefer addressing them as person with disability where the person becomes the first identity, while some others might prefer addressing as disabled individuals where the disability is their first identity, and it’s important to acknowledge and respect the identity as it is. 

So, motivational speakers or any others who uses disability as their positivity spreading materials, if you are so much concerned about their lives, think about why there is such a disparity when it comes to positions in power and representation of persons with disabilities nationally and globally? 

This sympathy bartering process might never end. All I wanted to say is, “This is not we expect or want”. I don’t know whether one would understand the layers of oppression and internalised issues with this. When would the able-bodied start considering persons with disabilities as independent agents without appropriating their voices? Remember, they are not the inspirational stories to keep the privileged ones motivated.

(Praseeda is currently pursuing M.A Social Work in Disability Studies and Action in Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.