A Question of Access
This was written for the Church Times August 2008
Having spent a couple of months on crutches, after a ligament injury in my knee, I’ve been particularly tuned in to how people relate to those who are disabled. Response to my situation has, understandably, been tempered by surprise and curiosity and has varied from jokes and hilarity (‘I bet the other person came off worse!’) to mildly patronizing concern (‘Are you sure you can make it to the door?’)
Media stories this week about attacks on the disabled have particularly grabbed my attention. Reporters have labelled these as ‘hate crimes’ which, they claim, show a deep-seated hatred within society towards disabled people. Dr (Sir )Tom Shakespeare, geneticist, sociologist, and co-author of The Sexual Politics of Disability disagrees. He sees this not as hatred but bullying; people who themselves are insecure and socially inadequate picking on the vulnerable because ‘it makes them feel better to put us down.’ Tom Shakespeare was recently intimidated and humiliated himself as schoolgirls on the metro jeered at his restricted growth. Yet rather than encourage excitement about ‘hate crime’ he challenges us to address the ordinary ways in which people with disabilities are treated.
I’m sure he’s right. It’s easy to be distracted by appalling extremes. A publication last month found plenty of material in the everyday realities of disability. The Report: ‘The Experiences and Expectations of Disabled people’, commissioned by the Government Office for Disability Issues, interviewed nearly 2000 disabled people, and addressed key policy areas including employment, education, transport, health and discrimination. The results show that in spite of years of progress, people with disabilities still experience disadvantages in most of these areas. Restricted job opportunities, discrimination, housing problems, health concerns, difficulties with access and financial problems were all among the issues shared. Because of the cumulative weight of these factors, half of those interviewed lived in a household with an income less than the national median. Worry about future finances was widespread.
The disadvantages reported in most of these areas were considerable, yet the needs expressed by those with disabilities were modest. Social inclusion, normality, participation, good health care, freedom of access were high on most people’s list. Nearly half of disabled people felt that something as simple as improvement to public transport would make their lives better.
It’s sobering to reflect how our Churches respond to some of the issues in the Report. There are certainly problems of access and inclusion. But not just over lack of ramps in old buildings or services without disabled facilities. There can also be problems of access to full participation and access to God. We can turn disability into dependency, where those who are disabled become the special recipients of charity and concern, whilst their gifts remain unused. We can also romanticise disability – heralding it as a high calling, with the disabled as an inspiration to us all. We can even be embarrassed by people who are disabled, seeing disability and the Gospel as spiritually incompatible, for surely a loving God wants everybody to be healed? (I was told by someone, ‘put your crutches down and walk, trusting God.’ I do trust God- and have proper respect for a torn ligament!).
Our theology of the incarnation ought to give us a firmer basis for Christian attitudes and practice towards disability. God neither banished the pain and struggles of the world nor idealised them. He entered into them, becoming part of our ordinary human condition, facing its hardships and limitations. Experiencing God’s Spirit in each other can transform us into an inclusive community which accepts the needs of all, and allows unrestricted access to God.
August 2008
