Helping the disabled means putting people first

Employers given the opportunity to host their own Disability Day

SATURDAY, December 3 is the International Day for Persons with Disabilities and the month leading up to it (November) is recognised as National Disability Rights Awareness Month.

Progression, an organisation that provides consultancy and implementation services aimed at integrating people with disabilities into corporate South Africa, is offering, for the month, a new product which allows employers to host their own Disability Day in the workplace.

“Disability Day is a celebration of information sharing and knowledge transfer,” says Progression chief executive Beth Cook.

“Awareness and education are key to overcoming the attitudinal barriers that are built on lifelong

belief systems; and which can be the root cause of discrimination and prejudice in our societies and workplaces.”

Justene Smith, disability expert and facilitator at Progression, says prejudice and stereotypes form a part of our everyday engagement with one another.

“Stereotypes are often not based on an individual belief system, but are created through social influence. When we are exposed to a par- ticular stereotype enough times, we begin to internalise it, especially if we believe a stereotype we were exposed to has been validated in our personal experience,” she says.

And this can lead to discriminatory behaviour. “As individuals we may have been conditioned to feel sorry for a person with a disability, or think we should help people with disabilities because they are at a disadvantage. Although the intention may be good, this is in fact discrimination,” she says.

Awareness and education around disability are therefore pivotal in breaking down stereotypes and misperceptions, and creating sustainable cultural change.

The best remedy is familiarity – getting people with and without disabilities to mingle as co-workers, associates and social acquaintances. In time, most attitudes will give way to comfort, respect and friendship.

A big part of the awareness and education drive around disability is the use of language that doesn’t discriminate.

“The golden rule is to always put the person first,” Smith says. “Having a disability doesn’t mean you aren’t able to perform the inherent requirements of a job or task. A person isn’t an epileptic or a deaf person, but rather a person who has epilepsy or a person who is deaf.”

The word “disabled” suggests the condition makes the person unable or incapable. Hence, the preferred term is “people with disabilities” or “a person with a disability”.

People with disabilities are becoming more integrated in the workplace as many companies strive towards diversifying their workforce.

Yet, despite these efforts, workplaces remain largely inaccessible to people with disabilities, with physical and attitudinal barriers still presenting a major challenge, Smith points outs.

“A person with a disability forms part of our everyday human experience. Our feelings around these human experiences should be neutral, not positive or negative.”

Pretty Dlamini, in new business development at Progression, explains how businesses sometimes take shortcuts to comply with regulation, rather than being driven by a spirit of acceptance, transformation and equality.

Progression encourages organisations to bring disability awareness and education to the workplace by engaging in, and hosting, their own Disability Day.

For more information, visit www.understand disability.co.za or e-mail enquiries@progression.co.za.