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Introduction
“We cannot, and must not, allow the next 20 years to repeat the past.” David Isaac, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission1.
What does it mean to be disabled in Britain today? Under the Equality Act set out in 2010 the government defined and categorised disabled people as having either: “a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”2 In 2018/19, 21% of the population3 declared disability. During that time, one in three disabled people stated that they felt there was a lot of prejudice against them; in contrast to this, only one in five non-disabled people agreed4. This phenomenon is called the perception gap. Due to rapidly changing definitions, I am going to begin by outlining some of the critical terms used regularly throughout this essay. Disablism/ Ableism: this is discrimination, prejudice or stigma against disabled people. These two terms can be used similarly and interchangeably; however, there is a conflict when deciphering the language that leads to the implications drawn from using the word ‘able’. It is a common misconception that disability has something in common with ability, which it does not. Disablism is discrimination against disabled people. In comparison, ableism is not
1 Equality and Human Rights Commission, Being disabled in Britain a journey less equal, (2017) <https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/being-disabled-in-britain.pdf> [Accessed 12 November 2020] (pp. 5-9). 2 GOV.UK, Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010. [n.d.] <https://www.gov.uk/definition-ofdisability-under-equality-act-2010> [Accessed 12 November 2020] (para. 1 of 4). 3 GOV.UK, Department for Work and Pensions, Family Resource Survey 2018/19. [n.d.] <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/874507/fami ly-resources-survey-2018-19.pdf> [Accessed 12 November 2020] (pp. 1-7). 4 Simon Dixon, Ceri Smith and Anel Touchet, The Disability Perception Gap: Policy report. (2018) <https://www.scope.org.uk/scope/media/files/campaigns/disability-perception-gap-report.pdf> [Accessed 12 November 2020] (pp. 2-5).
