Introduction

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).