13. You never feel inferior because of a disability or mental illness. Disability occurs when an individual`s physical or mental abilities do not meet the demands of the environment, structures made easily visible by “nature”. Individuals in society have been socialized to believe that there are “normal” structures and functions, physically “normal” ways of performing certain tasks, and “normal” roles based on their own identity. Individuals who are unable to assimilate to the goal of normality are classified outside the realm of what it means to be normal and are ultimately portrayed as inferior and therefore not entirely human. Often referred to as “deficits,” we, as a society, have come to devalue these constructed understandings of “weakness” and are therefore governed by knowledge that idealizes a particular body. As a result, the non-disabled body, a body without physical or mental forms of “weaknesses” or “diseases”, has effectively established itself as the normative and preferred identity in which society seeks to embody as a collective. 11. You can feel safe in rooms where there are drugs and alcohol: I cannot stress enough the importance of this subject.

This privilege is greatly underestimated and invalidated by healthy and neurotypical people. Many people who are addicted, alcoholic or sober – whether they are actively dependent or recovering – need access to safe and sober rooms. Sober people are closed because they need that access, because people don`t realize how pervasive images of alcohol and drugs are. 8. You don`t need a concierge: To expand on the previous point, another notable privilege is not needing the support of a home care provider. Some of us need guards for only a few hours a day to complete basic tasks, while others have guards for ongoing care. Often, these caregivers can be vital – without them, we wouldn`t be able to thrive. This is certainly not an exhaustive list.

This is just the beginning. But to begin to understand ableism, you need to understand the privileges that have been granted to you. Ableism is ubiquitous and extremely complex – it is a shapeshifter. The capitalist society in which we live depends on ableism. If we want to move forward, verifying authorizations is the first step. 16. Your life is considered worth living: Many people see life with a disability as the worst-case scenario. In the mainstream, PwD`s life is not considered worth living.

We are generally seen as tragic or the product of an accident, while healthy lives are seen as whole and precious lives that have substance and meaning. Filed Under: Handicap, zPosts Tagged With: Capacities, Disability As viable individuals, we live in a society that regularly and simply meets all our needs. Therefore, we often forget the privilege we have. I am sorry. While I respect your point of view, you have painted people with disabilities here with a brush that is far too wide. I was born disabled and have the surgical scars, lameness, total lack of balance and history of serious injury to prove it. By God`s grace, however, the numbers 2,5,6,7,8,12,17 and 18 apply to me. But I have no idea what it`s like to be physically capable, so I can`t be guilty of “privilege.” I can assure you that during my 4+ decades on this planet, I have experienced a lot of discrimination, humiliation, rejection and exclusion due to my disability (I was in college when the ADA went into effect), but this list implies that we are all completely messy, medically completely unstable, unable to communicate, unable to work, unable to work, unable to function independently, unable to walk, etc. These generalizations do us absolutely no favours.

Generalizations like these make healthy people feel that we have nothing in common with them, that we have to live a life of bitter misery, and that we`d better be dead. At one point, these generalizations led us to be stored in places like Willowbrook (see above). People with disabilities are just as different from each other and different from each other as people without disabilities. Insisting that anyone who does not meet your definition must have non-disabled privileges is simply false and offensive. To understand the privilege of a healthy body, it`s important to focus on yourself and recognize places with a structural benefit that we often take for granted. Start criticizing the world around you! For example, find areas around you that not everyone can experience. Recognizing your privileges, we are on the whole one step closer to building a world where each skill can be separated. We know what you think.

What is a privilege for the healthy body? This is a great question because we, as a society, have been conditioned not to recognize how our race, gender, or abilities have been placed in a hierarchy. However, let`s break it down into the simplest terms. Here are 21 ways capable privileges look like. Some of them are self-explanatory. Other? Well, keep reading: Defined as a “set of beliefs, presences, and practices that, based on the skills one shows or appreciates, produce some understanding of oneself, one`s body, and one`s relationship with others.”1 Ableism highlights traits and attributes that oppose “essential” abilities. To show the ways in which the “abnormal” disabled body is relegated against the “normal” capable body, privilege is maintained on the basis of an understanding of the “powerful” over that of the “powerless”. The privilege of the healthy body assumes that everyone can see, walk, hear and speak, for example by building environments around these “non-negotiable” attributes. However, it is obvious that not everyone can see, walk, hear or speak, and as a result, those with specific weaknesses are at a disadvantage.

For example, the notion of disability as “abnormal” describes the assumption that people with disabilities must return to the normal state of ability, reinforced as a problem within society that needs to be “cured”. From there, individuals who identify as capable of working receive certain privileges in society, such as building a world for individuals who can climb stairs. While we assume that buildings have always had stairs, we have easily forgotten that buildings were and are designed for a particular body, one with two “working” legs. Therefore, it is important that we rethink the disabled society as normative and the non-disabled as problematic, because we all have different strengths and weaknesses that make us unique to everyone else. The following list provides examples of the benefits experienced by those of us who are physically disabled – that is, who are not physically disabled, who have chronic diseases, who are severely obese or who are otherwise physically limited. (Cognitive abilities, also known as neurotypical privileges, also exist, but deserve their own article, so they are not included in this list.) Think about it first and imagine in your head what a “normal” person looks like. Be specific, what are they capable of? Can they see, can they climb the stairs? Can they read a book? Ask yourself these questions. What did you imagine? It`s not shocking to assume that a “normal” person should be able to climb stairs, read a book, or even go to the movies to get lost in a movie. Our ideals of what it means to be “normal” have been built up over time to accept all of these facts, but it is important to note that our understanding of “capacity” was ultimately determined and manipulated by science and politics. This is by no means a complete list of privileges for people without disabilities. Please share more examples below! 18.

You do not need any help with communication (for example, with Braille or sign language). Typically, activists, community organizations, and queer community events and parties always revolve around alcohol and drugs. And while there`s nothing wrong with taking or drinking drugs, there`s usually very little access to safe spaces for sober people and addicts. People who drink and take drugs usually think that sober people are looking for autonomy, when in reality these people just want to have access to a safe and non-triggering place to have fun! 4. They are not considered unattractive or undesirable due to disabilities. This article was originally published in WearYourVoiceMag.com and will be reprinted with permission. 14. You can see yourself represented in the media and in pop culture: people with disabilities are underrepresented in media and pop culture – and wiped out. We have been left out, especially people with visibly disabilities, with the exception of those of us who are used as props or exploited for “entertainment”.

Usually, when disabled characters are incorporated into stories, they are played by capable actors. Even within the body-positive movement, a disproportionate number of people with visible disabilities are represented. 12. You can travel by car or access public transport. 1. Ableist people will heed your calls to ableism: this is where it all begins. If you notice that someone is ableist and challenge them, they are more inclined to treat you as believable – especially if you are a white cisgender person. There is a double standard because people with disabilities have worked hard to combat ableism and have experienced varying degrees of ableist violence, annihilation and even death.