The majority of healthy Russian society treats people with disabilities properly and does not consider them a burden. Many of them agree that people with disabilities can make a huge contribution to the development of society.8 However, almost half of the visually impaired, as well as the community of deaf and hard of hearing, believe that society’s attitude towards them has definitely changed due to the adoption of new social laws and the transition to the market . In modern Russian society there are no longer employment channels or enterprises for the deaf and blind.
Almost all disabled women surveyed regularly experience rude treatment in hospitals, clinics, and in transport. People are annoyed by the slowness of disabled people and their limitations in physical capabilities. Very often the rights of people with intellectual disabilities are violated.
According to statistics, disabled people who live in big cities suffer harsher treatment. In small towns, the attitude towards such people is more cordial.
Due to their physical limitations, people with disabilities often visit public institutions, cultural places, and use transport. The attitude of the society of healthy people towards disabled people seems to exclude them from a full-fledged society. These people often become victims of manipulation and discrimination. For such people there is no specially equipped transport to travel in a wheelchair, there is no special entrance to shops, banks and many pharmacies. And even if there are such ones, they are made in such a way that it is impossible to drive over the curbs. As for the visually impaired, practically nothing has been done about them in our country. These people are forced to live in special homes for the disabled due to the rejection of them by society. The employment rate for people with disabilities is practically reduced to zero. There is an expression that it is not the wheelchair that makes a person disabled, but the environment. But there are millions of disabled people in every country. And these are not just grandparents; very often these are young, healthy people who were simply unlucky at some point. Is it really so difficult to help these people: get them a job, help them cross the road, lift them onto the bus, or just smile kindly. This is simply a human attitude that does not require special costs from society. Due to the indifference of society, disabled people continue to live in their disabled world of illness, with a bunch of complexes, depression and personal worries. It’s sad, but when disabled people come out into the world, as happened recently with a group of disabled children at the aquarium, they are faced with obvious disgust. At the beginning of 2012 A Moscow school where autistic children study contacted the aquarium with a question about organizing an excursion for schoolchildren. The management of the institution agreed, after which an announcement was made at the school about the upcoming trip, and groups were assembled, which were to be accompanied by teachers and parents. Soon, one of the teachers once again called the aquarium to clarify the dates of the excursions, and mentioned that the schoolchildren suffered from autism. An employee of the institution who spoke with the teacher decided to consult with the director, after which the school was denied a tour. The management’s reasoning sounded as follows: “Visitors do not like to see disabled people, it makes them feel bad. The teachers were asked to arrange a visit to the aquarium on a sanitary day so that no one would see the schoolchildren.
The idea of social inclusion of disabled people is verbally supported by the majority, but in-depth research shows the complexity and ambiguity of the attitude of healthy people towards disabled people. When measuring social distance, it is discovered that health prefers such situations of communication with disabled people that do not require close contacts or require contacts “as equals” (the situations “disabled person - your housemate”, “disabled person - colleague” are preferred). Situations that require closer contacts more often cause a negative attitude, just like situations that suggest a higher position of the disabled person on the hierarchical ladder. In general, therefore, it can be stated that many healthy people are not ready for close contact with people with disabilities, as well as for situations that exercise their constitutional rights on an equal basis with everyone else. At the same time, the most negative attitudes are expressed by young people. This nature of attitudes is complex in nature and is not simply an expression of purely negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. For example, healthy people rate the quality of life of disabled people significantly lower (1.62 points on a 5-point scale) than disabled people themselves (2.74 points), recognizing the seriousness of the problems they have. Healthy people often consider disabled people to be more unhappy, sad, hostile, suspicious, angry, withdrawn, that is, their “unhappiness” is recognized (and even, perhaps, overestimated). The attitude towards people with disabilities that has developed in the public consciousness can be valued as ambivalent: on the one hand, they are perceived as having distinguished themselves for the worse, and on the other, as deprived of many opportunities, which gives rise to rejection and even hostility, which coexists with sympathy and empathy. Such ambivalence gives hope for improving relationships between disabled people and healthy people, breaking down negative stereotypes. It should be noted that such an attitude towards people with disabilities is not unique to our society. Foreign researchers have long noted the presence of such stereotypes, attributing to disabled people such traits as hostility, envy, distrust of the healthy, and lack of initiative. In the relationship between disabled people and healthy people, tension, insincerity, a desire to stop contact, etc. were revealed. However, careful study of the socio-psychological aspects of the relationship between disabled people and healthy people over the course of many years made it possible to create and, to a greater extent, implement programs to improve their relationships. It is necessary for us to deeply study this problem and create similar programs. This work will certainly facilitate the process of social integration. Speaking about social integration, promoting the idea of equal rights and opportunities, one cannot help but touch upon the issue of how disabled people themselves feel about increasing the degree of their participation in society. To the question of whether disabled people should live among healthy people, study and work in the same structures as healthy people, etc., or should they live separately, separately, in specially created social structures, among respondents in various regions of Russia 65.3% of disabled people chose the first alternative. At the same time, the activity of the respondents attracts attention, often accompanying their answers with comments, which indicates its relevance. Among the “opponents” of the idea of integration, the most common explanations are: “Healthy people still won’t understand people with disabilities,” “In ordinary enterprises, people with disabilities are treated poorly.” But here are the explanations of integration supporters: “People should be equal”, “Disabled people are the same people as healthy people”, “Live together so that disabled and healthy people understand each other”, “It is necessary that a disabled person does not break away from his family and does not consider themselves as inferior”, “In communication with healthy people, disabled people will have the most complete moral satisfaction.” As can be seen from these comments, when defending the ideas of integration, people with disabilities do not rely on socio-economic criteria, do not prioritize the improvement of material conditions, but give preference to socio-psychological problems and issues of relationships with healthy people.
Why is auntie in a wheelchair? Why is uncle tapping his stick in front of him? Why does this guy walk so strangely? The questions that children ask when they see disabled people on the streets are not childishly serious. The answer of mom or dad directly determines whether in 20 years this person will call a person with a disability a “cripple” and vote against installing a ramp in the entrance.
A study conducted in educational institutions in Petrozavodsk revealed that every third student does not want to study with disabled people in the same class. Students worry that children with disabilities will be given inflated grades and that teachers will make unreasonable concessions for such children. And about 3% have personal hostility towards disabled people. Moscow also admits that the capital's schoolchildren are not ready to study with disabled children. The All-Russian Education Fund believes that the data for Petrozavodsk is even lower than for Russia as a whole. More than half of the children do not want to study with disabled children, and the larger the city, the more intolerant the children are. Teaching a child with a disability in a regular classroom requires a lot of preparatory work with students, parents and teachers.
The lack of education in responsibility, kindness and tolerance for the shortcomings of others increasingly leads to tragedies accompanied by childish cruelty. In the Kaliningrad region in 2012, a criminal case was opened regarding the beating of a disabled girl by her peers. And, unfortunately, this is not the only example of a monstrous attitude towards people with disabilities.
Practice shows that parents, when answering children's questions, make approximately the same mistakes. Moreover, there are several standard wrong answers.
Incorrect answer
The mother sharply pulls the child back: “Don’t look at him!” In this case, the child will most likely be frightened by his mother’s reaction and conclude for himself that disabled people are those who should be avoided, whose company is undesirable and even indecent (after all, parents forbid children to look only at something bad or shameful).
Mom replies: “He is sick, you shouldn’t touch such people.” It is obvious that the mother is driven by good intentions at this moment. The desire is for the child not to inadvertently hurt the feelings of a person with a disability, not to hurt him with a careless word. But in the future, such an answer will not lead to anything good. A child may develop a motive to avoid people with disabilities, a reluctance to communicate and interact with them, including in situations where a disabled person will need all possible help in a public place.
Mom says: “Let’s go quickly, you shouldn’t see this.” The child will learn that one should stay away from people with disabilities and feel pity for them mixed with disgust, and this does not correspond to either a cultural or humane attitude towards people with disabilities.
Mom says: “You should feel sorry for him, everything hurts all the time.” Such an answer to a child’s question is also absolutely unconstructive: it calls for pity, but not respect. It is completely undesirable for a child to grow up with ideas about disability as something flawed and worthy of pity.
Work on mistakes
The best answer for the child is to tell what exactly happened to the person with a disability and why he moves or looks the way he does. And offer help to the weak yourself - in the presence of a child.
“This happens sometimes when you get into an accident.” To prevent this answer from causing an unhealthy fear of transport in the child, you need to tell him, or remind him once again, about the safety rules.
“Some people are born different from everyone else, so that others learn kindness, tolerance, generosity.” You can explain to a child that generosity is protecting the weak, helping those in need, that this is exactly what true heroes have done at all times. It’s great if you and your child remember the characters from your favorite cartoons and fairy tales who acted exactly like this.
“Disabled people are people limited in certain abilities, many of them are sick, some look strange, but in all other respects they are the same as you and me. These people may not be able to hear or see, but they understand, think, feel, know how to be friends and love.” It is better not to tell a child about a disabled person that he is “sick.” It would be more correct to say that this person does not hear, or does not see, or cannot move without a stroller. If a person has a shaking head or a strange gait, you need to explain that this is such an illness, and that in all other respects he is an ordinary person, so there is no need to be afraid of him.
A son or daughter, first of all, learns from the personal example of their parents. Therefore, if you are afraid and avoid people with disabilities, you should hardly expect a different attitude from your child.
Rules for polite treatment of disabled people
You can’t look at people with physical disabilities, even if it seems like they don’t notice it. There is no need to show exaggerated sympathy. Disabled people should not be asked personal questions. If a person wants to talk about his health, he will talk about it first.
When communicating with a person with a disability, be guided by his behavior. If you want to help, first ask if your help is needed.
When accompanying a blind person, inform him of any obstacles in his path, as well as the need to be careful (so as not to trip over the edge of the sidewalk, for example). Indoors, tell the blind person about any obstacles that are at his height to prevent him from hitting his head or getting otherwise injured. When leaving the room, be sure to say or say goodbye so that the person understands that you are leaving.
During a conversation, address the person you are talking to, not your companion or other accompanying person. To get the attention of a deaf or hard of hearing person who is not facing you, do not shout, but lightly touch their arm or shoulder. Speak slowly and clearly. Be prepared to repeat what was said in a simpler form to make it easier to read lips. You should not exaggerately articulate or enhance facial expressions. If your deaf interlocutor does not understand you well, it is appropriate to write a note.
Sensitivity towards people with disabilities begins with speech. When mentioning a person, pay attention first to his personality, and only then to his physical or other disability. It is better to say “a person with a physical disability” instead of “disabled” or “crippled”, and instead of “paralytic” or “epileptic” - “a person with epilepsy”. You can characterize a person as “blind” or “deaf,” but you should not call him “crippled” or “defective.”
How a society treats people with physical disabilities determines its general level of “civilization.” Once again, such a sounding was carried out by sociologists from the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM).
They asked respondents to talk about people with disabilities of the first group - that is, about people with severely limited physical capabilities who are not capable of self-care and movement without the help of special means or other people (wheelchair users, blind people, etc.). How should you communicate with them - like with ordinary healthy people or in a special way? What qualities do our fellow citizens see or attribute to the character of people with disabilities? How would they feel if their close relative decided to marry a disabled person? Not the most convenient questions, not the most pleasant answers.
The fact that our cities are practically not adapted for the needs of people with disabilities is known even without any sociology. It is enough to try to go down the subway in a wheelchair or on crutches, get from home to a store or clinic, get on a bus, and even into your own entrance. But no less suffering is caused to people with pronounced and visible disabilities by the way others communicate with them. Even if they don’t mean anything bad. It’s a rare disabled person who doesn’t remember a tactless fellow traveler or fellow traveler with their “oh, poor thing, how did this get to you?” or advice on “how to recover,” or intrusive attention, or, conversely, absolute indifference and a look “as if through glass.” Sociologists confirm: only two-thirds of our fellow citizens (61%) believe that people with disabilities should be communicated in the same way as with ordinary people. Almost a third - 30% - believe that people with disabilities are not like everyone else (and, naturally, wittingly or unwittingly let them know this). Every tenth person (9%) found it difficult to answer - that is, they also do not consider the equality of ordinary people and disabled people to be obvious and indisputable. A quarter of Russians (24%) admitted that they feel discomfort in the company of people with physical disabilities. Two thirds (66%), however, behave as usual, and they have no ulterior motives.
The feeling of awkwardness during such communication is most often noted by those who themselves stand quite firmly on their own two feet - for example, young people with higher education, citizens with an income of over 20 thousand rubles per month, the so-called “people-XXI” (successful, advanced, wealthy, technically savvy). Their feelings are quite contradictory: on the one hand, it is pity and some shame for themselves - successful and strong, who, however, are unable to help weaker and disadvantaged people. On the other hand, there is latent irritation, which is expressed in attributing to disabled people such qualities as touchiness, vulnerability and even aggression. Implicitly, some healthy people are simply afraid that disabled people will show such aggression - although they most likely do not even think about it. People aged 30 to 45, residents of large cities but not over a million people, and supporters of communist views feel the least amount of such awkwardness.
Sociologists, like psychologists, have a system of “test questions” that make it possible to separate a person’s true opinion from what he says “because it’s supposed to be so.” If a person close to you was going to marry a disabled person of group 1, would you dissuade him or not? To this question, every fifth respondent (22%) admitted that yes, they would not give their blessing to such a marriage. 45% would not dissuade a relative. And another third (32%) remained silent again. That is, apparently, they would have had quite serious doubts, except that people considered it “ugly” to talk about them.
Approximately half of Russians (46%) think that people with disabilities differ in character from healthy people (only every fifth person considers them “the same as everyone else” - 21%). What are these special qualities? Typically, people talked about positive traits rather than negative ones. But the portrait turned out to be quite controversial.
Most often, respondents mentioned the fortitude and character of people suffering from serious illnesses (11%). Much has been said about their love of life, endurance and perseverance (“they overcome difficulties better”), as well as kindness and humanity, sensitivity and compassion, and the ability to be merciful.
But healthy people attributed to disabled people excessive touchiness and vulnerability (“all their senses are heightened”), sometimes aggression and even anger. Two or three Russians out of a hundred said that disabled people display nervousness and imbalance, whims and suspiciousness, as well as shyness and lack of self-confidence in their communication. They don’t like the fact that disabled people “envy healthy people” or are constantly “offended at life.” It seems, experts say, that our fellow citizens are simply transferring their own emotions onto the object of their feelings or delusions. Literally - from a healthy head to a sick one...
However, words were often heard about the special abilities of people with physical disabilities, their talents and well-developed intuition, about their determination and purposefulness. Unless, the Russians complained, for objective reasons beyond their control, disabled people are losing out to healthy people in terms of opportunities for development, education or communication - this is no wonder if most of the time you are confined within four walls.
But public opinion is definitely not capable of solving the last problem. This requires a different kind of power and will.
Who remembers the good old fairy tale by Valentin Kataev “The Flower of Seven Flowers”? The girl Zhenya spent six magic petals fulfilling her own whims when she met the boy Vitya. Vitya was disabled and could not play with other children, so he was sad and lonely. Zhenya wished for a seven-flowered flower so that Vitya would become healthy.
The disabled person and society
Kataev’s fairy tale, at first glance kind and positive, involuntarily reflects the attitude of society towards this category of the population: a disabled person cannot be completely happy in his condition. No matter how cynical it sounds, this was exactly the attitude towards it during the Soviet Union. They were not discredited, their rights were not limited, but they were embarrassed.
And the disguise of latent discrimination was the exaltation of the “real Soviet man,” whose existence was impossible to hide - Maresyev, Nikolai Ostrovsky. The official position of the state was to deny existence as a phenomenon.
An absurdity, and not the only one in the history of the Soviet Union. But it was precisely this policy that led to the fact that people with disabilities became a non-existent category - they exist, but they seem to be not there. Therefore, the attitude towards them in the post-Soviet space, primarily from society, is very different from the attitude of the world community towards people with disabilities.
The situation of disabled people in the Russian Federation
The state has finally recognized the existence of the problem, and an entire program has been developed for the legal and socio-economic rehabilitation of disabled people. But it will be more difficult to overcome the attitude of society that has developed over decades.
Disgusting-pitying-sympathetic - approximately these words can describe the attitude towards disabled people of the average person.
Limited opportunities
A person with disabilities is how a disabled person is positioned today. Although, logically, the limit of possibility is quite difficult to determine. It can hardly be said that the capabilities of Paralympic athletes are limited when a slalomist with a missing limb passes a route that is beyond the strength of a healthy person.
How to deal with disabled people
Limited physical capabilities do not mean limitations in intelligence, responsiveness, or talent.
Naturally, the first impression of a disabled person’s appearance can be anything, even stupor. But, firstly, an intelligent person will be able to pull himself together and not demonstrate his feelings, and secondly, disabled people, as a rule, have already been prepared through life for such a perception.
So the next stage may be just communication, during which it will become clear whether people can become friends or whether the meeting will turn into a simple acquaintance. After all, even among people with “unlimited possibilities,” not all relationships develop into friendship.