Jane Hatton, CEO of Evenbreak, shares her thoughts on the Paralympics, expressing mixed feelings about the international sporting event.
I fought against writing a blog about the Paralympics because I know it might cost me friendships! Most have strong feelings one way or another about the Paralympics and of course expect me to agree with them.
It’s not often I sit on the fence about anything disability-related, but I have very mixed feelings about the Paralympics. Reading many, many articles on the subject written by other disabled commentators, opinions seem equally divided, with some believing that attitudes really might change for the better, and others that the Paralympics do disabled people a huge disservice. I remain unconvinced by either side. Here, if anyone is interested at all, are some of my random thoughts on the matter.
Good:
As a disabled person, I actually did find the sheer determination, hard work and achievements of these world class athletes inspiring (and I feel myself cringing and feeling apologetic as I say that word - see “Bad” lower down!). I admire the guts and hard work put in by all of the athletes, and I found it all quite emotional.
The Paralympics is helpful in demonstrating the range of disabilities - there is a tendency for people to automatically think “wheelchair” when the word disability is mentioned, and this event reminds people that disability includes visual impairments, amputees, dwarfism and a whole range of other impairments. However, all of the athletes are physically fit and therefore many impairments are not included. For example, no-one with ME or mental health issues, and very few people with learning disabilities.
It challenges the stereotype that disabled people can’t achieve. It helps us focus on what these athletes can do rather than what they can’t - a message I’m constantly trying to get across to employers. To learn more about the myths of hiring disabled candidates, read this article.
The general public engages in a broader discourse about disabled people, beyond the harmful stereotype of being “benefit scroungers” and thus legitimate targets for hate crimes.
It forces the host cities to think about accessibility issues across the infrastructure, particularly including transport. For a couple of weeks in 2012, it was less difficult for disabled people to travel around London, with lots of volunteers and portable ramps. French Disability organisations and activists have recently called out the lack of accessibility on the Metro ahead of the Paris Paralympics. Before Paris was awarded the Games in 2017, organisers put accessibility at the centre of their bid, promising “accessible infrastructure and attitudes befitting the most visited country on Earth”.
Bad:
One of the long-standing problems has been that disabled people are, for some reason, seen as “saints or sinners” (there was even a television programme about us with that name). A disabled person can’t be an ordinary person getting on with their lives as best as they can, they must either be a benefit scrounger, or a superhuman hero.
Channel 4 has extensively used the ‘Superhuman’ theme in adverts, from London’s 2012 “Meet the Superhumans”, Rio’s 2016 “We’re The Superhumans” to Tokyo’s 2020 “Superhuman”. They’ve had a huge impact on people’s opinion of the Paralympics, whether disabled or non-disabled.
I suspect that less than 1% of us disabled folk fall into either the “saint or sinner” category, but somehow the Paralympics perpetuate the myth. The 98% of us ordinary disabled people remain invisible. We don’t want to be thought of as “inspiring” or “brave” or “courageous” (hence my comment above) - not one of us chose to be disabled.
This year’s Channel 4 Advert “Considering What?” takes a different turn. Channel 4 created the advert after they commissioned research which showed that 59% of people said they watch the Paralympic Games to “see athletes overcoming their disabilities” whereas just 37% say they watch the Paralympics for “exciting sporting competition”.
“Rather than showing the athletes “overcoming their disabilities”, the film depicts Paralympians taking on and overcoming forces such as gravity, friction and time - the impassionate elements and unchangeable forces of our world - that make no exception for any athlete, regardless of someone’s disability.” Read more of Channel 4’s statement on the campaign.
It’s a relief to leave the “Superhuman” narrative behind, and I can see what they were trying to do, however, there’s still more progress to be made. The accessibility of the advert was disappointing, with no audio description or BSL interpreter when it aired live. Various members of the Evenbreak team (all of whom are disabled) reported it to be confusing or inaccessible.
Adverts are also prone to centre visible disabilities such as limb difference or wheelchair users, which are of course important disabilities and members of the disability community, however, 80% of disabled people do not have a visible disability. There’s an assumption that if you don’t look disabled that you don’t have a disability.
The other aspect is that it can be used as a weapon against disabled people; “These disabled people can break world records, and you can’t even get a job.” For those who believe the lies about most disabled people being benefit scroungers (in reality it’s less than 1%), I have heard people suggest, almost seriously, that if disabled people just put a bit of effort in, they could also be world class athletes. Which is just as ridiculous as suggesting that with a bit of effort, anyone could beat Usain Bolt!
The Paralympics, held separately from the Olympics, emphasises the “separateness” of disabled people - almost an afterthought. In 2012, the swift U-turn about gold medalists being on their own postage stamp, the Paralympic torch being silver not gold (denoting second best) and many other indications that these weren’t as good as the “real” Olympics. In contrast to the Olympics, prize money in para-sport is almost “non-existent.“
The fact that despite 2012 “inspiring a generation”, most sports facilities in Britain are inaccessible. And the fact that the government’s Disabled spectators and sporting event accessibility report has not been updated since 2015.
Successive (Conservative) governments have made policies that gravely harm disabled people, the most recent being former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s scrapping of the The Work and Health Programme (WHP). Despite former Prime Minister David Cameron publicly praising the Paralympian athletes in 2012, he still stripped 500,000 disabled people (almost certainly including many of the athletes he so admires) of Disability Living Allowance. Atos, the company tasked with declaring seriously sick and disabled people “fit for work” and pushing many disabled people further into poverty (32 people a week died in 2011 after this company declared them “fit for work”) were also sponsors of the Paralympics in 2012. Yes, I know they are only “following orders” - but where have we heard that before?
If I had to come off the fence, on balance I’m for the Paralympics - why shouldn’t disabled people who love sport have the same opportunity to compete in such a prestigious event as non-disabled people? And if it encourages those disabled people who enjoy and are able to take part in sport to do so, then that’s good too. However - I feel both forms of Olympics should run at the same time (have a one-month event rather than two separate events). I also believe that we should accord all disabled people the respect, admiration, rights, resources and opportunities as the talented athletes we have been watching. Long after they have gone back into training, and the volunteers and portable ramps have long disappeared - let’s make sure the legacy of the Paralympics is that we change how we view disabled people - not just on the sports field, but also in the workplace, the boardroom, the Houses of Commons and Lords, the theatre, the concert hall, and indeed in every area of life accessible to non-disabled people. Let’s include all disabled people in everyday life - not just the sporty ones.
Jane Hatton, Evenbreak’s CEO
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