Intro: Barriers
faced by people
with disabilities
Barriers for people with disabilities prevent equal access to opportunities and activities. Key barriers include negative attitudes, communication challenges, accessibility issues, and exclusion from policies and decision-making.
What Are Barriers?
Barriers are circumstances and/or obstacles that keep marginalized people from accessing opportunities, participating in activities and performing at the same level as other people without disabilities. For example, persons with disabilities may not be able to do the same activities as others, but if the surroundings and people are welcoming to them, it should not be a problem.
Persons with disabilities can experience barriers in education, work, social life and at home. The barriers may differ per person as individuals with disabilities have different types of impairments, but also other differences in other characteristics, such as being a woman, or their refugee status.
What can you find in this section?
4 Type Of Barriers
1. Attitude
When people think negatively about persons with disabilities
A common view in communities is that persons with disabilities are not capable and cannot support themselves; or that including people with disabilities is too much work.
These negative views lead to prejudice, negative assumptions, discrimination and stigma. As a consequence, persons with disabilities may not be admitted in school, or if admitted, may not be supported to excel.
Beyond education, communities may leave people with disabilities out of activities and decision making, thus excluding them from society.
When it is time to join the workforce, these same stigma’s exist. Employers often don’t believe that persons with disabilities are able to work, and when they are employed, they are often given menial or specific jobs that employers believe are suited to people with their type of impairment.
2. Communication
Whether persons with disabilities can access information and can share their ideas and feelings
Communications can be disabling especially for those with sensory (hearing/visual) and intellectual impairments – for people with hearing impairments, if there’s no sign language; for those with visual impairments if there is no braille on written documents or digital formats that can be read with speech software.
Complex language can be a barrier to some people with intellectual disabilities, and vague, indirect language can be challenging for some people with Autism, and other Nerodiversities.
3. Accessibility
Whether someone is able to access a building or service
Persons with disabilities, especially those with physical, visual and multiple impairments may encounter accessibility barriers in areas such as:
- public transport
- shops and marketplaces
- hospitals and clinics
- offices and factories
- schools and housing
- sport and playgrounds
- places of worship
These barriers are caused by a lack of physical adaptations to buildings like ramps, lifts, the height of light switches and shelves, and not enough clear space to navigate safely with a wheelchair or a white cane. Some of these barriers require structural changes to a building, but some are simple and free, like rearranging the furniture, or providing remote options for participation.
4. Policies or Participation
The policy/participation barrier occurs when persons with disabilities are not able to take part because rules and regulations exclude or discriminate them.
For example; in a higher education institution, if there is no disability policy that mentions non-discrimination on basis of disability status and clearly stipulates that accommodations should be offered as needed to enable them to fully participate in learning and other aspects of university life, people with disabilities may face difficulties and be left out of a number of activities.
Not only do the laws and policies exclude, but often also people with disabilities are not consulted or are not represented in leadership or management positions and in other decision making bodies.
Self Reflection
Self Reflection
If you answered yes, you are not alone...
Attitude Barrier