Englands Attitude Towards the Disabled

People attitudes towards the physically and mentally handicapped are a very personal issue to me, and my view is that many people should be ashamed of their attitudes on the topic. My mother is disabled and has been since I was about 12, and whilst i'm not claiming to be her soul guardian or anything - i'm lucky enough to have a very supporting family - there is still definitely an element of being a carer that many people my age will not experience.

There is an element of frustration to it that I think is not often picked up on by most people, and the reason for that is that it is caused by most people. My essential point in this post is that peoples attitudes to disability in this country are disgusting. It appears to be one of the few minorities that it is still largely acceptable to make jokes about - this is evident on a daily basis, at my college for example I frequently see people taking the piss out of a kid with learning difficulties who is sitting on his own or with his support teacher and am still fairly shocked every time when no one even raises a finger about it.

This horrible attitude does not only seem to be allowed, but even encouraged by the government in some cases. This is visible recently in the use of ATOS to assess disabled people on whether they are capable of working, with cases of people in comas being seen as fit for work and having their benefits rates stopped as a result. There has also been a massive increase in the suicide of disabled people, presumably as a result of this treatment by the government creating too much stress for them to be able to continue their already difficult lives.

I don't want this to be a long piece so I will finish by saying this: There needs to be a dramatic shift in peoples attitudes towards disabled. There seems to be a hysterical phobia towards those with mental and physical handicaps that can be compared with racism and homophobia, and needs to stop.