An initiative to encourage children with disabilities to engage in soccer has been hailed as a “huge hit.” In Gloucestershire, Bishops Cleeve Football Club has been...
The city of York, renowned for its historic charm and narrow streets, has found itself at the center of a growing concern: the blue badge parking ban and the support measures aimed at mitigating its impact. This permanent ban on disabled parking in pedestrianized areas of the city center was introduced in November 2021, ostensibly for security reasons. However, as time has passed, questions have arisen about the delay in implementing the promised measures to enhance accessibility for disabled individuals.
The blue badge parking ban was initially enacted as a temporary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate social distancing in York’s narrow streets. It was later made permanent, with the City of York Council citing the need for anti-terror defenses to safeguard visitors and shoppers. However, what has fueled concerns is the protracted timeline for introducing measures that were meant to offset the ban’s impact.
At the heart of the issue are the commitments made by the council to improve accessibility for disabled people. These commitments included the installation of more city center seating and an expanded provision of mobility aids. While these measures hold the potential to significantly enhance the lives of disabled residents and visitors, their delayed implementation has left many frustrated.
One of the most prominent voices advocating for an end to the blue badge parking ban is York-born actor Dame Judi Dench. She has been an impassioned supporter of the campaign to overturn the ban, emphasizing the importance of accessibility for all in York’s city center.
Recent developments have seen the council taking steps to address these concerns. At a meeting of the customer and corporate services scrutiny committee, James Gilchrist, the council’s director of transport, highlighted several mitigation measures that have been put in place. These include additional funding for services like Shopmobility and Dial-a-Ride, as well as the creation of more disabled parking bays outside pedestrian areas. While these measures are welcomed, questions linger about their timing.
Labour councillor Pete Kilbane questioned whether it would have been more logical to have these mitigations in place before implementing the ban. In response, Mr. Gilchrist admitted that, if circumstances allowed, he would have preferred that sequence. Unfortunately, bureaucratic processes didn’t align with this ideal.
Katie Lomas, another Labour councillor and a blue badge holder, raised valid concerns about the effectiveness of these mitigation measures. It is crucial to not only implement measures but also assess their impact on the disabled community. Mr. Gilchrist acknowledged that, for some individuals, no mitigation measure could entirely replace the convenience and accessibility lost due to the end of blue badge parking.
Campaign group Reverse the Ban (RTB) has been at the forefront of the campaign to reverse the blue badge parking ban. Members of this group have decried the “discriminatory decisions” that have disproportionately affected disabled and older individuals.
Disability rights campaigner Flick Williams stressed the need for promised consultations, feasibility studies, and funding for mitigations to be delivered promptly when an adverse impact is identified for individuals with protected characteristics.
Adding her influential voice to the cause, Dame Judi Dench has wholeheartedly supported the campaign against the blue badge ban. She articulated that York’s city center should be a place accessible to all, including those with disabilities for whom accessible parking is essential.
The annual athletic carnival for children with disabilities is back at Gold Coast Recreation and Sport after a 3-year suspension due to the pandemic. Approximately 500 students with disabilities participated in the 400 numbers that were contested.
“There is no doubt that the potential of future paralympic athletes who have triumphed today has its roots in a carnival-class competition,” said Gold Coast Recreation and Sport Chief Executive, Anna-Louise Kassulke, as quoted by ABC News, Saturday, September 10, 2022.
According to Kassulke, this event was held to encourage and explore the interests and potentials of children with special needs through the safe zone. Kassulke added that the safe zone must be passed by children with disabilities so that in the future they can compete in a more inclusive life. In addition, the Gold Coast carnival is an opportunity for children with special needs to show their abilities in front of the non-disabled community.
“These students, some of them are in inclusive education, so don’t have this opportunity in their school,” Kassulke said.
One of the winners in this athletic competition is Daniel Nesbitt, 11 years old with autism and ADHD. In this competition, Daniel managed to win gold medals for the 50-meter and 100-meter sprints. “This is my favorite day of all time,” said Daniel.
Feeling proud and accepted by the environment is very important for every child, including children with special needs. Besides being able to increase self-confidence in dealing with relationships outside the disabled community, sports competitions also teach children with special needs to be fair and sportive.
“This event is one of our favorite events because here we can free students to compete inclusively and according to their ability level, there is potential that is really being explored, we prepare for it throughout the year,” said David Tuzi of Varsity College.
Should disability issues have their own platform or remain part of the mainstream media?
Many readers are still not familiar with disability and therefore disability is considered an unpopular issue, especially when compared to political or economic issues. Some media that publish news related to disability tend to attract readers’ attention by presenting disability in the wrong way. Therefore, to correct this fallacy, should disability issues have a special platform or remain part of the mainstream media?
Inspirational pornography is defined as a way of portraying persons with disabilities as contradictory role models: strong, but also pitiable. In other words, although disability is increasingly accepted, abnormalities are still the biggest source of fear.
The term disability is often used by the media as a character trait, plot device or carrier of a bad mood. This kind of representation is neither accurate nor fair. Sometimes, disability is reinforced by background stories, such as describing people with disabilities as ignorant and misbehaving.
Because disability issues are considered unpopular, only one percent of the media in the United States, for example, are interested in discussing disability issues. In fact, many journalists tend to give a gap of up to one year between discussing one disability issue to another. This action is related to the number of readers. Therefore, the issue of disability is still difficult to grab the attention of readers.
Hyperheroism refers to the behavior of people with disabilities that are actually normal but are interpreted by the media in an exaggerated way. This method often displays misperceptions through an assumption based on physical bias. For example, superheroes are rarely depicted as humans with artificial organs.
There is no evidence that public opinion can be driven by media framing. In addition, public opinion is also influenced by their way of thinking. There are many possible causes of behavior and public opinion towards disability.
Disability issues that are often published in several countries are already quite developed. The reason behind this progress is that the media plays an important role in bringing forward important issues that support people with disabilities. For example, media coverage of the process of publishing the National Disability Insurance System (NDIS) in Australia reached 455 articles in the Australian media.
The number of media readers no longer relies on the circulation of media products but on the standard of reader interest. Recently, disability issues are considered as part of social criticism of discriminatory regulations made by the government. An example is the matter of disability insurance under President Trump’s law in the United States.
Some companies have started using disability images to raise public awareness about disability issues. Including disability issues in advertisements can help companies fulfill their social responsibilities. In addition, this kind of advertisement also increases the value of the company among media readers.
A comprehensive control system for disability issues in mainstream media can be established in a special platform while enabling persons with disabilities to fully participate in strengthening their movement or rebuking critics through the media and creating the control system itself. Such platforms can also encourage mainstream media to be more concerned about disability issues.
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