December 3 was International Day of People with disabilities. You could be excused for not noticing. A quick survey of online newpapers revealed the following:
- The Guardian reported on an enquiry into disability related harassment, mentioning in the penultimate paragraph that the inquiry was announced on the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
- The Independent celebrated 1000 days to the paralypics saying ‘Fittingly, today is also International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) … a worldwide celebration recognising the contributions and achievements of people with disabilities…’ The UN say the day is about achieving ‘human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities’ so it’s about dignity and justice for all rather than just the Paralympian elite.
- The best the Telegraph could do was a story about an Australian budget airline refusing a blind passenger and guide dog board a domestic flight with a strapline reference to the International Day of Disabled Persons.
- In the Daily Express you could read how Stevie Wonder is now a United Nations Messenger of Peace, with a special mission to help people with disabilities, but no mention of the significance of printing the story on December 3rd.
The Times and the Daily Mail seemed to have forgotton the day altogether and I didn’t anticpate missing much by stopping there. The British press could have done so much more to highlight the inequalities of daily life for those with sensory, motor and cognitive impairment. Lets hear it for the voice of the people rather than the voice of the establishment performing yet another cover up job.
Indeed. And here’s a story that they missed too. http://bit.ly/5A07PG Depressing isn’t it?
You are right. I get so frustrated by attitudes such as The AAP wanting the blind to pay for access to the book they publish and the US Authors Guild arguing that a speaking e-reader counts as an ‘unauthorized public performance’. Amazon are no better; offering authors the option of disabling Kindle’s read-aloud function and I’m totally unimpressed by them saying they will soon produce ‘a blind-accessible Kindle’ – why haven’t they already done it! I always thought I had an unpolitical soul but I could do an hour on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square quite easily on subjects like these!!
p.s. if you click the free documentaries link on my Delicious widget it’ll give you urls for Zietgiest and the Esoteric Agenda; suspend belief and experience the world of the conspiracy theorists – I have to admit to having sympathy with some of what they say 🙂
p.p.s. might even blog on this!