{"id":823,"date":"2015-10-28T10:59:06","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T10:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=823"},"modified":"2015-10-28T10:59:06","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T10:59:06","slug":"paralympians-makes-waves-on-the-world-stage-but-disability-reform-is-badly-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=823","title":{"rendered":"Paralympians makes waves on the world stage but disability reform is badly needed"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Helen Owton<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was at the Paralympic Games in 2012, I saw a person walk up to a woman in a wheelchair wheeling herself up a slope, grab the handles of her chair and start pushing her up the hill, much to the annoyance and surprise of the woman in the wheelchair. My friend brushed it off as someone only wanting to help, but I saw it as ignorance and a lack of respect, displayed in a venue where we were supposed to be widening our horizons about what disabled athletes can achieve.<\/p>\n

Despite progress, negative public attitudes, ignorance and awkwardness about
\ndisability prevail<\/a>. According to a report by Scope<\/a>, 67% of the British public feel uncomfortable talking to disabled people and 36% of people tend to think of disabled people as not as productive as everyone else. These attitudes affect every aspect of disabled people\u2019s lives \u2013 in the playground, at work, in shops, on the street.<\/p>\n

After the London 2012 Games, former Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thomson said it was important to remember how everyone felt in the euphoria of Britain\u2019s success in the Paralympics, but that they are not everyday reality.<\/p>\n

While there appeared to be progression on people\u2019s attitudes towards disability at the time, she argued<\/a> that \u201cmore still needs to be done to shift perceptions towards disabled people\u201d. Grey-Thomson points out that disabled people are portrayed as Paralympian superheroes, \u201cbenefit scroungers\u201d or victims \u2013 but not all three together.<\/p>\n

The IPC World Championships<\/a> in Qatar is an opportunity for these attitudes to be challenged again.<\/p>\n

Athletes such as Stef \u201cthe blade stunner\u201d Reid from Leicestershire are stretching the boundaries of what is expected of disabled people. She is not only a Paralympian, but also a model who became the first Paralympian amputee to be part of London Fashion week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Great Britain\u2019s David Weir won silver in the London Marathon wheelchair race<\/a> and will compete in the 1,500m and 5,000m against his rival Marcel Hug, \u201cthe Swiss Silver Bullet<\/a>\u201d, in Doha.<\/p>\n

The first day of the IPC Athletic World Championships saw six world records<\/a> smashed; one of these was Great Britain\u2019s Sophie Hahn who won the women\u2019s 100m long jump. Aled Davies<\/a> also won gold in the shot put where he threw a championship record of 14.95m.<\/p>\n