Imagine living in a world where your friends’ common assumptions don’t apply to you.
Will I be able to get into a building; will the website I want to visit be formatted in a way I can use? Few of us need to consider such things.
Last week, David Lepofsky, Ontario Crown Attorney, asked an audience of students at Western’s Law School to raise their hands if they “do not have a disability and can be sure they never will.” All hands remained hidden.
As a blind lawyer, Lepofsky is well aware of the obstacles faced by those with physical disabilities. However, he explained that the disability itself is not the greatest hindrance.
Rather, stereotypes represent the greater barrier. Thus, he sees disabilities as “not due to biomedical conditions, but to human-created barriers”.
Lepofsky spoke of the importance of a barrier-free society for disabled individuals. He described this as encompassing the ability to be fully included and fully participate in society. He provided steps to accomplish this goal, which included identification of barriers, a plan to remove them, and preventing the creation of new barriers.
Lepofsky cited a further broad requirement – standards to guide organizations in the accommodation of disabled individuals. He warned that such standards should not be “one size fits all” but should differ according to the size of the institution.
Large organizations should be required to take more action, and sooner.
Also, Lepofsky reflected on the progress of current efforts to achieve a barrier-free society.
Although institutions such as Ontario’s judicial system have been proactive in becoming fully accessible, Lepofsky says actual implementation has been “slow, sluggish, and sporadic.”
Still, Lepofsky is optimistic, emphasizing that, “The change may not be as strong as one may like, but it is still being done and that is groundbreaking in itself.”
Lepofsky concluded with reference to the famous adage – “justice is blind.” If that’s the case, he says, “blind people should have the opportunity to experience justice as well.”