People with Disabilities in America
In the USA it is not at all customary to say the word “disabled”; they say “disabled people” or “people with special needs”. At the same time, for Russian speakers, “disabled” is an absolutely normal concept that can express both a group of people and an insult. Attitudes towards people with disabilities are formed subconsciously, starting with how they are called and what context it has. At least that's what native English speakers think.
There is such a standard in the world as “people-first language”, that is, a person is named first, and then his illness/feature. For example, saying “a person with a stutter” instead of “a stutterer” emphasizes that a person’s illness does not define his personality. And labeling all people with disabilities as disabled is considered extremely rude and old-fashioned. If this doesn’t make any difference to you, then just remember so as not to look stupid when you suddenly say “invalid” in a conversation in English.
I recently told you about my trip to Orlando when I was at Disneyland. Due to the pandemic, it was not possible to buy a ticket there for a separate price that would allow you to skip the line on the attractions, but instead, people with disabilities were escorted forward. It is in such little things that the attitude towards them in the USA is manifested.
At first, the number of such people is simply amazing, because they are everywhere. At first you don’t even understand where there are so many of them? And then it comes - no, not much. It's just that people with disabilities are as much a part of society as ordinary people, unlike what we are used to. Here they are given every avenue of life to go anywhere and do anything. But in our country they rather make ramps somehow, as long as they lag behind the norms of the law. Well, a bribe will most often do so as not to worry about such “trifles.” In America, you can’t even open a business if it is not done strictly according to all the rules.
Most likely, in large Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, things are still not bad, but you can imagine what is happening in the regions. Here, after all, in all states there are more or less equal conditions for all categories of people. Of course, there are rich states like California, or poor states like Louisiana, but there is certainly no one centralized city where all the country's money goes, and the standard of living of different people is noticeably higher.
By the way, when it comes to work, large companies are required by law to provide some jobs to people with disabilities. If this is not observed, then you can say goodbye to the business.
Of course, everything cannot be perfect. Medicine in the USA is not the cheapest for any category of people in America. There are isolated cases of inability to obtain education or use services. But still, when compared with the CIS countries, where people with disabilities are not visible at all, it becomes clear where life is at least easier.
Author: Anton Nayanzin
