Marwa Harb and her father Mohammad, who both use power wheelchairs, in a park

Disabilities and barriers

It’s not the person who’s disabled but the barriers that disable people

Our changing understanding of disability

For most of the 20th century, people used the medical model to talk about disability. This model considered disability as a result of a physical condition or illness, and individuals were often treated as patients.

Today, we use the social model of disability. This model shifts away from the idea that the individual has a disability, and instead acknowledges that barriers disable people.
Under the social model, disabilities are social and cultural issues, not medical ones. This approach empowers people with disabilities. It relies on their voices and centres the conversation on their priorities. It recognizes that to remove and reduce barriers, our attitudes, culture, and environments need to change, not people with disabilities.

Smiling woman with Down syndrome reaching in a plastic bag

Nova Scotia’s definition of disability

Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act acknowledges that everyone has a right to participate in society fully and equally. The Government of Nova Scotia defines a disability as “a physical, mental, intellectual, learning, or sensory impairment, including an episodic disability that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders an individual’s full and effective participation in society.”

There are other definitions of disability, and language is always changing and evolving, but this is the definition the Government of Nova Scotia uses in our current work.

We recognize the diversity of people with disabilities and their experiences. Everyone’s experience of disability is different. Their experiences are influenced by other factors unique to them. These other influences can be related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs or other factors.

Types of disabilities

Different types of disabilities exist, and people can experience them in different ways. People can have multiple disabilities, or they can have one disability that fits into different categories.

Visible disabilities

Visible disabilities are observable or identifiable because a person may use assistive devices. Assistive devices can include hearing aids, wheelchairs, canes and guide dogs.

Invisible disabilities

Invisible disabilities aren’t observable. A person who experiences invisible disabilities and related barriers may not use assistive devices or show physical cues that indicate they have a disability.
Invisible disabilities can include learning disabilities, mental health disabilities and episodic conditions like epilepsy.

Episodic disabilities

Episodic disabilities fluctuate between periods of wellness and disability. These disabilities can be lifelong and vary in severity and duration at different times during a person’s life.

Episodic disabilities can include arthritis, muscular dystrophy and bipolar disorder.

Barriers

Anything that prevents a person with a disability from fully participating in any aspect of society is a barrier.

Barriers limit what people with disabilities can do and where they can go. They can also show the discriminatory attitudes that others have toward them.

Knowing about barriers in advance and removing them means finding a way for everyone to have fair access.

Smiling woman who uses a wheelchair leaving a building

Types of accessibility barriers

Information or communication

Information or communication barriers occur when sensory disabilities (like hearing, seeing or learning disabilities) haven’t been considered. These barriers relate to both sending and receiving information.

Examples of information or communication barriers include:

  • electronic documents that aren’t properly formatted and can’t be read by a screen reader
  • print that’s too small or in a font that’s difficult to read
  • videos without captions and transcriptions

Technological

Technological barriers occur when a device or technological platform isn’t accessible to its intended audience and can’t be used with an assistive device. Technology can enhance the user experience, but it can also create unintentional barriers for some users. Technological barriers are often related to information and communications barriers.

Examples of technological barriers include:

  • electronic documents without accessibility features like alternative text (alt text), which screen readers use to describe an image
  • handouts or written materials that are available only in hard copies
  • websites that don’t meet accessibility standards
  • touch screens on banking terminals and ATMs that don’t have accessible features

Attitudinal

Attitudinal barriers are behaviours, perceptions and assumptions that discriminate against people with disabilities. These barriers often come from a lack of understanding about disabilities. This can lead people to ignore, judge, or have misconceptions about a person with a disability.

Examples of attitudinal barriers include:

  • assuming a person with a disability is inferior
  • talking to a companion or interpreter instead of talking directly to a person with a disability
  • assuming someone with a speech impairment can’t understand them
  • forming ideas about a person because of stereotypes or a lack of knowledge
  • making someone feel like they’re doing a “special favour” by providing accommodations

Architectural or physical

Architectural or physical barriers are elements of buildings or outdoor spaces that create barriers to persons with disabilities. These barriers relate to elements like the design of a building’s stairs or doorways, the layout of rooms or the width of halls and sidewalks.

Examples of architectural or physical barriers include:

  • sidewalks, aisles or doorways that are too narrow for a wheelchair, scooter or walker
  • desks that are too high for a person using a wheelchair or other mobility device
  • poor lighting that makes it hard to see for a person with low vision or a person who lip-reads
  • doorknobs that are difficult to grasp for a person with arthritis

Organizational or systemic

Organizational or systemic barriers are policies, procedures or practices that unfairly discriminate and can prevent individuals from participating fully in a situation. Organizational or systemic barriers are often put into place unintentionally.

Examples of organizational or systemic barriers include:

  • a no-refund policy at a clothing store – this assumes that every customer can try on clothing in the store before purchasing, but the fitting room may not be accessible for customers using assistive devices
  • hiring using an online job application process only – this assumes all applicants have access to all websites
  • agencies or businesses that require appointments to be conducted in person, with no option for remote service access – this assumes that all customers or clients can travel to and enter the building

Ableism

Ableism is the discrimination against people with disabilities. It can be intentional or unintentional, because many structures in society were designed without considering people with disabilities. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies an entire group of people as “less than” by upholding harmful stereotypes, misconceptions and generalizations.

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