Situation Reversed

Audrey King

Imagine a town full of physically impaired people, all wheelchair users. They run everything - the shops, the factories, the schools, the television studio, the lot.

There are no able-bodied people, so naturally when they built the town the community decided it was pointless to have ceilings three metres high - “It's just a lot of wasted space that needs heating,” they said. So the ceilings were built at a height of two metres and the doors at a bit less.
In every way they designed the place the way they wanted it, and over the years these proportions are standardized by regulation.

One day, a few able-bodied people come to stay. One of the first things they notice is the height of the doors. The reason they notice is because they keep hitting their heads. They start to stand out by the bruises they carry on their foreheads.

Some doctors, psychiatrists and social workers all become involved - the doctors do expensive research and conclude in their learned reports that the disabled able-bodied suffer from “loss or reduction of functional ability” and the resulting handicap causes “disadvantage or restriction of activity.” Working parties are formed. Many professionals and caring people were worried about what became known as the “problem of the able-bodied.”

Throughout the town there was a rapid growth of real concern. Specially strengthened helmets were distributed free to the able-bodied to be worn at all times. Occupational therapists designed braces to give support and relief while keeping the able-bodied wearer bent to normal height. Finding employment became a major problem for the able-bodied. One man, for instance, applied to become a television interviewer, but he found he had to undergo a medical examination. A regulation stated that all able-bodied must be given a special medical examination when they apply for a job.

The doctor, naturally, pointed out in his report that it would be rather strange to have a television interviewer with a bent back who wore a helmet all the time. Of course, the man did not get the job and was advised to accept the limitations of his disability.

Finance, of course, became a major problem. Various groups of compassionate wheelchair users got together and formed registered charities. Twice yearly they held a collection day and, of course, there was the annual telethon and the “Miss Wheelchair Village” quest. Upturned helmets were left in pubs and shops for people to drop their small change into. There was heartening support for organizations such as “The Society for Understanding the Disabled Able-bodied”. There was even talk of founding a special home.

But one day it dawned on the able-bodied that there was nothing actually wrong with them. They formed a union to protect themselves and to campaign against segregation. They agreed that if ceilings and doors were raised, there would be no problem. But this, of course, was a foolish suggestion. They cannot deny disability.


From Global Health Project Newsletter, Summer 1991
R eprinted from Rehabilitation Digest, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 1989

(CX5103)

Subject Headings

• Disability Issues
• Disability Rights
• Disabled Persons
• Handicapped Access Design

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