Shona Louise talks in today's
Metro about her experience of members of the public touching her and her wheelchair when she is out and about.
She describes how this used to happen regularly pre covid-19 and continues to do so, despite the risk it presents in passing on the virus.
"I’ve spent most of the year doing my best to protect myself, and the idea that all of that could have been undone by one person left me feeling incredibly exasperated."
Thinking about the reasons behind people's motives, Shona raises lots of important questions about how disabled people are 'seen' by non-disabled others.
The presumption that she can be approached and touched irrespective of her own free-will suggests she is perceived as child-like or an object of pity or fascination. This disregards her as a rights-bearing adult and leaves her, understandably, feeling frustrated and angered.
Unfortunately, these are age-old disability issues that speak more to the discriminatory attitudes of non-disabled people than Shona herself.
On how to tackle this in-appropriate behaviour, Shona mentions a twitter campaign called
#JustAskDontGrab set up by Dr. Amy Kavanagh who is visually impaired. This hashtag draws attention to the many reasons why wheelchair-users should not be touched without consent.
Have any of our members experienced similar inappropriate advances in public? How do you deal with unwanted interactions? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.
