From Paper to Practice: An Examination of How Public Perception of Disability Influences the Mobilization of Rights, Programs and Services for People with Disabilities

Policies for Persons with Disabilities are designed with the best of intentions. They are designed not only to provide these individuals with a level of support, but also to ensure that they are seen as free, independent citizens. On paper, these designs look to be just what we need – a step in the right direction towards making the concept of disability a thing of the past. In looking at the everyday mobilization of these programs and policies, we soon see that is not the case. This is because of old attitudes that still linger around Persons with Disabilities. To make these policies work, we must first understand and deconstruct our attitudinal barriers. Upon doing so, we can then suggest new ways to understand disability in the hopes these new options will one day translate into better policies for PwD.