Inclusivity in not an option

[Music]

if we look at our society

we are a collective team everyone wants

to feel accepted for who they are

it’s human nature to want to feel a

sense of belonging

an inclusive society creates that sense

of belonging

for everyone and if we want an inclusive

society

then we have to become a team imagine

you’re in a sports team

if one person took all the goals or

never pass the ball around

would that person be considered a good

team player

i think not to have a functioning team

where everyone contributes you have to

pass the ball around

even if that means you don’t always get

the glory

but by doing so you are ensuring that

everyone gets a chance to succeed to

create an inclusive society

we have to pass the ball around passing

the ball

ensures that everyone gets a chance to

be seen

and provides platforms for those whose

voices are not being heard

helen keller once said alone we can do

so little

together we can do so much now creating

an inclusive society

is quite a broad subject therefore i’m

going to narrow it down

for raising awareness for people with

disabilities

and how we can be better allies creating

a community

where everyone thrives disabilities

is a huge spectrum you have both

physical

and intellectual and most of my

knowledge is around

intellectual disabilities because i am

blessed enough to have an amazing

younger sister

who has autism and adhd

i see the potential in my sister

and how much she has to offer to society

her many talents and capabilities

and i want to live in a world where all

our differences show

our strengths i’m trying my very best to

be a good ally

and through my experience i’ve realized

that there is a lot that people don’t

know

regarding disability awareness and if we

want to be good allies we must actively

promote

inclusivity so what do we want

everyone here i assume wants to feel

like a valued member of society

you want to feel accepted and included

because no one likes to feel left out

if that’s what we all want why are we

still making

inclusivity optional since when did we

get given the right

to pick and choose between who we want

to include in our society

if you want to feel accepted for who you

are

then you need to accept others

i think it’s time that we step it up

so how can we actually achieve this

we can do this through acceptance

understanding our privilege

question systems breaking stereotypes

using correct language and standing up

against discrimination

the first step is acceptance and as

simple as this sounds

this one is extremely important if you

can’t accept

people have differences then you might

as well stop listening now

we all learn and think differently but

our society has been

built to fit the majority therefore

anyone that doesn’t

fit societal norms tends to get pushed

aside

how would you like the feeling of being

denied the opportunity to go to school

because you learn differently than the

majority

this is the sad reality that people with

disabilities

have to face to put this into

perspective

roughly 90 percent of girls with

disabilities

do not go to school in the world

how can we expect anyone to thrive

when the systems set in place are ones

that hold you back

acceptance is key to changing that

after acceptance next is understanding

your privileges

i’m going to cover a few basic

privileges like education

for the majority of us finding a school

is not a huge issue

even if you lived in rural new zealand

i’ve witnessed first hand how hard it is

to find

education options for students with

disabilities

i’ve watched my parents cry because of

the lack

of options available my sister has been

to two primary schools

which is good compared to other students

as school jumping is common and then

there is a last resort

of homeschooling another privilege

that goes hand in hand with education is

accessibility

not all schools have wheelchair access

which is discriminatory and ignorant

then there is public transport and large

crowds

which can be quite an anxious setting

for people that might have autism or

adhd

these are just a few examples but it

means that people with disabilities

have additional barriers to live a

fulfilling life

understanding our privileges doesn’t

mean feeling super guilty

it’s basically just realizing that there

are some

things people have to go through that

you might not

to the same degree how can we use

our privilege to improve things well

we can start to question why

environments and systems

are the way they are start questioning

why your school doesn’t have wheelchair

accessibility

encourage inclusivity within schools

whether that’s through having

awareness days or just having

conversations with people

we can’t really make change unless we

question why these discriminatory

structures

exist because these systems and

structures

have always been the same often if

something doesn’t impact us

personally we tend to not realize how it

may impact

another by questioning we encourage

people to realize

and then contribute themselves to making

change

after we accept understanding our

privilege

and start questioning we can move on to

breaking stereotypes

that people with disabilities are dumb

or incapable

the only reason this stereotype has

stuck around

is because our society has made it a

barrier

for those with differences it’s like

being a left-handed person

in a right-hand person’s world getting

pushed aside because tools weren’t made

for you

except left-handed people are accepted

but

disabilities are not people with

disabilities

are smart and talented for example all

it takes is one glance at my phone

password

and my little sister has remembered it

she has

an incredible memory and pretty much

knows all the passwords in the household

i don’t even want to get started on what

a talented singer she is

i swear she hits every note perfectly

and can memorize the tunes of a song

with all its little bits

she has the most pure heart and is the

most

non-judgmental human being i’ve ever met

in my life

i am constantly learning and growing

from her

she helps teach me to be a better person

and enjoy the simple things in life

yes there are negatives which do make

life difficult for her

and my family like having to take on

extra responsibilities

having set routines some nights none of

us get

much sleep there are breakdowns and

crying

but her positives will always outweigh

the negatives

and no one is perfect on the outside we

may look like a fully

functioning normal family but there is

so

much that goes on behind the scenes from

parents

leaving work early because my sister was

upset at school

it’s the constant state of alert when we

are out

never knowing when she might make a run

it’s the stairs we get when out shopping

glares of passing strangers when my

sister is having

oh sorry it’s the stairs we get when out

shopping

glares of passing strangers thinking

that

this must be a naughty child when my

sister is having a breakdown

with autism often you can’t see the

disability physically

if i were to show you a picture of my

sister

you can’t see that she has autism

making things difficult for my parents

as they find they have to explain

themselves when in reality they don’t

owe people an explanation

as it’s the passing people’s judgment

who need to learn to accept

and understand their privilege we have

to all remember that people with special

needs

are still people and we shouldn’t treat

them

any differently i was privileged enough

to have been mentored by matt frost

who is the principal advisor lived

experience for disability issues in the

ministry

of education matt has autism

and is a strong advocate for people with

disabilities

when speaking with him he mentioned a

comment that was once made to him

no mr frost we care for disabled people

but people in charge of policy and

change are not disabled people

matt frost is someone who i look up to

and is already breaking barriers and

stereotypes

i remember hearing this and feeling so

disgusted

thinking how could anyone say that

people with disabilities have voices

they can create change we must be better

allies

and help empower and encourage people

with disabilities to have

power over themselves rather than us

making rules

on what they can and can’t do

our use of language is one way the world

is set up against disabled people

terms we need to drop are handicapped

and

here’s why you need to drop this term

the word was originally used to describe

people that had below average

intelligence

and learning difficulties with daily

skills

it also means to hinder or to make

something slow

what is wrong with the r word is that it

undervalues people

such people have a wide range of skills

and talents to offer

they are not below average by using the

r word

it’s basically saying you are lower than

everyone else

this can really devalue people as the

connotations that go behind them

are extremely negative and dehumanizing

i especially find it super frustrating

when i hear the term used as a

joke

slur and insult people start to

throw the r word around using it to

describe someone as an idiot or stupid

now look i’m not here to blame you for

using the r word in the past

because we all make mistakes but

now that you are aware you can use your

privilege

to create change after using

correct language next is standing up

against discrimination many special

needs kids

are victims of bullying as students

think it’s okay to mock

or take advantage of students with

disabilities

people with disabilities have feelings

and are worthy of respect like everyone

else

so quit using them as the butt of a joke

with the rise of tech talk i’ve seen so

many discriminatory tick tocks

mocking the way people with disabilities

act and speak

the worst is seen when i start to scroll

through the comments of these videos and

find

that people think it’s okay to do or

they accept that it’s wrong they are

laughing

but can’t help it i also remember when i

was in year 10

it was 2017 i read this article on stuff

titled teenage girls torment down

syndrome student

post bullying photos on snapchat

i remember being furious and shocked

that this happened

at a wellington high school the teenage

girls pretended to be her friend

and then urged the 15 year old down

syndrome student

to do things like flash her breast and

lick

the floor while they recorded they

captioned these videos with words like

slag

although this happened in 2017 it does

not

mean we forget another article i read

that

broke my heart was when it described an

autistic boy was bullied

almost daily at his intermediate in

auckland

he was told by other students

to go and kill himself

tell me why do we accept this

how can we let this happen these are

just

two examples but there are so many

undocumented evidence of

bullying that happened and it’s not okay

it’s made quite clear that the bullies

haven’t understood

what acceptance is some people suggest

genetic

engineering and technology as a problem

solver

however this can negatively affect

the lives of people living with

disabilities

when and where are we going to draw the

line with the ever evolving advancement

of technology

will we one day live in a world where

different disabilities

like for example down syndrome could be

seen as something that can be erased by

technology

because if we say we value diversity

are we really valuing diversity when we

are continuously seeking to find ways

to create the perfect human beings

this negatively affects the disabled

community

because it promotes eliminating

diversity

instead of focusing on eliminating the

barriers

that make diversity seem bad

we must seek diversity through focusing

on what

people with disabilities can do rather

than

only seeing the negative making people

with disabilities feel like a burden to

society

must be eliminated because no one

wants to feel like a burden

instead of looking at the problem start

looking at the solutions of what we can

actually do

to be better and realize that we are not

doing enough

to be inclusive the biggest thing that

we can do

is be the next generation that pushes

for change

as the next generation we can do this

we have time to change our mindsets by

acceptance

understanding our privileges questioning

systems

breaking stereotypes using correct

language

and standing up against discrimination

we can go out into our community and

promote a more fair

and inclusive new zealand so how can we

actually do this we are going to be the

next generation

of ceos the next generation of builders

the next generation of politicians the

next generation of scientists

doctors nurses retail workers

supermarket owners

every job you name it it’s going to be

us

if we go through these stages we will

have the power

to change the systems policies and

environments

and because of this we can create

platforms that include

every member of our society we can

change the education system

to one that is equitable we can change

our communities to accept and

value every member we can start

listening to the voices we have

underestimated and we can strive for

better representation

this is what passing the ball around

looks like it may mean you won’t always

get the goals and glory

but you win together as a team

i’ve decided that i’m going to start

passing the ball

around i especially want to pass the

ball around

because i want to see my sister thrive

and live in a world where people like

her

feel encouraged and empowered to be

who they are and to feel accepted for

their differences

as we move forward as a society

let’s quit making inclusivity an option

because it’s not optional

bum bum bum bum bum