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