From Reuters/[UK] Guardian:

As Beijing prepares to host the Paralympics, China advertises significant improvements for the nation’s 83 million people with disabilities. Still, people with disabilities say stigma, isolation and poor facilities are widespread.

Miao Qi, a 32-year-old woman from Beijing whose leg was amputated following bone cancer, said her disability prevented her from accessing higher education and getting a job. She has not left the apartment she shares with her parents for more than a year.

“Other people look at you strangely — this has a psychological impact. Perhaps they don’t do it maliciously but just think: ‘What’s wrong with that young woman? So pretty, but why is she that way?’” she said.

China has spent $88 million to increase public access for people with disabilities in preparation for the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, and has passed new anti-discrimination laws. Yet people with disabilities say enormous challenges remain.

“Yes, there is discrimination,” said Li Caimao, director of the Beijing city government’s disabled committee. “It’s an attitude problem. Perhaps we have not worked hard enough to tackle it.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 10:59 am and is filed under Paralympics, accessibility, disabilities, discrimination, exercise/sports, international, public attitudes, stigma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post