My meaning here is mixed.
The Paralympics has brought to our attention talented athletes. It has provided role models to disabled and able bodied people. It's brilliant to read of children like the daughter of the footballer Phil Neville no longer dreading their wheelchair assessments, or others thinking "they are just like me" or "i'd like to try that".
We have been introduced to sports that require sheer determination and willpower. We have seen athletes react badly when things haven't gone their way. Channel 4 have billed this as "here come the superhumans" but most importantly it shows they are HUMAN.
However, irritatingly, the media keeps harping on that the Paralympics shows what EVERYONE can achieve with effort and determination. This worries me. Paralympians are high calibre athletes, fit and healthy. Not everyone with a disability, whether they wanted to or not, could compete in sport. A high proportion of disabled people in this country are sick and disabled. As is my son. My daughter now has some unreal expectations of her brother, who is unlikely to reach adulthood according to the experts. I dearly hope that our new hero worship of these athletes doesn't have a negative affect. Just because these athletes win medals and compete for their country doesn't mean they don't require support, therapy, adaptations, and financial assistance. And let's not forget how inaccessible our country can be to those with mobility problems.
Yeah an athlete may win gold in a wheelchair on a flat track but you try getting one on and off buses or kerbs!
What I hope is that seeing the humanity of a variety of disabled people on our screens will leave not just a legacy of sport but a more understanding nation. Where people don't nick disabled spaces, don't stare, don't accuse people of
being scroungers, where it's ok to talk about illness and disability.Where we treat people with learning disabilities with respect and not mockery.
Not asking a lot am I?
We took our daughter there.
The result was healthy dialogue about disability.
Paralympics2012 was AWESOME!
No you're not asking a lot at all, you're just asking that people with disabilities are treated equally - they give society what they can and society in turn should give them what they need to live the fulfilling life that everyone deserves to enjoy IMO.
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