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17 adults with autism were allegedly denied entry in a private swimming pool on the accounts of “objection from other members”. When will the discrimination stop and acceptance begin?
17 adults with autism were allegedly denied entry in a private swimming pool due to “objection from other members”. When will the discrimination stop and acceptance begin?
We are not unfamiliar with the fact that in India, disability is something that people generally don’t talk about and in fact, many often try to maintain a ‘safe’ distance from people who have any disability or developmental issue.
This recent incident in Dehradun is a clear representation of this stigma. In Varada Tennis and Swimming Academy, Dehradun, 17 adults with autism were allegedly harassed and denied entry in the pool. This was done on the grounds of ‘objection from other members’.
The adults belonged to Arunima – a residential centre for people with autism. According to the Arunima staff the adults had each paid a full monthly fee of Rs, 2,000. Hence, still not allowing them is nothing other than utter discrimination.
According to Aparna Das, Founder and Director of Arunima, there were many complaints from other pool users. Hence, management demanded that the group come at a different time. They asked them to have personal escorts. They even demanded that some of the adults would only be allowed access to the kiddie pool along with other arbitrary requirements.
Das said, “They shifted our slot from 12:30 to 01:30 pm to which we objected, because it would have clashed with the members’ lunch.”
Even today, many parents dissuade their children from hanging out with children who have autism or other developmental disorder, because of the fear of ‘becoming like them’. There is this stigma that hanging out with such people will make you also ‘catch’ their problem. Moreover, many of us are also simply uncomfortable with such people and refuse to learn more and overcome our discomfort.
This discrimination has formed a sense of superiority in the society which sees any such disorder or disability as something inferior. The patients are disregarded, ridiculed and not given the empathy that they deserve.
As long as we isolate people who are not ‘normal’ in our estimation, we will continue to be wary of them, and such incidents will recur. It is time to ask how accepting we really are.
Image via Unsplash, for representational purposes only
I read, I write, I dream and search for the silver lining in my life. Being a student of mass communication with literature and political science I love writing about things that bother me. Follow read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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