Okay, so this wasn't going to be my first post on here, but it's been bothering me for a few months now. Then, earlier this week George Bates' story broke and I have so much to say; let's go!
The Basics
For those of you who don't know, here's the low down George Bates and his issue with the IPC. George has CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) and has played wheelchair basketball for over 10 years. This year, the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) changed the rules surrounding classification - This is basically an assessment that all para-athletes have to go through in order to compete in the Paralympics. The changes have meant that George, along with many other athletes with 'non-classifiable' conditions, can no longer compete in the sport that they love.
This is all you really need to know in order to understand this post, but here are a few links to the full story, if you want to learn more:
My Opinion
The IPC have a list of 10 classifiable impairments: https://www.paralympic.org/classification
I understand that the IPC have to have a list of guidelines/rules, whatever you want to call them; these need to exist to keep the Paralympics as fair as possible. But here's the problem, in my opinion anyway, diagnosis does NOT equal impairment. Let's take incomplete SCIs (Spinal Cord Injuries), this is a classifiable condition as far as the IPC is concerned; however, the way an incomplete SCI affects an individual can vary drastically. I know Quadriplegics who can jog unaided, but I also know Quads who have relatively little hand function and no trunk or leg control. The problem is, that as far as the IPC is concerned, an SCI is an SCI.
So, what about those who have an unclassifiable condition, but are less ambulatory than those with a classifiable condition? Are the IPC really putting a hierarchy to the types of disability that they accept as being an impairment? Surely classification should be based on the ways in which a person's disability affects them, rather than the name given to the condition?
Ableism in the Disability Community
Naturally, there has been a lot of discussion on this topic, in the disability community. It's good to see everyone talking about the issues facing our community, but the amount of ableism I've seen within the community is pretty shocking!
It seems that some people with a disability, perceive themselves as having a more 'legitimate' disability than someone else. I have seen members of the disability arguing that pain conditions aren't disabilities, that people who aren't classifiable could just be playing on their condition and that if individuals don't use a wheelchair every day, they shouldn't be competing.
I can't even begin to understand how people can use these arguments and not see how blatant the ableism is. Having being 'disabled' is not synonymous with being a 'wheelchair user'. There are endless reasons an individual may be disabled, and no one should be telling others that their disability is not valid. Yes, some people require more help in daily life. Yes, some conditions are life limiting. Yes, some people aren't as ambulatory than others. But non of that makes someone's disability more legitimate than another's.
If we want to eliminate ableism in the world, we need to start at home and make our own community a more welcoming space.
Final Thoughts
The fight for equality should be one that we all fight together, for each other; it shouldn't leave us thinking that some disabilities are 'more equal' than others. We've come so far, but we still have so much further to go, we have to keep fighting for our rights. The IPC should be asking themselves 'Would this person be able to compete in not adaptive sport?' and then 'Would this person be capable of competing in the olympics?', if the answer is 'no', then by default, they should be able to compete in the Paralympics.
Comments