Medical Ableism and How to Combat It
A survey study conducted by Harvard was published last week and of the 714 practitioners and medical physicians surveyed 82% of them reported that people with significant disabilities have a worse quality of life than non-disabled people. Only 40% of them felt very confident about their ability to provide care for people with disabilities, and only 56% of them felt enthusiastic about welcoming patients with disabilities in their practice. And 18% strongly agree that the health care system treats patients with disabilities unfairly. Stunning to see these numbers!
The statistics are disheartening, and that's why in this episode, I'd like you to talk about medical ableism. How do you handle ableism? Ableism is the assumption that non-disabled bodies are better than disabled bodies. A medical professional who's good at diagnosing and coming up with treatment plans and offering ideas about therapies and medications. In the back of their mind, they assume that the goal for the family with a disabled child is to have that child be typically functioning above all else. This assumption is wrong. The main goal is for the child to have accessibility and be accepted for who they are.
Ableism is hard. The first thing we should do to deal with ableism is to assess our ideas and believes on disability. It is essential to note that evaluating our ideas and assumptions is a continual process. It is not a one-off thing.
Find some adults with disabilities and follow them (Here are a few I love on IG: Nina Tame , Carson Tueller, Andrea Dalzell and AbleismisTrash) and you have to agree with everything they say. You can follow them online or offline. It has been so helpful for me to follow and as much as I can, and these COVID times interact with in real life with adults who have disabilities. It gives me a whole perspective on life that I don't have from my lived experience. It helps me so much think about looking through those lenses or having that perspective for Eli.
Always consider the internal and external expectations. If you go to a practitioner who exhibits blatant medical ableism, it would be good if you kept away from them.
Taking action in a medical appointment. It's hard to take action in a medical appointment when there's this power differential between a practitioner and a parent to speak up. Always do the best you can at that moment. If you feel like something is not okay, take time to process and find a way to communicate. You can write an email, a letter, or even make a call.
Lastly, learn to listen to your child. Sometimes it isn't easy when a child is not super verbal. Believe in their experience, watch how they interact and react, and always do your best to be in their shoes, your child's shoes. Always trust your gut, especially in situations where your child is too young to communicate or can’t communicate.
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