D going down the stairs to the subway, reaching for the top kitchen shelf, standing waiting at the supermarket checkout. For many, everyday life and internalized. If you are sufficiently mobile. Then some even like to walk half an hour home instead of taking the bus. The pedometer is happy, the body even more so.
But not everyone finds it so easy to go to the bus stop or to work. For people with physical disabilities it can The biggest challenge of the day will be getting to a train. Even a curb and a small staircase can be an obstacle. Those particularly affected include: People with muscular dystrophy (Lgmd). In the genetically inherited disease, the muscles continually break down. The consequences are sometimes more serious, sometimes weaker: restricted movement and, in most cases, a serious physical disability.
Never heard of it? That’s not surprising. Because people with this physical disability are underrepresented in public spaces. Not only because they only make up a portion of society, but also, because they are not sufficiently included. People with disabilities are often driven to their workplaces in special buses, they attend other schools or work in special facilities. Most people without disabilities have little or nothing to do with disabled people in their everyday lives.
In addition, there is a lack of accessibility: there is a lack of disabled toilets, barrier-free universities and schools, and elevators in public buildings. Even disabled parking spaces are often unusable due to curbs, and subway or S-Bahn stations have no elevators. In short: people with physical disabilities feel ignored.
Also in the classification for care. Without a carer, many of those affected would not be able to cope with their everyday lives. They can no longer walk, wash themselves, let alone cook for themselves. And yet quite a few of them are denied a level of care with which they can get money and thus pay for a carer.
The crux of the matter: The questionnaire for classification is primarily adapted to old people who suffer from dementia, are incontinent and are mentally unstable – but not to those affected who are clear-headed but can no longer move well. Some people therefore pay for household help themselves. An unauthorized level of care is not the only problem. Some patients report that occupational or physical therapy, which is essential for muscle sufferers, is approved far too late or that they only receive a wheelchair after the fourth application to the health insurance company. This is fatal because the condition of those affected quickly deteriorates.
Those affected can lodge an objection if they are denied a benefit. But even that is often hopeless. Some take legal action, and with a bit of luck the lawsuit will even be decided in their favor. This not only requires a good lawyer, but above all it costs nerves and energy. Even in such cases, most people are on their own and offers of support are rare. The path to the doctor for medical certificates is only a small hurdle compared to the applications to health and nursing care insurance companies, the complex legal situation Pitfalls of bureaucracy. Those affected cannot shake the feeling of being let down.
Ignorance in dealing with disabled people
“Democracy needs inclusion,” says the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And that means: People with disabilities should be able to participate in society on an equal basis. In return, they are entitled to compensation for disadvantages. But that is often missing. Chancellor Friedrich Merz doesn’t seem to want to change that either. He was criticized when he described the rising costs of inclusion as no longer acceptable at the municipal congress of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities in Berlin last summer. Hundreds of thousands then signed a petition against the cuts in integration assistance. The federal chairwoman of Lebenshilfe Ulla Schmidt also replied that no savings should be made on the weakest members of society, people with disabilities.
Two years ago, the United Nations declared the inclusion policy in Germany to be inadequate. The problem is that for many people without disabilities, meeting people with disabilities is uncomfortable. Many people simply don’t know how to behave. How do you address them? How do you offer help without being discriminatory? You can learn all of this – you just have to want it.
In order for people with disabilities – both physical and mental – to become a natural part of society, we must meet them. We have to work with them, go out to eat with them, do sports with them and ride the train with them. If a student can no longer attend a university because there is no elevator or the distance is too long, then this does not fail because of a lack of social rethinking, but rather because of elementary structural support that makes participation possible. It needs political attention, more empathy and awareness – and easier access to sufficient support for people with disabilities. But as long as support for inclusion is viewed as too expensive, the integration of people who need help will not be achieved.