Culture and Disabilities... International Influences
I was born in the USA, have lived in three other countries. I can't recall how disabled people were treated and cared for in Mexico. I can speak on my own experiences in other parts of the world.
In South Korea, I was viewed as mentally challenged for my hearing problems. Here in China I routinely see disabled people begging on street corners. What is the most tragic about the Chinese situation is some of these people are deliberately mutilated to increase their street value so to speak.
What I'm curious about is how disabilities are viewed in your culture and what differences have you expereinced with those from outside of your cultural group?
@DaveMcGrath
This is one of the most interesting threads I've seen!
Well I can only speak for my country, which is Portugal. In terms of visible disabilities people are very kind and open minded, you'll also have people offer help (which can be good but also somehow bad in terms of self esteem I think). However if it's something people can't see (like my IBS) they think people are faking it for attention. I've been critized alot for being a young woman wanting attention desperatly , when in fact I had medication to prove I wasn't making it up.
Although is hard for me to live here, for people with visible disabilities is a good one I think. A good example: When I was a child my best friend had an aunt and uncle. She was deaf and he couldn't speak, so they both used sign language. They both had jobs and had a super normal life from I saw. They drived, they went to groceries, they went to the bank,etc. Now I have no clue how they got others to understand them but the fact is they did, so I'm guessing is relativly easy to get support for this type of disabilities aswell.
@Booklover95 wow its interesting how other cultures view disabilities.
