We are moving towards an inclusive society, but not by leaps and bounds. Inclusion is a complex process, Something really needs gradualism here, and it would be good to solve some problems as quickly as possible. A person with a disability wants to go outside today - he needs to go to work, to the store, to the museum, on a visit - that is, there, where and everyone else. This is his life. And every time I say, that society as a whole or some small community is not yet ready to accept a person with certain developmental disabilities as an equal, good to think: “But this particular person has time to wait, while we get ready?»
among those, who react wary or even negatively to inclusion, I think, many of those, whose reaction can be described as follows: “Here we lived and lived, not always rosy, but in general they agreed with the situation. Everything we had was laid out on the shelves. Homeless - on the sidelines of life, disabled people - in special social institutions. The homeless are themselves to blame, and disabled people in institutions are better, after all, specially trained employees take care of them there. And then they tell us, and also clearly show, that in fact our world is supposedly terrible - most homeless people are not to blame, many facilities for disabled people are like concentration camps, and most people with disabilities generally stay at home, if and getting help, the very minimum. We are told, that all these people should, if possible, be returned to our society. And we don't really feel sorry for them ... But we feel even more sorry for ourselves - our world is crumbling. Everything falls off the shelves, and they also tell us, that it was placed wrong. And we don't want to believe it ".
You can compare this reaction with the popular nostalgia for the USSR.. there is, of course, Stalinists or just ideological members of the Communist Party. But many "nostalgic" do not justify either the implanted atheism, no repression, no ideological censorship - they just show psychological inertia, not wanting to part with the usual illusions, and therefore they invariably repeat: “After all, there were many good things! Balloons on demonstrations, ice cream for twenty kopecks, Gagarin in space, and our communal apartment was very friendly, and my mom and dad loved me ".
People don't want to believe, that everything is good, what happens to them and around them, happens despite the total horror, which manifests itself, you just have to "pick" a relatively safe facade. It seems to an ordinary, relatively prosperous citizen, that social exclusion is not about him. His point of view may change slightly., if it is, eg, breaks his leg (but will have to go to the store) or will end up without money and documents in a foreign city (eg, will lag behind the train).
There have been several scandals in recent years, related to intolerance of "normal" citizens in relation to people, in a difficult life situation. Recent examples - this summer's incidents. In July, in the Krasnoselsky district, a woman rudely tried to expel a group of "special" children from the playground, stating among other things, that they should have "their own quarantines". In August, the driver of the "minibus" made insulting remarks about the famous programmer and blogger Ivan Bakaidov who was riding in it., a person with cerebral palsy, and also tried to drop him off on the road. Is it a trend? I do not know. But very likely, that there is an illusion behind this intolerance: “All this is not about me. This is not part of my world ".
After every scandal among those, who wants to change the social climate, discussions arise, how to talk to the most intolerant people, to increase their loyalty. I think, that while maintaining a friendly tone in conversation with adults, an element of shock therapy is still needed. As a result, our interlocutor (I don't want to call him an opponent) must understand, what an illusion, in which he stayed for a long time, harmful not only for those, who gets in his way, but also for himself. And homelessness, and disability - all this can happen to him, and with his loved ones. Everyone can, at least for some time, be “on the other side” and learn, that in fact this is not the right side, that this is the same world, in which we all live.
Inclusion is so slow in some ways, that in the process of life you don't notice her. There is such a common phrase - "society is not ready". But if socially excluded people do not go out into public spaces, it will never be ready. If you will protect your conditionally normal children from children "with special needs", then your children will also live in an illusory world. If your child does not get a chance to play in the playground with the child, having this or that developmental disorder, in care, likely, it will just be one more fear in life.
A person gets used to a lot. Socially excluded have no time to wait, while the "normal" society prepares to meet with him. But, Alas, the system is arranged like this, that he gets used to not even wait, and sometimes he doesn’t know at all, that one can strive to live somewhere outside the "ghetto" allocated to him. He has his own illusion. Not about the conventionally "normal", not about "special", that they have completely chosen this picture of the world - education plays an important role here, and educators, usually, It was those, who themselves were in the same illusions.
Still, a "normal" society has much more resources to prepare, and for a "normal" person, the choice is always much wider. so, it is easier for him to take the first step towards.
Igor Lunev
Rosbalt presents the project "All are included!», designed to show, that disability is a problem, which concerns each of us. And the moral state of society is determined by, how it relates to people with developmental disabilities.
The project was funded by a grant from St. Petersburg.
