Dehumanisation of disabled people during the pandemic

My major project

My major project explored the dehumanisation of disabled people in the UK during the height of COVID-19 period, which was the first period of restrictions (known as lockdown) from March 2020 to July 2020. To study this period, I analysed disabled people’s social media posts on Twitter.

This major project used Critical Discourse Analysis to focus on how power relations shape the meaning of words and interpret why certain words were frequently used amongst my sample of Twitter posts.

During the Major Project, I was able to draw upon my own experiences. I have a visual impairment that includes not being able to detect how far certain things are, such as steps, having night blindness, and a few other symptoms. I suffered verbal abuse during the COVID-19 period of social restrictions and this provided the catalyst for my studies into how disabled people experienced the pandemic.

By collecting tweets, I noticed that disabled people were tweeting about how they felt ignored during the pandemic by the government. For instance, apps such as NHS Track and Trace were inaccessible, it didn’t provide options for hard of hearing people to report their COVID-19 results and removed the option to use text to speech functions on the app. Disabled people also had to rely on other people or online businesses, such as supermarkets or local shops to get daily necessities. 

Findings

From this project, I discovered that some disabled people felt more empowered than dehumanised during the pandemic as they could do things at their own speed. Yet, I also found that the government had largely ignored disabled people when making decisions that impacted their lives. I also learned that businesses were refusing entry to disabled people who had a mobility aid with them. Overall, I found that disabled people were not regarded as a normal part of society and therefore their needs were not met.

Conclusion

My research indicated that disabled people were ranked below abled people and this needs to change especially if the UK introduces social restrictions again. It is important to ensure that those people who are hard of hearing can communicate in an accessible and safe way in physical and online spaces. Tactile markers could be used to indicate two metres distance so visually impaired people have independence during a pandemic. Supermarkets, stores and other public locations could do more to take the needs of disabled people into consideration so that spaces are accessible to everyone.

Social impact

My research findings show that changes need to be made to make social spaces more accessible for disabled people.

I have contacted my local MP about my research in the hope of meeting with them about the available help and what could be implemented in case of another lockdown. I want to get in contact with other members of government to see what could be introduced around the UK to improve the lives of disabled people during times of crisis such as a lockdown.

I have also contacted local businesses to suggest training their staff to improve disabled people’s shopping experiences, including their websites. I have suggested that websites include text to speech options and that they should provide alternative ways to view images such as descriptive text of images for visually impaired people.

Many have accepted the advice and have promised to do more to ensure that disabled people can have more of a positive shopping experience like everyone else.

If you would like to know more about my research please email me: Jamessowden@outlook.com