4 Ways To Design a Disability-Friendly Future | Meghan Hussey | TED

Summary

The speaker shares personal experiences with disability through their sister Erin, who is autistic and intellectually disabled. They discuss the stigma and barriers faced by over a billion people with disabilities worldwide, including lack of education and societal attitudes. The speaker's journey from studying abroad in China to working with Special Olympics highlights the importance of inclusion. They urge reevaluating attitudes, choosing to include, recognizing intersections with other issues, and listening to the voices of people with disabilities to foster a more inclusive world.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Disability is a combination of physical or mental conditions and social barriers that affect a person's ability to interact with the world.
• 👨‍👧‍👦 The speaker's sister Erin, who is autistic and has intellectual disabilities, represents a personal connection to disability and its diverse experiences.
• 🌍 Disability inclusion is a global issue, affecting an estimated 15% of the world's population.
• 🏫 Education is a significant area where persons with disabilities face exclusion, with about 50% of children with disabilities never attending school.
• 🌱 The speaker's career shift to disability inclusion in international development was influenced by personal experiences and global perspectives gained through studying abroad.
• 🔍 Disability is often overlooked in discussions of global human rights, despite its massive scale.
• 🏥 The cost of excluding persons with disabilities from society is significant, with estimates ranging from 3% to 7% of GDP for low- and middle-income countries.
• 💡 Inclusion benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities, by fostering key social and emotional skills necessary in a diverse world.
• 🔄 To create a more inclusive future, we must reevaluate our attitudes towards disability, choose to include, recognize the intersectionality of disability with other issues, and listen to the voices of persons with disabilities.
• 🗣️ Listening to and following the lead of persons with disabilities is crucial for genuine inclusion and understanding their lived experiences.

Q & A

What is the speaker's personal connection to disability?

The speaker's sister Erin is autistic and has intellectual disabilities, which is the speaker's personal connection to disability.

What are some of the interests and behaviors of the speaker's sister Erin?

Erin enjoys riding her bike, collecting rubber ducks, watching YouTube videos on repeat, and spending the money she earns at work.

What is the core value the speaker's family was raised with regarding disability?

The core value the speaker's family was raised with is that 'different is not less'.

What incident from the speaker's middle school experience taught them about stigma?

The speaker brought a video of Erin to school to educate classmates about autism, but the teacher decided against showing it to 'protect' the speaker from potential ridicule.

How did the speaker's experience studying abroad in China influence their career path?

During a study abroad program in China, the speaker interned with a disability rights advocacy organization and became absorbed in the community, leading them to focus their career on disability inclusion in international development.

What is the estimated percentage of the world's population that has some form of disability?

An estimated 15 percent of the world's population has some form of disability.

What is one shocking statistic the speaker shares about education and disability?

About 50 percent of the 240 million children with disabilities in the world have never been to school.

What is the speaker's current global role with Special Olympics?

The speaker works globally with Special Olympics, using sport as a platform to teach and promote inclusive attitudes.

What are the four actions the speaker suggests to make the future more inclusive?

The speaker suggests reevaluating our own attitudes towards disability, choosing to include, recognizing where disability intersects with every issue area, and listening to persons with disabilities themselves.

Why is it important to listen to persons with disabilities themselves according to the speaker?

Listening to persons with disabilities is important because they are the experts of their own experiences and can provide valuable insights and guidance on how to make the world more inclusive.

What is the speaker's ultimate message about disability inclusion?

The speaker's ultimate message is that disability inclusion is not something nice to do for those with disabilities, but something critical that needs to come from all of us.