DisABILITY*

Inclusion.....

Let's suppose, that in an international Olympic competition, Australian athletes had performed so well that they were equal third on the total medal count. (03/09/12).

Let's imagine that Jacqui Freney had won 5 gold medals in these games, and Matthew Cowdrey 10 in all games.

Let's pretend that Maddison Elliott who won a silver had done so at the tender age of 13.

Let's imagine that our basket team (the Rollers) had wiped the floor with the Yanks 65- 49.

Imagine the story this would had been in all forms of media. Imagine the profiles, the endorsements and the sponsorships that would follow.

Well, you don't have to imagine any of this success. It's happened.

None of the other things (the profiles, the endorsements and the sponsorships) have followed of course.

How many of you have actually heard of Jacqui Freney and Matthew Cowdrey?

The reason that these achievements have not been recognized, and these athletes are relatively unknown is simple - they're athletes with a disability.

The fact that they have won fairly in a rigorously structured international competition seems to have been completely ignored.

This disrespect neatly summarizes this country's shameful attitude towards people with disabilities.

In the 40+ years I've been working in this field, I've seen enormous strides made, but we still have a long way to go.

On an individual level (as demonstrated in the pic below) it happens, but corporate Australia treats Aussies with disabilities with complete disregard.

*Blogged on the road on iPad.