Susan Wendall's article, "The Social Construction of Disability," addresses the fact that while disability is caused biologically, it is also socially constructed. She calls into question the way we think, and don't think, about disability.
On page 10, she quotes the philosopher Anita Silvers that "it is impossible for most non-disabled people to imagine what life is like with a disability, and that their own becoming disabled is unthinkable to them." Wendall then states that, "certainly many people without disabilities believe that life with a disability would not be worth living." She believes that this is caused by stereotypes of disability.
This made me think about my own approach to the matter. How do I think about disability? I think Silvers and Wendall are a little extreme in saying that it is "impossible to imagine" or that "life would not be worth living." In my opinion, it is not that we are incapable of this thought, but more accurately I would say that the average non-disabled person almost never encounters a situation in which they have to imagine themselves with a disability. The capability of this thought is there, we are simply never forced to think about it. It is important, but difficult, for people to try and think about disability from as close to an inside perspective as possible. One of Wendall's main points is that the reason society contributes to disability is that most architectural and city planning is done with the young, healthy, able-bodied male in mind. If the disabled point of view was taken into consideration during planning in a serious and careful way, many people would benefit. I think it will be a great step forward if people begin thinking more personally about the way society could help break down barriers for people with disabilities.
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You bring up two important points. The first is that the non-disabled person rarely thinks about how disability would affect them because there are few/ serious situations (accidents, death, loss of job) where they would be forced to things about this. This is reminiscent of our discussions of white privileges which are not acknowledged and how stereotypes affect how these privileges are seen as a normal and expected. You also comment on how changing the mindset associated with disability must be a societal effort. This is important because viewing disability as something personal which the individual must find a way to overcome on their own takes away from the fact that society as a whole benefits when more people are included
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