From
BBC News:
Three-quarters of Britons
feel more positive about the role of people with disabilities in the UK
following the Paralympics, a BBC survey three months on from the Games
suggests.
Some 79% of 2,400 non-disabled people questioned by ComRes
for the BBC also said they thought wider perceptions of disability had
improved.
But the figure fell to 65% among the 600 people with disabilities surveyed.
A leading charity has welcomed the news but says there is "some way to go".
ComRes polled more than 3,013 UK
adults over three weekends in late November and December, including 600
people with a "long-standing mental or physical disability or
condition".
According to the research, 75% said they felt more positive about the role of people with disabilities.
Among women, 78% said they felt more positive now compared to 72% of men.
In a poll for the Charities Aid Foundation
in September 2012 - during the Paralympics - ComRes found 76% of all
respondents felt the games had made them feel more positive about the
role of people with disabilities in the UK.
Meanwhile, more than three-quarters (76%) of all respondents -
including those with a disability - say they think people's attitudes
towards those with disabilities have improved since the games, while
just 1% believe perceptions have worsened and 17% feel there has been no
change.
However, the research suggests a divergence of views between those with a disability and those without one.
Respondents who have a longstanding mental or physical
disability or condition are less likely than those who have not to say
people's perceptions have improved - 65% compared to 79% of those
without a disability.
Those with a disability are also "more likely to say they
think there has been no change in perceptions, or to say they think
people's perceptions continue to be negative," the survey reports.
Richard Hawkes, chief executive of the disability charity
Scope, told the BBC: "It's a tough time to be disabled. It's a battle to
get the right support. You're more likely to be out of work. It can be a
struggle to get out and about in the community.
"Attitudes underpin everything. Access, for instance, is as much about thinking differently as it is spending money."
Mr Hawkes added: "We clearly still have some way to go, but we shouldn't write off the Paralympics effect.
"We need to build on the momentum. It's about visibility and
greater discussion. Let's ask what else we can do to increase disabled
people's visibility in the media, in politics, in the arts and above all
in everyday life?"
