According to a new survey commissioned by Headway, discrimination against brain injury victims is alarmingly widespread. More than two thirds of brain injury survivors believe that they are discriminated against by society because of their injuries. Most alarming, however, is that 60% of respondents had experienced discrimination from at least one institutional service (healthcare, social services, employment, etc.).
One woman says, “I’ve been verbally abused by a bus driver while trying to use my disabled pass as he thought I was a fraud, been humiliated by a library receptionist when I was struggling to fill out a form and my balance problems mean I am often refused access to pubs on the assumption I’m drunk. ”
Why does society tend to treat people with brain injuries so poorly? Is it a lack of awareness? A lack of education? Is it some sort of fear of the unknown? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.