Disability innovations

100 per cent accessible Auckland

Disability definition

Woman in a wheelchair struggling to
use a public phone which is
positioned too high.

What do we mean by disability?
Who do we mean by disabled people?

What do we mean by disability?

‘Disability is in society, not me.’
‘I have the right to dignity, to develop my potential, to use my qualities and skills.’
(The New Zealand Disability Strategy, April 2001)

Disability is not something individuals have. What individuals have are impairments. They may be physical, sensory, neurological, psychiatric, intellectual or other impairments.

Disability is the process which happens when one group of people create barriers by designing a world only for their way of living, taking no account of impairments other people have. Our society is built in a way that assumes that we can all move quickly from one side of the road to the other, that we can all see signs, read directions, hear announcements, reach buttons, have the strength to open heavy doors and have stable moods and perceptions.

Disability relates to the interaction between the person with the impairment and the environment. It has a lot to do with discrimination, and has a lot in common with other attitudes and behaviours such as racism and sexism that are not acceptable in our society.

Who do we mean by disabled people?

Every person will be functionally disabled at some time in their lives, be it a permanent or temporary disability caused by either an accident, illness, ageing or a congenital condition. Disability affects all of us!

In the 2001 census one in five New Zealanders were identified as having some sort of disability. That means that approximately 56,000 people in Auckland city are currently experiencing disability. With the ageing population this number is set to rise.