Social Connection Barriers Explained

Young people with disabilities may experience barriers when it comes to social connections. 

Some Social Connection Barriers May Include:

• Social rejection
• Decreased comfort level 
• Lack of understanding, patience, & compassion
• Non-adaptive activities
• Distracting others from learning & doing activities
• Isolation
• Lack of skills
• Appropriate trained staff and facilitators

PHYSICAL BARRIERS:

Did you know physical barriers are often easier to spot than social ones? Usually, physical barriers are structural obstacles in both natural and manmade environments that can prevent or block mobility.  Other obstacles in a person’s physical environment can either be present or absent and may limit function or create a disability including:

• Inaccessibility of the physical environment
• Those with health conditions either excluded or hindered
• Inadequacies in assistive technology
• Discrimination against those with disabilities 

SOCIAL BARRIERS:

Social barriers are just as common as physical barriers.  They often affect many areas of your life and drastically impact your well-being and social functioning.
 

• • • • Attitudinal Barriers:
        A Social barrier that largely goes unnoticed in our society is an attitudinal social barrier. Attitudinal barriers are behaviors, perceptions and assumptions that discriminate against persons with disabilities. These barriers often emerge from a lack of understanding, which can lead people to ignore, judge, or have misconceptions about a person with a disability. For example, many people are unaware that transportation barriers can limit the mobility of someone with a disability to participate in everyday life.

      • Overcoming Attitudinal Barriers:
        Our society’s understanding of what a disability is has improved when we recognize “disability” as what happens when a person’s functional needs are not addressed in their physical and social environment. Having a disability isn’t a personal deficit or shortcoming but instead, an opportunity to learn from people with different life experiences and support them to live independent and fulfilling lives. As a society, we are and will continue to learn how to help persons with disabilities integrate into society.

REMEMBER:  Learn to advocate for yourself and for others around you.  Your voice makes a difference.