Prague spring II - The revoution's still velvet

If you’re disabled in Eastern Europe, move to Prague, says Radek Musílek. The city has made huge advances since the end of Communism

This autumn it will be the 20th anniversary of the fall of Czechoslovkia's Communist regime. I was only ten at the time but old enough to be amazed by the changes that quickly took place. People got their freedom and democracy back, the security of socialism was replaced by the benefits and insecurities of capitalism and Czechoslovkia dissolved into two states – the Czech Republic and Slovakia – though it didn’t take long before Czechs and Slovaks came together again inside the European Union.

The 1989 Velvet Revolution also brought great changes for disabled people. The previous regime had acted as if disabled people didn’t exist. Despite the good standard of health care, the state had no idea how to integrate disabled people into mainstream society. Quality of life was low and opportunities were scarce. Using public transport was hazardous; most schools and offices were no-go zones. Disabled children were institutionalised; adults were sent to work in cooperatives for the disabled.

I know from personal experience the struggle my parents went through with the authorities to get me into an ordinary school. Officially there was no ban on disabled people but nobody actually provided any help. Every day, my mother had to carry me up the stairs herself and I was only allowed into class because my teacher took on the responsibility for me herself. (The head teacher, a Communist Party apparatchik, wouldn’t have anything to do with me.)

With the change of regime, disabled people’s problems were suddenly talked about in public. Our numbers came as a surprise to many, because the topic had been covered up until then, and we became a political issue, breaking a taboo of 45 years.

Over the past 20 years, a lot of progress has been made, though there‘s of course still room for improvement. Even today we come across people who automatically regard wheeelchair users as less intelligent or feel awkward in their company, though that’s probably true throughout the world. In fact, I know several disabled people in other European countries who say much the same – a small consolation because, having been cut off for almost half a century, we’ve always tended to regard everything Western as better.

I‘m grateful for the new chances. I was able to finish grammar school on equal terms with able-bodied schoolmates and enjoyed the new accessibil­ity offered by Prague’s Charles University. I studied as a history and humanities teacher, got a regular job and took up various hobbies including curling – the Scottish game played on ice – which has also brought me opportunities to travel (three times) to the UK.

I’d say that the Czech Republic now does pretty well by disabled people, and very much better than Eastern Europe. (To see what things used to be like, go to Russia.) Today, public buildings and offices have to be accessible and new flats are built with special facilities.

Access on public transport is getting better and the scope of social services is widening. A new law ensures that people get benefits based on how much they rely on other people’s help. In addition, a seriously disabled person gets a pension equal to one third of the Czech average monthly wage, and that doesn’t debar them from picking up other earnings. Every five years seriously disabled people also get a contribution towards the purchase of a motor vehicle and there are other contributions and benefits.

Of course, we’d all like the level of support that people in Scandinavia get. We’d like less bureaucracy as well, and perhaps, most important, we’d like big improvements in hiring policies. I was lucky because I have a master’s degree, I’m completely independent and I live in Prague, where there’s pretty much full employment. But elsewhere, and for people with less education, jobs are hard to find even if you’re able-bodied. Also, although companies are mandated to employ a quota of disabled people, most companies prefer to flout the law
and pay fines instead.

There are also cases of potentially employable people staying at home and living off benefits.

Prague has benefited from economic growth and tourism, though one still has to check which metros and tram stations and buses are accessible: not all are, which means that wheelchair users may have to take roundabout routes. Sometimes, also, developers fail to provide adequate access, because of inadequate oversight by the authorities, or to cut costs, or because disabled people are too rarely consulted.

In short, I’ll welcome our country’s ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It won’t lead to instant changes but it should constitute another step towards the improvement of disabled people’s lives in the Czech Republic.