Attitudinal accessibility and the perception of people with and without disabilities

The present study addresses a discussion on attitudinal accessibility, which is a very important resource to assist disabled people in exercising their citizenship. The study aims to develop a reflection on how people with disabilities and without disabilities perceive, face and/or understand attitudinal barriers. It is a qualitative research by means of focus group interventions. Two groups were organized for data collection: one consisted of people with disabilities and the other of those without disabilities. The groups were organized at the beginning of the school semester of 2012. Information was collected from a script with questions. For better presentation of the group discussions, three categories were created: one for the group of disabled people and two for the group of non-disabled people. During the study, it was possible to observe that architectural barriers are the major problem faced by people with disabilities, attitudinal barriers are not visible as physical barriers, most often, they are unconscious and difficult to be recognized by those who practice them. It is considered that ignorance is the basis for the advancement of attitudinal barriers, and the occupational therapist is the professional who, in addition to working on the strengths and skills of disabled people, will also stimulate social integration, respecting the subjectivity of each individual and the context in which they are inserted.