What is normal?

- Many of the difficulties that arise in the area of disability can be attributed to misconception, misrepresentation, or misunderstanding. So in this video, we are going to look at the concept of normality and more so what it actually means to be normal, or in fact, what people mean when they say, "It is normal." News flash! When we use the term normal, what we're trying to describe is something that is typical or standardized; something that applies to a majority. Normal is better used to relate to the idea of something that is usual or regular. You might have heard the phrase, there is no such thing as normal, and that fundamentally derives from the reality that everyone's normal is different. If we substitute the word normal into sentences, then we will start to see how this actually applies. For example, it is normal for me to drive to work. I regularly drive to work and therefore, this is a norm for me. However, often in big cities, such as London or New York, the majority use public transport or live centrally to walk or cycle to their workplace. In this instance, the sentence, it is not normal that people drive a car to work, is actually saying that typically, the majority of people do not drive a car to work. What is normal differs between individuals. We need to have a heightened awareness of what we actually mean when we refer to something as normal. This is true when we are interacting with others, looking at policies or processes, identifying potential candidates for recruitment, and planning events or activities. It's actually true for every aspect of life. It is beneficial to apply the following when determining how relevant someone's normal is. It is normal that we as human beings all have a birthdate. However, it is not typical to all be born in the same month. In fact, we are well aware that there are 12 possibilities: January through to December. Now, aside from certain age requirements in very specific situations such as an academic year intake, the month in which you were born bears absolutely no relevance on your capability or eligibility. You cannot change your birth month and you should not be judged based upon it alone. It is quite normal to potentially have a different birth month to a colleague, friend, peer, or family member. So self-checking whether we are jumping to the conclusion that something won't be possible or indeed will be too difficult based on whether we are using the measure on what is normal and what is typical is very necessary. Let's take an example of hiring into a male-dominated job. "I'm used to seeing men doing this job. Perhaps a woman applies and I'm inclined not to give her the job based on what I perceive to be normal, i.e. a male in that role." But here's where we can check ourselves. Ask, "Would it impact the outcome negatively if this person was born in May instead of June?" If the answer is no, then we can deem that we are using what we consider to be normal from our perspective to influence the decision or action, in this case, which gender is more suited to the role. Continually check your logic using questions like this. We must always consider the true needs and qualifications, not those that we think are normal.