Hello, I've been thinking and wondering about how different cultures in Avaria view and handle disability. I know this is a *very* broad topic, let alone across the different peoples of Avaria! So I will bullet-point a few particular questions I have. I suppose if anyone else has questions this can be a reference thread for the topic more broadly!
- Specifically in Ensor/Ruvera, would attitudes to disability generally be dictated by region, or by religion? Do followers of Kalentism tend to see things broadly in the same way across Ruvera, or would someone from Ensor be different to someone from Merouen and both different to someone from Cadenza even if all three were Kalentian?
- Why do people believe congenital disability happens, if they believe anything at all? Is it seen as just a neutral, natural phenomenon? A curse? A blessing? A divine punishment? A divine gift? A message from God? A result of specific actions taken (or not taken?) by parents, community, the individual before birth, etc? or other variations. Is acquired disability seen in a similar way?
- Obviously all humans are individuals and will vary widely in their treatment of others, and this will likely also depend on socioeconomic status of an individual's family, but very generally on a societal level, how are disabled people treated? Are their disabilites accommodated for? Or are they more often left behind? Institutionalized? Or even disposed of entirely? Is there a difference between physical and intellectual/mental disability in this?
- To this point, does treatment in a clinic/by a healer in Ensor cost money? Is most medicine offered by the church, or by private practitioners? Is it affordable to the average person? Do institutions such as orphanages and mental asylums and recovery centers or sanatoriums exist?
- Are there known aids to more common disabilities, whether specific to Avaria or common to our world? For example, I would assume that at least lower limb prostheses exist, as well as canes/walking sticks and crutches? Are there any forms of sign language for the deaf that are extant and common/standardized anywhere, or other methods of communication commonly used such as writing (and if so, how - chalkboards? other erasable forms)? Do wheelchairs exist, or are there other commonly used methods of locomotion for those without the use of their legs? How about blindness, are there any typically-used aids for this? And this one might seem almost silly, but how about teeth, do people have access to dentures or the like?
- Are there any disabilities which are particular to (significantly more common in) certain areas of the world, for any reason known or unknown, acquired or congenital? Are there any that do NOT exist in Avaria for any reason? Any that exist in Avaria but not in our real world?
- Do any common conditions eg Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, cleft palate/harelip, or any others you care to think of, have Avarian terms? (I'm specifically listing some that would be more long-term survivable given the state of medicine; cystic fibrosis and spina bifida and other relatively common issues may well also have Avarian names, but these might mostly be known only by midwives/specialists?)
Again I know this is a vast subject, I have no need for great detail unless you'd like to do so. Thank you :)
