When you work with disabilities, most of the concepts and actions are regulated by norms. It is important to know the difference between habit, norm and law before you turn your institution around.
Habit
Habit is an action based on its usefulness. It is not mandatory so it does not involve any sanction in case of breach.
A perfect example could be the Christmas tree tradition. There is no especial police checking if we had set the tree in the agreed dates nor there is a forfeit for those who set one that is too flamboyant. It is only a habit, you can follow it or not.
Norm
Norm is an action we do based on our experience. It is socially mandatory but again, have no sanction in case of breach.
The best way to understand the use of the norm is orthography. Experience told us that when we do not use orthography correctly, there could be communication problems.
Turning vegan is a big missed steak.
If we don’t follow grammar and orthographic rules we can’t know if someone is agreeing with being a vegan or not.
Therefore, norms make our life easier because are based on previous experiences.
Act
Law is when we action something based on the everyday use and the experience we have of it. It is mandatory and incurs in a sanction in case of breach.
In almost the entire planet, killing someone is a crime. Therefore, if we kill someone we get a sanction.
It is important to remember, when we interact with disabilities, most of the actions are regulated by norms. Some laws force us to follow norms. This happens because the heterogeneity of disabled people. Many times, we can find exceptions in which the law cannot be applied and must be re – interpreted. This is why universal accessibility norms are made for.
Habit can look as a non – influencer in disability matters, but we must not forget habit is based on social behavior. Therefore, to not follow a habit can have negative consequences. For example if a company uses a low ecologic product or it is found they use children in their factories, these facts can affect negatively their public image and sales.
A similar situation is show in the commercial of Fundación Bequal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1wU96EY6YU