Disabled Toronto man’s hidden-camera video shows cruel taunts
Posted December 4, 2014 4:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“Mini-Me — can you tie my shoes, man?”
“No,” Toronto man Andre Arruda replies. “Tie your own shoes.”
That is just one interactions caught on tape when a disabled man shot a three-hour video on hidden camera in the Yonge and Dundas area of Toronto.
Arruda, 31, was born with Morquio Syndrome and one of the side effects is dwarfism.
He says he caught more than 100 examples of ridicule and ignorance on the video. He experiences similar scenarios on a daily basis and it has left him a bit jaded.
“I’m a human being. I’m not an object,” Arruda said. “It’s still just as hurtful as if someone was saying ‘hey cripple’ or some derogatory term of someone (of) colour.”
CityNews showed the video to former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David Onley.
“When you meet somebody with a disability for the first time…. what do you see? Do you see the disability or the ability of that person?,” Onley asked. “What we just saw here instantly, to be frank, were smarta** value judgments.”
“I can remember being taunted. I can remember being bullied.”
For Arruda, a lifetime of staring, ridicule and misguided judgment has taken its toll but hasn’t defeated his faith in humanity.
As a professional comedian, he admits his sense of humour is a bit of a protective mechanism.
“I’ve been blessed with a good sense of humour and I use it as both an offence and a defence,” he explained.”
Arruda hopes his video helps change public perception of disabled people.
The video currently has more than 40,000 views on YouTube.
