Chris McCausland States Public Views on Disability Are Outdated

Chris McCausland, a participant on Strictly Come Dancing, has conveyed to the BBC that societal perceptions of disabilities are “antiquated.” Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, McCausland described his involvement in the competition as “extreme” but expressed optimism that it would “go some way in stretching people’s ideas of what is possible for a person with disabilities.” He further commented, “I think there are low expectations of people with disabilities – sometimes you’ll come down a set of steps into a taxi and people say ‘wow, how did you do that?'” During McCausland’s performance on Saturday, he covered his partner Dianne Buswell’s eyes as the stage lights dimmed to black. Moments later, the illumination returned, revealing him spinning Buswell on his shoulders. The judging panel commended McCausland for his “poignant” routine, which depicted the experience of blindness. McCausland explained, “I pitched this idea to Dianne to have a moment of darkness instead of something that was a gimmick.” He elaborated, “I actually wanted to put the audience in the dark so it was a complete surprise for them to see me spinning Dianne when the lights came on.” McCausland’s dance follows a 2021 performance by actor Rose Ayling-Ellis, who is deaf. Ayling-Ellis honored the deaf community by dancing silently for a period with her partner Giovanni Pernice. This performance earned the former EastEnders star a Bafta for the best must-see TV moment. McCausland, who is the BBC programme’s first blind contestant, also mentioned that he continually surprises himself with his capabilities each week. He stated, “I said no to Strictly a few times because it was completely unknown in terms of standard and what the dances were because I couldn’t even go and watch it.” Despite appearing composed and self-assured during his dance routines, McCausland admitted he was “good at masking fear” because performing on live television with no prior experience is actually “terrifying to do this on live TV with no previous experience.” McCausland became registered blind in his 20s and 30s due to retinitis pigmentosa. Earlier this week, students at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, where McCausland previously studied, informed the BBC that he was exceeding expectations. One student remarked, “Some people think that people that have visual impairments can’t really do anything or can’t do much with their life beside piano tuning.” They added, “He’s doing so well now, it’s quite surreal but it’s really good, especially for those who don’t know anything about the eye.” Another student expressed that it would be “really cool if someone who is visually impaired like us” emerged as the competition winner. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.