Disabled people can be unsocial, stubborn, controlling, defensive and have a strong sense of inferiority, according to an official Beijing Olympics guide. The Olympic manual for volunteers in Beijing is peppered with patronising comments, noting for example that physically disabled people are "often" mentally healthy.
Volunteers at the Olympics and Paralympics are instructed not to call Paralympians or disabled spectators "crippled" or "lame", even if they are "just joking". Volunteers are instructed never to "stare at their disfigurement".
"A patronising or condescending attitude will be easily sensed by them, even for a brain damaged patient (though he cannot control his limbs, he is able to see and understand like other people).
Volunteers at the Beijing Games are also given some very specific instructions on how to sit, stand, walk and talk properly. A handshake should last from three to five seconds, the manual states, and the body and arm should form a 60 degree angle.
An "appropriate" personal space on social occasions is from 1.2 to 3.6 metres, but for work colleagues it is 1.2 to 2.1 metres, and 2.1 to 3.6 metres is good for strangers. When sitting, volunteers are told to avoid hooking the chair with one foot ("low-class and boorish"), stretching out their legs ("rough"), crossing the legs in a "4" shape ("cocky and impolite") and continually changing positions ("underbred").
When standing, the guide warns against shaking any part of the body ("careless"), putting two hands in pockets ("frivolous"), crossing both arms ("defensive"), standing with two arms or one arm akimbo ("offensive") and standing with two legs crossed ("too easygoing").
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