While reading the fiction book, Good Kings Bad Kings I realized that there was a strong connection between what actually happened back in history to those with mental and physical disabilities. Even though the book was wrote to entertain, it also had me thinking about history. For example, while reading through the book I would relate back to some of the readings we read in class. These readings were “An Institutional History of Disability” and "Disability and Justification of Inequality in American History". Some of the key things that, also, stood out to me were the way the youth were treated, how workers were treated, how ableism was presented, and why people were put in these facilities. In Good Kings, Bad Kings, the facility that the people were placed in was called Illinois Learning and Life Skill center, also known as ILLC. Within this facility there are many different types of people. For example, many people had different disabilities and the ages of these people are very spread out. One large group of people would be the youth. The youth in the book are treated very well by some, and very poor by others. One example would be how the youth were segregated in these facilities. According to An Institutional History of Disability, “The onset of the twentieth century was marked by a dramatic expansion of residential institutions for persons with mental disabilities and the rapidly increasing segregation of children and youth with disabilities in public schools” (Institutional History of Disability, 2001: 13) This shows that in history the youth were put into intuitions instead of staying in school like most kids. This is presented in the book, also. For example, whenever a young boy named Pierre begins to act ... ... middle of paper ... ...nd institutions are made today. The book made me change my outlook on placing people into this homes for many different reasons. Even though I feel like nursing homes are not as bad as ILLC, I do know that they place a discrimination and place ableism on these people. Overall, this book has opened my eyes to many different things and has shown me that even though we think the world is good, there are “bad kings” out there too. Works Cited Baddock, David, and Susan Parish. "An Institutional History of Disability." Handbook of Disability Studies. California: SAGE, 2001. 11-38. Print. Baynton, Douglas. "Disability and Justification of Inequality in American History." The New Disability History. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 285-294. Print. Nussbaum, Susan. Good Kings, Bad Kings. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2013. Print.
Moran, John Jude. "Disability Discrimination." Employment Law: New Challenges in the Business Environment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2014. 413-14. Print.
As social scientists, we are intrigued on analyzing relationships within society that can help us understand individuals and surrounding issues. In “Feminist, Queer, Crip” Kafer challenges the issue and ideas of disability through the analysis and frameworks intersected with feminist, queer, and crip theories to argue how society has rendered disability towards people with disabilities not having a “future”. Kafer quotes, “ disability is seen as a sign of no future”(p.3). In other words, people with disabilities are perceived and expected to not have a future because they are not capable of conducting things as to someone who is an ableist. Kafer states that disability as a whole needs to be addressed, and mentions that “ The military complex causes illness,disability, and death on global scale, and there is much more work to be done in theorizing how to oppose war violence and its effects without denigrating disability and disabled people in the process(168)”.
Examining The Discrimination of the Disabled Through An Analysis of David J. Birnbaum’s article “The Catbird Seat”
Recent documentary or films about slavery show the extent to which slavery impacted the war but no so much about the ideas and actions of ex slaves that gave birth to a revolution. David Roediger methods of research are different from most history books, in that he gathers different information from historic writers like Douglas Bayton who seeked to place disability in the history of the civil war (p.9). By involving disability in civil war history it brings to light the people who cared for them in those times and the controversies between the injured veterans and the African-Americans in
Erkulwater, Jennifer L. Disability Rights and the American Social Safety Net. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006.
Behiling, Laura L. "The Necessity of Disability in 'Good Country People' and 'The Lame Shall Enter First'." Flannery O'Connor Review 4 (2006): 88-89. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
In September 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed into law HR 8070, sponsored by Rep. John Brandemas (D-IN). From a legal perspective, this represented a profound and historic shift in America’s disability policy. With the passage of Section 504 of HR 8070 (named The Rehabilitation Act of 1973), which banned discrimination on the basis of disability, this marked the first time people with disabilities were viewed as a group - a minority group. This Section also provided opportunities for children and adults with disabilities in education and employment and allowed for reasonable accommodations such as special study areas and assistance as needed for students with disabilities.
Shakespeare, T. (1993) Disabled people's self-organisation: a new social movement?, Disability, Handicap & Society, 8, pp. 249-264 .
During the mid nineteen hundred, disabled people were considered useless and were not accepted by the “normal” population. Eunice Kennedy Shriver changed the view on the disabled or also called “retarded” population by founding Camp Shriver, and working with the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation to establish the first ever Special Olympics. These major changes ultimately created rights and finally made the “retarded” an accepted population.
O'Brien, Ruth. "Two Horns of a Dilemma: The Americans With Disabilities Act." Crippled justice: the history of modern disability policy in the workplace. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2001. 162-205. Print.
In July 1990, president, George H.W. Bush, passed an important law called the “The American with Disabilities Act (ADA)”. This civil rights law prohibited discrimination against human beings who have disabilities in settings such as jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places. This law is a life-changing phenomenon because people with disabilities have the guaranteed protection, the same equal rights and opportunities as other individuals in the society. “The ADA has been an enormous and singular success in resetting what our expectations and attitudes are” (Young). People have disabilities however it doesn’t mean that they should be limited or discriminated against from doing any sort of everyday task. In the ADA, people who have disabilities benefit from occupational therapists, by giving them independency and self-determination.
Although the reader is moved by Krents many stories and examples, the lack of objectivity in the essay leaves the reader with doubts. Krent’s theme - that if handicapped persons were viewed fairly their disability would be not be apparent- is one that the reader is aware of and wants to believe in. Yet, Krent’s own pessimistic tones overshadow the greater good. The reader is left with the unpalatable feeling that this essay may be nothing more than a very unconfident and dissatisfied man, attempting to pin his disappointments and failures on society, so that he may feel better about himself.
...e obstacles of acceptance, health, determination, and the historic passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
...eglected social issues in recent history (Barlow). People with disabilities often face societal barriers and disability evokes negative perceptions and discrimination in society. As a result of the stigma associated with disability, persons with disabilities are generally excluded from education, employment, and community life which deprives them of opportunities essential to their social development, health and well-being (Stefan). It is such barriers and discrimination that actually set people apart from society, in many cases making them a burden to the community. The ideas and concepts of equality and full participation for persons with disabilities have been developed very far on paper, but not in reality (Wallace). The government can make numerous laws against discrimination, but this does not change the way that people with disabilities are judged in society.
When analyzing the many facets of the portrayal of disability in early American literature, the idea of containment presents itself as common and prominent thread throughout. Containment, whether by social or physical means, is regularly employed as a means of marginalizing and limiting oppressed members of society. Using the many literary examples we have explored in this course as quasi-case-studies for the containment of the disabled, it is possible to investigate the many forms which containment can take and the societal beliefs which propagated these actions.