Changing The Perception of Disability A perception is simply the way one thinks and understands something. It includes how we interact with our environment by responding to its information. People may have different perceptions of a similar thing depending on their interpretation. Some may be negative others may be positive, but unless you persuade them on the reality of the matter, by using relevant scenarios, they may not re-see neither correct their misperception. This essay aims at challenging and amending the misunderstood perspectives concerning disability by use of appropriate illustrations. Disability is condition either mental or physical that limits the daily activities like a persons movement. There are many perceptions concerning impaired people, most of which are negative. Over the years, opinions toward incapacity have varied significantly from one society to another. Some of these perceptions include, evil spirits possessing people with disability, them facing prejudice, and being shameful to associate with the disabled and the most common one that they are not as productive as others. A current research shows that the largest number of people, about 80 percent, perceive those with a disability as unproductive and a burden to society. The unproductivity perception has caused a lot of discrimination, ridicule, isolation and rejection to the disabled. Impaired people are not unproductive as many tend to believe. In fact, those with a disability can do some things that the others cannot. A good example is Franklin Roosevelt who had polio and ended up being the governor of New York and then was elected to be the president of the United States. Recently a research carried out on attitudes towards the impaired showed a lo... ... middle of paper ... ...h kinds of illustrations, it is quite clear that the disabled people can do more than what most people expect from them and they do not deserve any kind of discrimination due to their conditions. Most countries have also discovered the great potential in disabled people and are trying all they can to support them. There are also many non-governmental associations that have been formed in various states for the support of the same. Some of these initiatives are investing more on sustainable systems of social care for those with a disability, creating awareness on disability, commitments of making higher education inclusive of the disabled and many more. With the kind of spirit and effort from multiple countries, it is clear that they have joined to stop the various negative perceptions regarding disability and we should also join them in support of the disabled.
Nancy Mairs article, “Disability” (1987), explains that the world is trying to block out the fact that disability is known to be everywhere and how companies and commercial advertisers are trying to not show disabled people on their commercials so that is shows that everyone can use their product besides disabled persons. Mairs doesn 't believe this though, she believes that advertisers are scared to depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may
The two essays “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs and “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris are excellent pieces of work that share many similarities. This paper would reflect on these similarities particularly in terms of the author, message and the targeted audience. On an everyday basis, people view those with disabilities in a different light and make them conscious at every step. This may be done without a conscious realisation but then it is probably human nature to observe and notice things that deviate from the normal in a society. In a way people are conditioned to look negatively at those individuals who are different in the conventional
When many of us hear the word “disabled,” we often times have a preconceived notion characterized as a limited individual or even one who lacks skillfulness. Although most of us don’t choose these thoughts in a critical manner, we frequently overlook the potential opportunities that these disabled individuals have to adapt and overcome difficulty. In all fairness, I can admit that at times when I have thought of a “disabled” individual, I am guilty of having a predetermined mindset. Since being recently introduced to “Clara: A Phenomenology of Disability,” and Aimee Mullins “The Opportunity of Adversity,” I have become much more mindful in the way I perceive those living life with a disability and how it may affect their future.
Munyi, Chomba Wa. "Past and Present Perceptions Towards Disability: A Historical Perspective." Disability Studies Quarterly 32.2 (2012): n. pg. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
The passage of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a positive step in helping those living with disabilities but it in no way cures the suffering they face everyday. While the ADA made discrimination against the disabled illegal, it has not been able to fix everything the disabled have to go through or feel. There are still lots of issues that are there for those with disabilities. Nancy Mairs is one of those people as she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 28 years old. In her essay “On Being a Cripple”, she writes, “People- crippled or not- wince at the world “cripple”... Perhaps I want them to wince. I want them to see me as a tough customer… who can face the brutal truth of existence squarely.” The choice of cripple over “disabled”
Disability and reactions to those who are disabled are socially constructed, and vary from generation to generation and from culture to culture. As these precepts change and alter with time and knowledge how we treat those who are labeled as disabled evolves- sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. Harriet McBryde Johnson’s and John Hockenberry’s experiences are all too familiar. The challenges faced by these two individuals many times were not with the disability itself, but was from how the world responded to them. Harriet McBryde Johnson had many of her work colleagues unaware and unbelieving of a dire prognosis because of how she personally handled life, how integrated she was with the world around her. Her experience in Cuba
What comes into one’s mind when they are asked to consider physical disabilities? Pity and embarrassment, or hope and encouragement? Perhaps a mix between the two contrasting emotions? The average, able-bodied person must have a different perspective than a handicapped person, on the quality of life of a physically disabled person. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson are three authors who shared their experiences as physically handicapped adults. Although the three authors wrote different pieces, all three essays demonstrate the frustrations, struggles, contemplations, and triumphs from a disabled person’s point of view and are aimed at a reader with no physical disability.
This essay has served to give a brief understanding of the theories and practices of the medical and social models of disabilities, and how they affect people with disabilities. It is an important issue to consider as there are still many things in the world the disable people and we still have steps to make society inclusive.
Disability is an topic that has produced conflict, and is viewed very differently from either side. For able-bodied people to truly understand what disabled people go through they need to see disabled people more; see their lives. If seeing disabled people more often became reality, they would be viewed as normal more, and it would make interacting easier for both sides. Disabled people have a hard life, but it does not mean it is not worth living. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson all have physical disabilities, and have written about their experiences and views. In their writings, they touch upon both similar and different points. A very present similarity between the authors is they all play to the same audience. In their messages, both Mairs and Johnson agree that able-bodied people automatically assume that disabled people have a lower quality of life or are unhappy. The strategies used by each author plays to their message, and aids them in getting across their position. Disability isn’t always easy to understand, and these authors help illustrate that.
Disability is defined as a long term condition that restricts an individual’s daily activities (Government of Western Australia Department of Communities, n.d.). A disability can be identified in numerous types which are physical, sensory neurological and psychiatric. Due to the assistance with appropriate aids and services, the restrictions experienced by individuals with a disability may be overcome. However, the ways society perceives disability may have a significant impact on individuals living with it and also families around them. Therefore, the aim of this essay is to reflect on the social construction of disability through examining the social model of disability and how it may impact on the lives of people living with disability.
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.
This act established old age benefits and funding for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children and the extension of existing vocational rehabilitation programmes. In present day society, since the passage of the ADA (American with Disabilities Act of 1990) endless efforts of the disability rights movement have continued on the focus of the rigorous enforcement of the ADA, as well as accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, technology, education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and independent living for the people who are born with a disability and for the people who develop it at some point in their lives. Although rights of the disabled have significantly gotten better globally throughout the years, many of the people who have disabilities and are living in extremely undeveloped countries or supreme poverty do not have access nor rights to any benefits. For example, people who are in wheelchairs as a transportation device have extremely limited access to common places such as grocery stores, schools, employment offices,
Persons with Disabilities have their image in society. It may be positive or negative. Media plays a significant role in creating the right image of persons with disability in society. Today, world population is 7,113,968,427 billion (GeoHive 2013) and hence estimated population of person with disabilities is 711 million, if we consider that 10% of world population are persons with disabilities as estimated by World Bank (2004), Sanchez (2010) and Cumberbatch (1992). If the current population (on 29th April 2013) of India is 1,271,876,934 billion...
The first thought that crosses the mind of an able-bodied individual upon seeing a disabled person will undoubtedly pertain to their disability. This is for the most part because that is the first thing that a person would notice, as it could be perceived from a distance. However, due to the way that disability is portrayed in the media, and in our minds, your analysis of a disabled person rarely proceeds beyond that initial observation. This is the underlying problem behind why disabled people feel so under appreciated and discriminated against. Society compartmentalizes, and in doing so places the disabled in an entirely different category than fully able human beings. This is the underlying theme in the essays “Disability” by Nancy Mairs, “Why the Able-Bodied Just Don’t Get it” by Andre Dubus, and “Should I Have Been Killed at Birth?” by Harriet Johnson.
...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.