The topic of both disability and disability communication was one that we as a class discussed during lecture and I feel that disability is a topic that isn’t talked about enough. Something crucial that I learned during the lesson was the importance of the way that we communicate with people who are disabled and how it has an impact on them. The definition of a disability is a physical or mental impairment substantially limiting a major life activity. There are many examples of disabilities in humans and many of them impair an aspect of you that you spend most your life doing. Some examples of this include but are not limited to: walking, talking, learning, etc. The best way to communicate with the disabled is to simply put the individual before …show more content…
Through this method of communication comes two different manners of person first language, to successfully communicate with the disabled. The two phrases of Person-First disability language are affirmative phrases and negative phrases. Affirmative phrases are the correct method when applying this concept and involves putting the person first and the disability second. An example of an affirmative phrase when describing an individual with a developmental is by saying “Person with a developmental disability”. An example of the opposite and negative phrase in this situation would be describing the person as being “Mentally Retarded”. The main goal for this method of communication is to make sure the disabled know that they matter to us and are equal with everyone in the world. This was a main principle in the Schlossberg Theory of Marginality and Matter discovered by Nancy Schlossberg. Marginality is defined as a sense of not fitting in and feeling different from everyone else. This sense can cause depression, irritability and lack of confidence within one’s self-esteem. These feelings can result when someone who experiences them to feel like they don’t
...with an impairment speaking from their point of view, and this is the greatest way to encourage people to follow and push for equality, inclusion and the social model.
Kathie Snow believed that other people’s attitude towards others is the greatest obstacle facing people with disabilities. According to Kathie Snow (2010), “The real problem is never a person’s disability, but the attitudes of others! A change in our attitudes leads to changes in our actions. Attitudes drive actions” (P. 2). I completely agree with Kathie Snow in this regard because this is more than just language; it is the attitudes we have towards
Disability in our day in age is seen as being worse than death. People with disabilities should not feel like they don 't belong. They are just like everyone else and want to be treated like everyone else. Many without disabilities think that it can be contagious and stray to even look at people with disability. This is not the case for it 's not contagious and one should not be seen as a different person just because of their disability. They didn 't choose that life and shouldn 't be mistreated for what they are. “People with disability should be treated equally to everyone else.”
Valuing People (2001) recognises that learning disability can limit a person’s daily functions which can result in low status within the society where the person lives, producing social exclusion. Communicating can be difficult for people with learning disability because their difficulties can include speech disorders, problems with non-verbal communication and impact on their social interaction (Genders et al 2002). Adopting a social model, Oliver (1996) stated ‘Disability, according to the social model is all the things that impose restrictions on disabled people’ (p.33).
The term disabled means to me that the body don’t have all the functioning parts. Being mentally challenged can be challenging. Social worker is put in place to serve them the best possible life if possible. But there is that one thing that are always a barrier, the stigma in the society. One of the client who is working a social worker have dealt of feeling the low because he has been classified as disabled would say that people around him, he feels that they are saying that he is stupid. It disheartens to hear that not only from the client but the norms.
...e must treat people like an individual. All nondisabled people must recognize that people with disabilities are not a separate category of humans.
There have always been implications in the way a teacher can teach a student. You have your perfect students who seem to know more than you, the bad student who doesn’t want to learn, and then you have your student with a disability. These students try hard to succeed, but without the proper equipment, are unable to do so. This comes into play especially with students who are unable to speak. There were many ways in the past to help people who couldn’t talk by either writing the words down all the way, to using sign language. Using these methods to convey a message to a person or group of people can take a long time. This could be, and is, very discouraging for someone who just wants to tell you the answer, or ask a question; however there isn’t an easy way to get it out. Luckily a company over in Europe developed a system that enables teaching and learning to come easier to a person with a disability. This system is called DynaVox.
People who have physical disabilities often experience negative situations and connotations that they must overcome to thrive in society. People who offer narratives about their disabilities often give the most accurate representation about the challenges those with disabilities face. Ms. Marenge, reported that one of the hardest things about leaving the rehabilitation center after becoming paralyzed was living in a house that was inaccessible, and having to rely on her family to carry her up and down the house (Casey Marenge, 2011). Similarly, a student with muscular dystrophy, says that she wishes more places were wheelchair accessible, because when they aren’t she feels that society is holding her back, and she can’t reach her full potential. Alisha also reported that t making friends is hard because some kids would ignore her at school because of her situation and she is often separated from the mainstream students at school. Alisha, doesn’t want to be defined by her disability, however, she believes that many people who look at her only see her wheelchair (Alisha Lee, 2011). Despite the many negative ways people who suffer from physical disabilities are affected, it is important to note that they don’t always feel bad for themselves, and that having a disability doesn’t stop them from loving
The second misconception the public has is that “people with mental handicaps are indifferent to the language that is used in referring to them and their handicaps” (Dudley 81). However, results of numerous studies show that a large percentage of the disabled community who are called upon as mentally retarded prefer a less stigmatic label, such as “developmentally disabled, slow, mildly retard...
This model looks for ways to remove barriers that inhibit people with disabilities from participating in in social activities. The social model sees barriers as being more than physical. Some people have a certain attitude towards people with disabilities due to prejudice and lack of knowledge. Many of these beliefs stem from the medical model which sees people as being held back by their disabilities. The social model completely contradicts this belief for example, ‘A child with a visual impairment wants to read the latest best-selling book, so that they can chat about it with their sighted friends.
Disability: Any person who has a mental or physical deterioration that initially limits one or more major everyday life activities. Millions of people all over the world, are faced with discrimination, the con of being unprotected by the law, and are not able to participate in the human rights everyone is meant to have. For hundreds of years, humans with disabilities are constantly referred to as different, retarded, or weird. They have been stripped of their basic human rights; born free and are equal in dignity and rights, have the right to life, shall not be a victim of torture or cruelty, right to own property, free in opinion and expression, freedom of taking part in government, right in general education, and right of employment opportunities. Once the 20th century
In the article The Effect of Negative Attitudes towards Persons with Disability, by the Malta Independent, these situations of prejudice on a daily basis, easily starts chewing away on a person’s confidence. All of a sudden, they become scared to ask for accommodation, say nothing when they feel unwell, and is afraid to share their struggle with somebody in the fear of being judged once again and being cast out and misunderstood even further. These people are constantly placed into the group of “disabled”, “handicapped”, or “extra work.” After a while, these individuals start to doubt whether their closest friends and family feel the same about them, and soon they will start seeing themselves in that way. According to research, small children with
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. In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden.
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.
French, S. & Swain, J. 2008. Understanding Disability: A Guide for Health Professionals. Philadelphia: Churchilll Livingstone Elsevier: 4