Reflection Paper About Disability

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On September 21st 2016, I decided to wake up and start my day with an open mind, observing the world around me while looking for any indication in relation to the broad theme of disability. At first I thought it would be fairly difficult, considering the amount of days that I have experienced, none of which disability played a role in. Even with the doubts I possessed, I cleared my mind of any pre-conceived expectations and began my day as I normally would. As I was eating breakfast, I began browsing through the paper and came across a particular story titled “A father who discovered a heartbreaking detail within his autistic son’s worksheet”. The man’s son, Christopher, completed a worksheet handed to him in school with the heading “The Inside Scoop-Fascinating Facts About Yours Truly!”, which instructs the students to fill in the blanks while describing themselves. As Christopher’s …show more content…

It opened my mind to realize how society has constructed the way in which we view disability as being inferior. While moving about my day, I noticed more and more how society truly embraces ableism, constructing the world with able-bodied people in mind. I think it is important as a future educator to recognize the way in which society views individuals with disabilities and to help change that view point. Without knowledge, non-disabled individuals will continue to display ignorance and fear in regard to individuals with disabilities and the separation between the two will continue to grow. It is our job as educators to lessen that gap by promoting inclusion and teaching non-disabled students that a disability does not define who you are and that it is important to remember that we are all

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