In our society people with disabilities (PWDs) have and continue to face all types and unnecessary forms of exclusion from people without disabilities (PWODs). Disabled children and elderly people are the main victims of exclusion. People in today’s society perform expulsion by denying disabled people the right to choose where they would like to live and how they would like to live. (Oliver) In this scholarly opinion paper, I will discuss why I feel that a society has been created that excludes PWDs. Over the past 40 to 50 years, there have been several changes in our meaningful society with respect to the treatment of PWDs. There has also been much development in medical care. As a result of these developments, many of PWDs live in the community rather than institutions. Many governmental and community changes occurred in the 1960′s and 1970′s. This had an enormous influence on the treatment of and attitudes toward PWDs. PWDs have reduced social opportunities and …show more content…
Some PWODs are embarrassed to befriend someone who is perceived, by society, to be different. Society’s perception of disability plays a huge factor in a PWDs’ sense of self or self esteem. (Smart, 2009) PWDs are completely capable of bringing great work ethic ability to complete an assigned task. This allows them to make a meaningful contribution to society. PWODs whom which are not exposed to PWDs too often fail to realize that regardless of his or her disability, PWDs are just like PWODs. PWODs should ask themselves, what are the differences or similarities that they have with PWDs? Why do PWODs put themselves in a separate category from PWDs. Everyone is entitled to be accepted for who they are and no one should not accepted or judged for something that they have no complete control over. Everyone should treat PWDs with respect. A disability does not define a person’s identity. (Okobokekeimei,
As human beings, we like to make sure never to offend or judge anyone. We even have sayings like “never judge a book by its cover”. A metaphor that is often said whenever trying not to judge someone based on their outward appearance; however, it is not often that people practice what they preach. We judge people based on external factors within seconds. Even though we know what people see on the outside is not a defining factor or who we are as people. Nancy Mairs, author of On Being a Cripple, has to live through this every day. She knows this truth very well, and lives proudly with the fact that as she is disabled. Mairs is admirable for choosing to call herself a “cripple” and not be ashamed of it. Though the word is derogatory and a word that is avoided by society, Mairs identifies herself as a cripple because that is what she is. In explaining her disability, she says, “I haven’t always been crippled, ... to be whole of limb is ... infinitely more pleasant and useful. and if that knowledge leaves me open to bitterness … the physical soundness I once enjoyed is well worth the occasional stab of regret” (Mairs 186). What really
The young girl appeared to be developmentally delayed, and the two middle-aged women engaged in conversation while pushing her. When the young girl attempted to speak to the two women, her attempt at contributing to their conversation appeared to be ignored by the two women as they continued talking to one another. Because of her mental disability, she seems to be treated as childish and does not appear to be taken seriously by the two women (Johnson, 2006, p. 31), who appear more interested in each other than they do in listening to the mentally handicapped girl that they are caring for. This interaction in addition to several others seem congruent with the belief that stereotypes of disabled individuals “reportedly get in the way of full participation in… social life” (Wendell, 1996, p. 61). It appeared that nondisabled individuals would only engage with the disabled individuals if they appeared to need help of some sort, appeared to lose something or spoke directly to the nondisabled person involved in the interaction. Otherwise, nondisabled individuals and caregivers appeared to treat disabled individuals as burdensome, unimportant, or even invisible. This was particularly evident during an interaction between an elderly man in a wheelchair and a middle-aged man in a green shirt. Throughout the course of their interaction, the middle-aged man rarely spoke to the man in the wheelchair and spent more time speaking with a park employee and another guest. Additionally, there were several significant periods of time during which he would leave the man in the wheelchair alone. His actions seemed to show a lack of interest in interacting with the man in the wheelchair, as he spent less time speaking with him than he did speaking to others or leaving him completely
Systematic discrimination against women and girls with disabilities continues to result in the denial of the rights to experience their sexuality, to have sexual relationships and to found and maintain families. While the right to integrity and the right of a woman to make her own reproductive choices are contained in a number of international human rights treaties, women with disabilities continue to be denied these rights through practices such as forced sterilization, sexual violence and the removal of their legal capacity in many parts of the world. I have always been interested in those with disabilities. My parents used to run a home dedicated to taking proper care of those with intellectual and physical disabilities and I grew up being surrounded them. Many of them I am still friends with to this day and I find it interesting to see the stigma that surrounds those who are disabled, those who I call my friends.
As stated by C.Dave Hingsberg “For hundreds of years, western society regarded the mentally retarded as sad accidents of nature to be closeted behind walls of secrecy and silence. Thousands were forcibility sterilized in an attempt to erase the genetic stain of their misfortune. But scientists now know that barely 10%of mental retardation is passed on genetically” (Hingsberg, Dave C.2001). This section came directly from the video “Is Love Enough”. Throughout history, there was the belief that the disabled would produce offspring that would be burdensome to society. Policies were put into place that forced sterilization of 60,000 American citizens, some as young as ten years old (Reilly 1991).
“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it” -Chris Joseph
Historically, we have been taught that people with disabilities are different and do not belong among us, because they are incompetent, cannot contribute to society or that they are dangerous. We’re still living with the legacy of people with disabilities being segregated, made invisible, and devalued. The messages about people with disabilities need to be changed. There needs to be more integration of people with disabilities into our culture to balance out the message. Because of our history of abandonment and initialization, fear and stigma impact our choices more than they would if acceptance, community integration, and resources were a bigger part of our history.
Approximately fourteen percent of the Canada’s population have a physical or cognitive disability, (Employment and Social Development Canada) yet ideologies of ableism (i.e. the oppression of disabled people) are continuously formed and perpetuated through mainstream media. A number of scholars have studied the link between media’s stereotypes of disabled people and the beliefs and practices of ableism; Stuart Hall focuses on the media as a “central part of ideological production,” (82) while Merril Harris and Chelsea Jones examine media’s misrepresentation of people with disabilities. The three scholars collectively agree that media is the main site through which oppressive ideologies are produced, reproduced, and transformed.
Despouy, L. (2004). In Human Rights and Disabled Persons. (sect. Prejudices and discrimination against disabled persons: areas, form and scope.). Retrieved Oct. 02, 2011, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dispaperdes3.htm
The social model defines disability as a social construct that creates unwanted barriers for individuals, and a public concern, (Smart & Smart, 2006). Examples of these barriers include “inaccessible education systems, working environments, inadequate disability benefits, discriminatory health and social support services, inaccessible transport, houses and public buildings and amenities, and the devaluing of disabled people through negative images in the media, (Thomas, 2007, p. 13). Swain, et al (1993), states that “disability is not a condition of the individual. The experiences of disabled people are of social restrictions in the world around them, not being a person with a ‘disabling condition,’” (as cited by Lutz & Bowers, 2003).
According to the World Health Organisation (2011), there are more than 1 billion people with disabilities in the world, with this number rising. Many of these people will be excluded from the regular situations we, ‘the ordinary’, experience in everyday life. One of these experiences is our right to education. Article 42 of the Irish Constitution states that the state shall provide for free primary education until the age of 18, but is this the right to the right education? Why should being born with a disability, something which is completely out of your control, automatically limit your chances of success and cut you off from the rest of society due to being deemed ‘weaker’ by people who have probably never met you? With approximately 15% of the world’s population having disabilities, how come society is unable to fully accept people with disabilities? In order to break this notion, we must begin with inclusion.
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.
Living my life with a brother with disabilities has never been easy. It has been difficult throughout my life watching him grow up and encounter more and more struggles in life because of his disabilities. Our biggest question throughout the years, though, has been what our plan will be for him later in life. How will he live his life as an adult? Will he work? Where will he live? Will he have friends? How happy can he be? People with children with disabilities have to explain, “How do people with disabilities really fit into American society”? It’s not just families discussing this question; experts as well are debating this unknown by looking at the same questions I mentioned before. Looking at where disabled people are living, whether they are working, and the relationships they have with other people are ways to understand how disabled people fit into American society. This topic should not only matter to people close to disabled people, but to everyone. In some way, every one of us is affected by this topic; we want everyone in our family to lead “successful” lives (have a job/have somewhere to live). The same goes for families with people with disabilities.
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.
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.
Prior to Introduction to Inclusive Education, I viewed people with disabilities from the separation perspective. They were the obvious group of individuals, the people motioning down the street with canes, walking with obedient guide dogs, parking within the blue lines, sitting in the reserved seats at the front of the bus, staring in the designated section to see the sign language interpretation, and the people who simply didn’t blend in with the rest. People with disabilities were different and incapable to perform like others; or if they could perform, they needed assistance at all times. I held this viewpoint, not because I wanted to, but because society played a critical role in my outlook.