Amy Stereotypes

In Nancy Mairs’ article for The New York Times, “Disability”, published in 1987, she expresses her distaste with the media's representation of handicapped people. Mairs, who struggled with multiple sclerosis herself, clearly and sharply conveys this disgust by stating, “I’m not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” (Mairs 13), and that she is actually, “the advertisers’ dream: Ms. Great American Consumer. And yet the advertisers, who determine nowadays who will get represented publicly and who will not, deny the existence of me and my kind absolutely”(Mairs 14). Mairs is greatly upset that disabled people are defined by their disabilities and, therefore, are underrepresented in public media. This might lead to one asking themselves, but why are they? And the answer, according to Mairs, is quite simple, “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 enter anybody’s life”(Mairs 14). Mairs concludes by pointing out how this effacement could have dangerous consequences for both disabled people and, as she called everyone else, TAPs (Temporarily Abled Persons) alike. Treating disabilities as an abnormal characteristic (as opposed to viewing them “as a normal characteristic, one that complicates but does not ruin human existence” (Mairs 15)) can cause one of these repercussions, as it makes the

People who experience a disability are some of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups within our society. This essay will explain what disability is and what it means to have a disability. Disability can often be seen as a form of social deviance, and so, because of this, the disability community can be othered and excluded within mainstream society. This essay will give examples of how othering occurs and how othering could be avoided, when working as a social worker with people with disabilities. Social workers have an extremely important role in the lives of people with a disability. Social workers are often a person with a disability’s voice and advocate and they need to set an example for

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

In the video “Inclusion, belonging, and the disability revolution” (TEDTalks, 2014), speaker Jennie Fenton opens with describing situations where people with disabilities are segregated and excluded from their communities, sent to live together away from society, or even treated as lesser humans. She then proceeds to introduce her family, including her six-year-old daughter that was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jennie admits to previously having negative or frightened thoughts about having a child with a disability, but with her “seven realizations,” she learned that her daughter was merely on a different path than others, but that no one should ever feel broken or not a whole person (TEDTalks, 2014). After she explains that there are roughly one billion people with a disability throughout the world, Jennie states that she believes in possibility over disability. If a person’s

In her essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs presents her audience with an honest inside view of her life and perspective as a cripple, a word she openly uses to define herself. She brings her world to us by discussing a wide variety of things including language, family, and humor, and how these all relate to her life. Through various stories and insights, she allows her readers to gain an understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. She examines the public’s view of the disabled, as well as the views they have of themselves, and compares them to her own. She makes it clear that she is not to be defined solely by her disability. In discussing honestly her views, as well as

In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.

Stella Young’s TedTalk “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much” discusses the various ways in which those living with a disability are often viewed differently for doing the same mundane things those living without a disability do. In her speech, Young claims that people are lied to about disability. She tells a story about how she was teaching and a student raised his hand asking when she was going to begin her inspirational speech since the only interaction with a person with a disability prior to her class revolved around a person giving an inspirational speech. Young then goes on to state that the world is deceived by “Inspiration Porn” and which leads to the idea that those living with a disability are “objects of inspiration”. She jokes that no matter how long she sat at the bottom of the stairs having positive thoughts that would not get her to the top of the stairs. Young concludes her speech by saying she wants to live in a world where disability is considered the norm and not the exception.

The moment she got trampled under the stomps and shoves of others, one could identify what she’d been feeling like previously - a witness to her own inconvenience. This incident not only exemplifies but also symbolizes the burden she feels having been born handicapped, unable to provide assistance or gain to the world. These feelings Adahs has for her life are later rebutted by her longstanding dreams of attending medical school and improving science. By achieving her academic potential, she finally recognized herself as an important asset to the world- no longer being seen as handicapped, physically or mentally.

Though excelling in means of pathos and ethos, the argument has a shortage of strong logical evidence such as statistics to convince wavering readers. The paper also lacks a strong thesis and structural argument, which is necessary when writing to both a wavering and hostile audience. Bauer's unique position as the mother of a daughter who has down syndrome would potentially allow her to exploit the emotion of readers specifically those in a wavering audience, though her stories are deficient of an in depth description of the pain and hardships contributed directly to the term retard. The argument contains factors that would allow it to be fully effective such as a touching personal experience and connection to both the media and the United States dilemma of discrimination and derogatory language. Despite including these positive aspects for a strong argument the author fails to seek a solution, take a fighting stand, and deliver a passionate

When you see a disabled person, what goes through your mind? I tend to not pay too much attention or put too much thought into it, but I really should. Being disabled is hard and changes people's lives dramatically. We can see how Nancy Mairs life has changed in her essay “On Being a Cripple”, and in Matthew Soyster’s essay “Living Under Circe’s Spell”. Both authors are victims of a disease called multiple sclerosis, which damages nerve fibers and interrupts the nerves’ signals.

Stella Young has lived with a disability all of her life, but has never let that stand in her way. While speaking at a TED conference in 2014 Young wanted to address an issue that most individuals overlook. This issue is about people with disabilities and the struggle they face every day to feel equal and part of a social norm. Stella speaks from experience and tries to make her audience see a new perspective of how individuals look at others with disabilities. Stella makes it clear that most individuals see people with disabilities as an inspiration which is widely propagated. In order for her audience to understand this view she shows a series of images to appeal both to logos and pathos. Stella wanted to show that we view these images logically

Visible manifestations of an underlying disability may be misattributed by an observer to other causes (Santuzzi et al. 3). For instance, someone who suffers from chronic pain may not be able to do as much activity as someone who does not suffer, but when the person with chronic pain takes a break, they are labeled as “lazy” or told they are “bringing the team down.” Stigma can make those who suffer from serious invisible disabilities feel as though they are making up their own symptoms, or being a burden on those around them, and these stigmas can have serious consequences on the health of someone with an invisible disability.

In the media today, people with disabilities are perceived as tragic heroes or as medical miracles. They are rarely seen for their intelligence or for their accomplishments excluding their overcoming disability hardships. The textbook, Everything’s an Argument, contains an excerpt from Charles A. Riley II 's book “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change.” Riley, a journalism professor at New York’s Baruch College, uses appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade his audience that their methods of portraying disabled people are in dire need of change.

Disability has appeared frequently in recent films (Byrd & Elliot, 1988), a reflection of society’s interest in the subject. These films often misrepresent disability using stereotypes. These stereotypes reinforce negative and incorrect social perceptions of, and attitudes towards,

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes